May 2023 Trip Report - Tubbataha & Anilao
Started with a very stressful evening on May 10 flying out of Denver to LAX. Weather had closed the airport for a couple of hours. We did however make it with a little time to spare before our overnight flight on Cathay Pacific, Very comfortable airline. We arrived in Manila on May 12 , then took a flight over to Puerto Princesa, and spent one night in a hotel. The next day we boarded the Philippine Aggressor, and set sail for Tubbataha in the Sula Sea. Very nice boat, large, and a very good crew. This was our 17th liveaboard, and the largest, nicest cabin we have stayed in. There were 6 in our group which worked out well as they split us up in diving groups of 6. Boat diver capacity is 24, and we had 23 on board, with 15 crew. We had an excellent divemaster and the diving was spectacular. Very healthy reefs with large amounts of fish life. I have never seen so much healthy Staghorn coral, large fields of it beyond your visibility. Unfortunately we had below average food all week. Breakfast food was good and prepared correctly. Can't say the same for lunch and dinners. Mostly overcooked. Secondly, the Air conditioning never seemed to work well, and the entire boat was hot inside. Part of the problem is the doors to the decks are constantly being opened or left opened, and it was about 90 degrees outside. Difficult to sleep.
At the end of the week we got up early for our flight back to Manila, then had a transfer to Solitude Acacia resort in Anilao. Dive guides are contracted and not part of the resort. The pros. The rooms were very comfortable with great Air conditioning. The food was very good with lots of healthy choices. Good dive shop crew, they did a lot of hauling of gear. We had 1 dive guide per couple diving. Cons - we had paid for a package deal, food & diving included, but this resort wants to nickel and dime you. Only coffee, tea, and water are included, any ice tea, juices, soda's are extra, I understand alcohol is extra, but ice tea, ridiculous. I had requested house reef diving be included with on my package with my agent. There was some confusion about this and it wasn't stated either way in my package. After not giving up on this, they conceded and did not charge me for the house reef diving. The house reef is ok at best. Rocky entry and exit, all muck diving. Be aware that local family's come here on weekends, so kids around.
About 7 years prior we had stayed at another resort a couple hundred yards down the road. The diving was much better back then, noticed too much trash in the water this trip and a turtle that had just died from being wrapped up in fishing line. Overall good trip, On to Raja Ampat on the Siren in December.
Started with a very stressful evening on May 10 flying out of Denver to LAX. Weather had closed the airport for a couple of hours. We did however make it with a little time to spare before our overnight flight on Cathay Pacific, Very comfortable airline. We arrived in Manila on May 12 , then took a flight over to Puerto Princesa, and spent one night in a hotel. The next day we boarded the Philippine Aggressor, and set sail for Tubbataha in the Sula Sea. Very nice boat, large, and a very good crew. This was our 17th liveaboard, and the largest, nicest cabin we have stayed in. There were 6 in our group which worked out well as they split us up in diving groups of 6. Boat diver capacity is 24, and we had 23 on board, with 15 crew. We had an excellent divemaster and the diving was spectacular. Very healthy reefs with large amounts of fish life. I have never seen so much healthy Staghorn coral, large fields of it beyond your visibility. Unfortunately we had below average food all week. Breakfast food was good and prepared correctly. Can't say the same for lunch and dinners. Mostly overcooked. Secondly, the Air conditioning never seemed to work well, and the entire boat was hot inside. Part of the problem is the doors to the decks are constantly being opened or left opened, and it was about 90 degrees outside. Difficult to sleep.
At the end of the week we got up early for our flight back to Manila, then had a transfer to Solitude Acacia resort in Anilao. Dive guides are contracted and not part of the resort. The pros. The rooms were very comfortable with great Air conditioning. The food was very good with lots of healthy choices. Good dive shop crew, they did a lot of hauling of gear. We had 1 dive guide per couple diving. Cons - we had paid for a package deal, food & diving included, but this resort wants to nickel and dime you. Only coffee, tea, and water are included, any ice tea, juices, soda's are extra, I understand alcohol is extra, but ice tea, ridiculous. I had requested house reef diving be included with on my package with my agent. There was some confusion about this and it wasn't stated either way in my package. After not giving up on this, they conceded and did not charge me for the house reef diving. The house reef is ok at best. Rocky entry and exit, all muck diving. Be aware that local family's come here on weekends, so kids around.
About 7 years prior we had stayed at another resort a couple hundred yards down the road. The diving was much better back then, noticed too much trash in the water this trip and a turtle that had just died from being wrapped up in fishing line. Overall good trip, On to Raja Ampat on the Siren in December.
