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Dive Review of Philippine Island Divers/SunApartelle in
Philippines/Alona Beach, Bohol

Philippine Island Divers/SunApartelle, Jan, 2006,

by Michael Hofman, CA, USA . Report 2413.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments As our expectations were not very high, we were pleasantly surprised by the diving at this location. There were a number of interesting sites, some variety in fish life and good support from the dive organization. Although there are a number of dive operations at this location, we would strongly recommend this operation as they are the most professional we found. We dove for three days with another operation which had a great dive master, but boat operations and captains were terrible (drinking beers while we were diving, one rented boat couldn't start so divers were waiting for almost an hour for a pick up after a dive). Accordingly, our experience with Philippine Island Divers was completely professional. They were able to supply Nitrox (even found a leak in the seal of the tank before a dive and were able to get another tank within 15 minutes); the dive masters were interested in showing nudis, cleaner shrimp and other special items without being cloying and the support organization was great.
Our hotel was away from the beach and was quite pleasant. It had a great pool and each room was a mini-apartment with a complete kitchen and balcony. Should you go, stop off at the supermarket before you leave the city you fly into for provisions, as there are only small shops by Alona Beach. There are some very good restaurants (especially an Italian restaurant on the road to the beach) and other features to make this a nice destination. If you haven't flown through Manila before, be prepared: it's not the easiest airport to find food (at any hour) and expect to go through security about 10,000 times. Luggage and customs is also strange....But the people are great and the country is beautiful!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Palau, PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu, Belize, Costa Rica, etc.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy Seas choppy, currents, noCurrents
Water Temp 78-81°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Strong recommendation to limit the dive to 60 minutes, but it wasn't enforced too much
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 1 stars
UW Photo Comments The operation is not particularly set up for UWP, as most divers are not as experienced. No facilities on board the boats and on shore facilities have camera wash with regulators.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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