Dive Review of S/Y Philippine Siren in
Philippines/Tubbataha and Southern Visayas

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S/Y Philippine Siren: "Amazing!", Jun, 2019, by Lisa Vitale, TX, US ( Contributor 15 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 11167 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Diving: This was an amazing trip 13-night trip that took us from Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Calalong Island, Apo Island, Dauin (Negros), Balicasag Island, and Cabilao Island, making a total of 43 dives along the way. Tubbataha is only diveable during a certain 3 to 4-month time of the year. The reefs are absolutely spectacular and the life amazing. There wasn’t a bad dive on the trip! Our first dive of the trip we saw whale sharks and had brief glimpse of a tiger shark! The fish life was incredible. We dove in the national park for 4½ days before heading to Calalong Island where we did a total of 3 dives. Dauin, Negros (spent about 4 days in this area) was muck diving heaven where we encountered 3 hairy frogfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, robust ghost pipefish, and harlequin shrimp to name a few. We dove 1 day at Apo Island, the corals were just spectacular and went on for what seemed like forever! The great thing about this transition trip was the diversity of diving from spectacular coral reefs, pelagics, lots of sharks, macros, to muck diving and everything in between. The water temperatures at Tubbataha was 88°F and got cooler to about 82-84°F at Dauin and remaining locations. I wore a 5 mil fullsuit because that is what’s most comfortable for me. Boat: The cabins are very roomy, there is plenty of space to keep all your belongings. AC worked great in the rooms and individually controlled. There is an indoor lounge area, but it is kind of cramped as the ceiling is low and you cannot stand up in there, most people sat outside. All meals and dive briefings are served in the outdoor dining area located at the back of the boat. This is one of the things I do not like about this boat, because it is located in the back of the boat it gets quite hot as the front of the boat blocks the wind. This is also the only place outside that is covered to relax. There is an uncovered sundeck with loungers which is accessed through the crew dive preparation area. This is another thing I don’t like about this boat; you feel like you are disturbing the crew to get to the sundeck. Also, the front portion of the boat is not accessible and is mainly crew and equipment. This is not the best layout compared to other similar boats I’ve been on. The food is crazy good on this boat. It was my second time on the Philippine Siren and the food was great the first time and this last time as well. You will eat very well! One of the nice perks on this boat is the masseuse! She does a great job!! You can schedule them anytime from around 4-7. The dive deck is ok but not my favorite setup for boats like this. Dive “lockers” are located along the outer edge of the boat. You get a drawer to keep things in. Camera tables and charging stations are located in the indoor lounge area, but it is quite a small area and when everyone places their items at the charging station the area gets even smaller. There are a couple of drawers you get to keep things in the lounge area which is nice. There are separate camera and wetsuit rinse stations. The crew takes care of your cameras and wetsuits, rinsing between each dive. The crew took care of everything for us, they were great and did a fantastic job! Typically did 4 dives per day, one before breakfast around 7AM, another one around 10:30AM, an afternoon dive around 4PM, and a night dive. Diving is broken up into 3 groups and staggered somewhat with a dive guide for each group. This worked out well. Dive briefings were detailed and very accurate. Our dive guides were amazing! Two of the dive guides were also the cruise directors and they killed it! I have been on 29 liveaboards and they were the best I’ve ever had. Kudos to the Siren Fleet for hiring such great gals! The weather was great during our entire trip, with only 1 day of some rain, the rest of the time was sunny and hot! Overall, this trip rates as one of my top liveaboard trips in my 30 plus years of diving. I highly recommend this area of the Philippines to dive.
Websites	S/Y Philippine Siren
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Mexico, Belize, Cayman, Roatan, Turks and Caicos, Sea of Cortez, Galapagos, Hawaii, Flower Gardens, Maldives, Palau, Fiji, Philippines, Lembeh Strait, Raja Ampat, Papau New Guinea, Australia, Socorro, Komodo, Solomon Islands
Closest Airport	Manila, Puerto Princesa, and Cebu	Getting There	Going: flew into Manila, spent the night, then a flight to Puerto Princesa. Coming home: Left out of Cebu City.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	83-88°F / 28-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	40-150 Ft/ 12-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Typically asked to keep dives to 60 minutes, but we routinely had 70 minutes or more.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
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
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Camera tables and charging stations are located in the indoor lounge area, but it is quite a small area and when everyone places their items at the charging station the area gets even smaller.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of S/Y Philippine Siren in Philippines/Tubbataha and Southern Visayas

S/Y Philippine Siren: "Amazing!", Jun, 2019,

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 S/Y Philippine Siren in
Philippines/Tubbataha and Southern Visayas