Dive Review of Solitude One in
Philippines/Tubattaha, Philippines

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Solitude One: "Amazingly healthy reefs and life in a relatively undiscovered location", May, 2023, by Geoff Fallon, OH, US ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 12425 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	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The health of the reefs is absolutely jaw dropping, it even surpasses Cuba. The hard corals are quite healthy with, for example table corals that are six feet in diameter. The reefs teem with schools of fish like jacks, sweetlips, barracuda and snappers, among others. There’s also the chance to see big stuff and during my week we saw two manta rays and one whale shark, plus a leader and one of our group together saw a tiger shark. And speaking of sharks, it was common to see black tips, white tips and grey reef sharks. The water temperature was a toasty 85 degrees and many people wore only a dive skin and my 1mm was more than enough. The visibility ranged from 50 to 100 feet. Too emphasize how strong the currents can be, it is mandatory for every diver to carry an SMB and the boat makes available – free of charge – Nautilus Lifeline signaling devices. Beginners beware. Briefings include what to do if you get separated from your group and end up in another. The dive leaders are top notch and do an outstanding job of watching out for the divers, and on the other hand, divers need to watch the leader because the dive ends when the leader signals and raises his SMB for a pickup by one of the skiffs. The food is very good and plentiful with a wide enough selection. A vegetarian and a vegan in our group were well taken care of with no fuss. Food starts with coffee, fruit and toast before the first of four dives, which were 7, 10:30, 2:00 and 4:30. Breakfast after the first dive included eggs and omelets made to order and both lunch and dinner were full meals, plus there was a freshly baked “sweet snack” between the third and fourth dives. Lunch and dinner included such items as lobster tails, flank steak, and chicken cordon bleu plus several pasta courses. WIFI was available for $35 per week via satellite and it worked well, although a bit slow nearly all the time. The boat’s air conditioning is fine and the lounge is adequate with several bean bag chairs (gimme a break, we’re not kids). Nearly all the cabins have bunk beds and the clearance from the top bunk to the ceiling is a mere 18 inches, which means there’s barely room to balance a book on one’s chest. Most problematic is getting into and out of the top bunk because the height is so tight that one must belly crawl to get in position. The crew was terrific and always eager to assist.
Websites	Solitude One [same]
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Throughout Caribbean, Hawaii, Australia, Indonesia & Philippines
Closest Airport	Manila	Getting There	From Manila it's a one hour flight to Puerta Princesa, which is 15 minutes from the boat.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	surge
Water Temp	84-85°F / 29-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minute dive times so that we could all get 4 dives per day.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	1 or 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		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Dedicated camera room which was a little small for 16 photographers but would be fine for a smaller group. All battery charging must be done in the camera room or in your cabin if you are present. Crew was outstanding in handling the cameras on and off the skiffs and dunking the cameras after each dive.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Solitude One in Philippines/Tubattaha, Philippines

Solitude One: "Amazingly healthy reefs and life in a relatively undiscovered location", May, 2023,

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 Solitude One in
Philippines/Tubattaha, Philippines