Dive Review of Butanding Center/Vitton Beach in
Philippines/Donsol

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Butanding Center/Vitton Beach, Jun, 2010, by Laura Todd, CA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports). Report 5536.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation	N/A	Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This trip was to snorkel with whale sharks, not to dive. The only place you'll want to stay is Elysia beach resort, with cool white rooms with french doors and new air conditioners, nice pool, shady hammocks and pretty restaurant. No matter where you stay, the whale shark trips are all organized out of the same center where you watch an orientation video,etc. They will organize groups of 6 - 10 on small local boats with a guide and spotters. The whale sharks are definitely here. In two outings we swam for long periods of time (max maybe 10 minutes) with at least 4 different animals. We would get back on the boat and catch up to the same shark and I would estimate that I got 3-4 sustained contacts with each of the four animals. The visibility is poor and the first couple times you get in are chaotic, but the guide will point you in the right direction. Snorkelers are supposedly not allowed closer than 3 meters to the sharks, but nobody told the sharks that! We had some very close contact, but no touching of course. The animals we swam with were about 20 feet or so in size, ie adolescents. Getting good photos is tough but trust me, you're going to remember this. Handy tips: do some sprints in the pool before you come - with a couple flicks of the tail, the sharks will leave you way behind. You will want to be confident in your free diving skills - this is deep water with poor viz and can be rough. Also even though it is calmer early in the day, there is no point in going out until about 10:30 or so as the whale sharks come to the surface to feed at mid day. And although the season is January thru May, come February through April. The sharks were starting to leave during our May 8 - 10 visit and some boats got skunked. The outings are popular with locals as well so best to avoid weekends. FYI no banks, no ATMs and no credit cards.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	0-25 dives
Where else diving	[Unspecified]
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	15-25 Ft/ 5-8 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Butanding Center/Vitton Beach in Philippines/Donsol

Butanding Center/Vitton Beach, Jun, 2010,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Butanding Center/Vitton Beach in
Philippines/Donsol