Dive Review of Mike's Dauin Beach Resort in
Philippines/Dauin

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Mike's Dauin Beach Resort: "Excellent Family atmosphere", Oct, 2023, by Frank and Debbie Crosby, CO, US ( 2 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 12793 has 2 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our 23rd trip to the Philippines and our 20th time staying at Mike's; needless to say, we are quite happy with the resort. We have three separate stays here scheduled for 2024. First, the less than perfect. On this trip, the main (and our usual) bangka (the Miley Kate) was in dry dock. On several days for longer trips (particularly Apo Island), the resort rented a bangka and crew from other resorts. Between our April and October trips, the resort purchased a speed boat. The speedboat is not the most diver-friendly; it seems designed more for a family outing than for scuba diving. No storage area for gear and limited area for donning and doffing gear. Entry into the water is abackroll off a 2-inch sidewall. Reentering the boat is via a vertical ladder. It is adequate for short distances with a max of four divers, however,some of our speedboat dives had 6-7 divers, plus 2 divemasters. There is no cover over the diver's area of the boar. Now the good news. The Miley Kate was put back in service just after we finished out trip. Mike's is a small resort with 12 rooms (expanded from 8 just before the pandemic). The rooms are well-designed. The eating area/bar is all covered, outdoor, with a widely varied menu (and a daily special) and excellent quality. The kitchen and wait staff excellent and friendly. Dive Resorts in Dauin refer to this time of year as "octopus October." We were not disappointed--a dive site called "Secret Garden" (AKA Octopus Corner) didn't disappoint. On every dive there this trip, we saw at least 10 octopuses, including blue rings, mimics, wunderpus, reef, and more. Diving in the Dauin area is predominantly muck diving. The area is primarily black volcanic ash, so buoyancy control and patience are musts. Most of the critters on all dives require a keen eye; something Divemasters Ace and Gabby excel at. Outside of Secret Garden, we encountered a few turtles, a couple of octopuses, harlequin shrimp, banded, ghost, and ornate ghost pipefish, eels, scorpion leaf fish, flamboyant cuttlefish, snake eels, frogfish, nudibranchs,and of course the standard pacific fish. About a 30-minute bangka ride away is Apo Island. Apo Island (not to be confused with Apo Reef) is a coral mecca. A few years ago typhoons did quite a bit of damage, but the reef system is recovering. Mike's Resort typically schedules Apo Island trips a couple of times weekly. All Apo trips are three dives, with two dive in the morning, an included lunch, and an afternoon dive before heading back to Dauin. Highlights of a day at Apo include a visit from "vendors" selling sarongs, t-shirts, hats, and more. For Apo dives, turtles are the order of the day. One dive site is home to an electric clam. There are some large frogfish, but frogfish are not as common here as they are on the mainland. One dive site has large schools of jacks. While we prefer the muck diving, we look forward to our trips to APO.
Websites	Mike's Dauin Beach Resort [same]
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Micronesia, Africa, Egypt, Caribbean
Closest Airport	Dumaguete	Getting There	Manila to DGT via Cebu Pacific or Philippines Air.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	All boat (and most shore) dives with guide.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Mike's Dauin Beach Resort in Philippines/Dauin

Mike's Dauin Beach Resort: "Excellent Family atmosphere", Oct, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Mike's Dauin Beach Resort in
Philippines/Dauin