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Dive Review of Crystal Blue Resort in
Philippines/Anilao

Crystal Blue Resort: "Excellent Resort and Dive Operation", Nov, 2022,

by Thomas Callen, MI, US ( 2 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 12206 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments I really enjoyed this trip! After a 2-hour van ride south from Manila I arrived at Crystal Blue Resort. It is situated on the side of a cliff overlooking the sea. I was impressed with the resort itself - it was kept clean and like new. My room was recently remodeled with effective air conditioning and comfortable bed. The dining area was open air with views of the sea. The staff were all very nice and helpful. The food was excellent with a nice variety and made to order breakfast items. Since it is on the side of a steep rise, there are quite a few stairs, but the staff will carry heavy items for you. I requested a lower guest room so that reduced the stairs I needed to navigate. As long as you are in decent shape, the stairs were not much of an issue.

The diving was very good. The staff sets up and loads all dive and camera equipment on the boat making it easy. They also place camera gear in rinse tanks after the dives. A good variety of sites with lots of small critters - typical sandy or rubble bottom muck diving sites, but also there were some nice colorful coral reef dive sites with lots of tropical fish and colorful corals. There were not many large creatures, but I was here mainly to photograph small critters. I also did some blackwater dives which were new and exciting and to me and provided new and interesting creatures to photograph. There was either a one to one or two to one dive guide to diver ratio. I had my own dive guide the whole trip. Edgar was excellent at finding small critters (including some I could barely see) and was very helpful spotting larval fish / squid etc. on the black water dives. He even pointed out 4 pygmy seahorses on one fan!

All in all, the resort and diving were very well run.
Websites Crystal Blue Resort   [same]

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Caribbean, Fiji, Galapagos, Philippines, Bahamas, Indonesia
Closest Airport Manila Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp 81-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 20-80 Ft/ 6-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions None
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments Great air-conditioned camera room with power strips with universal plugs - no need to bring converters. Camera gear handled well by the staff with big rinse tanks and compressed air guns. This resort set up well for photographers.
Their photo pro, Mike Bartick, was very helpful answering my UW photo questions. He has done a lot to advance black water diving in this area. He provided a very helpful half-our briefing before our first black water dives using the big screen to explain the Diel Migration showing his pictures of the creatures we may encounter and photo tips. I really enjoyed this new form of diving / photography and will definitely be doing it again in the future.
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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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