Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

Dive Review of Mantangale Alibuag Dive Resort. in
Philippines/Northern Mindanao

Mantangale Alibuag Dive Resort.: "Great Diving Again In the Philippines", Jun, 2022,

by John Crossley, FL, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 28 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 11978.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments It was great to get back in the water again after missing two whole years. The Philippines is open again for tourism although some safety precautions are in place. We arrived in late May and had to show a negative COVID test result and a vaccination record. Shopping malls and office areas required masks. OK.....I can live with that a little while longer.

My first diving since August 2019 was at the Mantangale Dive Resort about 100 KM north of our retirement home in Cagayan de Oro. This part of Mindanao is not a terrorism risk that the U.S. Travel Advisories make it look like. I've seen no problems in this area in 15 years.

Mantangale features one of the very best flowery soft coral dives in Asia. Its named Medina Springs (aka Paradiso). Imagine a huge bowl 40 or more yards in diameter that begins at about 60 feet and drops down to 104 feet. All along the sides of the bowl are red, pink, purple, and yellow soft corals in huge bunches. Great location for wide angle photos. Nextdoor is "Aquarium" that features some more beautiful soft corals but add some macro-critter possibilities along the partly sandy bottom at 65 feet. One dive, closest to the resort is a fish magnet of a pinnacle that rises from 100 plus feet to about 70 feet.

Other dive sites feature lots of macro critters such as ghost pipe fish, coral crabs, wire coral shrimps, mantis shrimps, porcelain crabs, etc. Resort owner/manager Dodong Uy typically is the dive guide and he is excellent at spotting macro critters. Some day-long dive trips they go out to Camiguin Island or other sites for wall dives, a giant clam site and an undrwater "sunken cemetary."

The main dive boat is a traditional philippine panga style boat that is comfortable and can handle 12 dives. It has a marine head, camera rinse tanks, and bottled drinking water. Usually I've had fewer than four other divers on board. The crew is extreemly helpful in with dive gear, cameras, etc.

Each two or three tank dive trip includes free nitrox and lunch. The resort's menu is quite varied and tasty. Breakfast is included with each night of accomodations. The accomodations are mostly duplex style cotteges that are pretty basic but clean and comfortable with great AC and hot water showers.

Overall, the Mantangale Dive Resort is well worth several days or a week added to a Philippines itinerary. The prices for diving, accomodtions and food are very reasonable compared to most of the "big name" resorts.
Websites Mantangale Alibuag Dive Resort.   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Australia, Fiji, Truck, Yap, Palau, Bali, Lembeh, Hawaii, Florida, Red Sea, Soloman Islands, PNG, Caymans, Bonaire, BVI, Philippines and others
Closest Airport Cagayan de Oro Getting There Fly to Manila or Cebu and connect to Cagayan de Oro on Cebu Pacific Airlines. Resort can arrange ground transfers

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 83-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions Resaonable: Stay Within No-Deco limits.[Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments Rinse Bucket in boat and at Dive Shop. Dive crew welps carry cameras to boat.
Was this report helpful to you?
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 554 dive reviews of Philippines and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 
Featured Links from Our Sponsors
Interested in becoming a sponsor?
Reef & Rainforest, Let our experience be your guide -- Reef and Rainforest
Reef & Rainforest
is an agency for travelers that scuba dive. We specialize in planning scuba diving adventures to the Philippines.

Want to assemble your own collection of Philippines reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

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.

Undercurrent Home


Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email.
And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.15 seconds