Terrible Dive Trip in Anilao

I want to share my terrible dive trip in Anilao.

My friend and I found this resort BALAI RESORT on the website and made a booking with them for one night and enquired on the cost per dive.

This gentleman Jag from the resort responded in a email that the reservation will be made and that the per dive is less than US$10 including equipment. Alas! When we arrived (the journey was bad as we were not advised that the road leading to the resort is extremely rocky and long ride), we were told that the staff had made a mistake on the cost per dive and that they cannot honoured the cost of less than US$10 per dive. We had travelled a long and difficult journey from Batangas pier and arrived to find out that we have to pay double price for the dive. We tried to reason out with the owner thru the staff at the resort but he did not want to give in. He mentioned that another email was sent to us on his error which we did not received. We check our emails regularly even on the day before we left Puerto Galera for Anilao. We were disappointed that he could not accept his mistake and honour his words/email even though we were already in the resort and also had the email at hand to verify. We made a painful decision not to dive in the end as we feel that the situation was not managed and also we have already budget for the dive trip. We left the place sadly the next day.

Nevertheless, I must commend on the excellent service at the Balai Resort and the tree house lodging is perfect. Serene surroundings and beautiful weather. We made up for the situation ourselves by snorkelling in front of the resort.

I would love to re-visit Anilao again but I do not know how long I will get over the terrible experience.


Love and dolphins,
Candice

hi candice,

i'm jag... the guy who told you it's about $10/extra dive... i PMed you to ask about this but i think i see what the problem is...

first allow me to apologize (publicly) if there was some miscommunication...

what exactly did the owner tell you? maybe the misunderstanding came with regard to the rates packages... Balai, you see, charges day-trip and overnight rates that include meals (and in the case of divers, dives)... these are the ones posted on the website

cost of extra dives outside of this include the cost of tanks, DMs, boats, etc.

is there a possibility that the "doubling" of the cost was brought about by your being charged the trip rate for divers? a lot of local divers, you see, check on the non-diver package and just pay extra for their dives (so they can dive how often and when they like to)

this is the URL of balai's rates for the anilao resort http://www.balai-resort.com/anilao_rates.htm

i hope this can be ironed out... feel partially responsible as you put my name in your dive report...

Jag

shugar:

i hope this can be ironed out... feel partially responsible as you put my name in your dive report...
Jag

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It was beyond your control.

I know the feeling when things doesn't work out right and especially when you're just trying to help somebody so he/she can enjoy what you usually experience every time you go diving (resort accommodation and all).

It happened to me too, but in my case I paid for the extra billing (small amount) to save the dives and my rep without telling the diver involved. Don't worry, you can always do better the next time somebody asks for help. Cheers!

Hi, Candice,

Sorry to hear about your dive trip... a few of us dived at Anilao in late April/ May and enjoyed it thoroughly. We loved the macros, and the dive operator whom we had gone with took great care of us.

Our original plan was to only dive at Anilao but when I heard so much about P. Galera, I told my group that I would like to go there... so we did, and in the end, I still found Anilao to be better. Partly because the weather did not permit us to get out of the "bay" to better dive sites in P. Galera and partly, I suspect, because our DM took us to great dive sites for macros (which most of our group were fond of).

Hope your next visit to Anilao would be great...

i too have been a victim of miscommunication and as jag mentioned there is usually confusion with the agreed rate from the advertised rate. its best you just get a day pass or if you are diving with a group just let your dm or instructor explain the rate to you if you do not understand.

hope you iron this small misunderstanding befor your next trip to sunny anilao

shugar:

hi candice,

i'm jag... the guy who told you it's about $10/extra dive... i PMed you to ask about this but i think i see what the problem is...

first allow me to apologize (publicly) if there was some miscommunication...

what exactly did the owner tell you? maybe the misunderstanding came with regard to the rates packages... Balai, you see, charges day-trip and overnight rates that include meals (and in the case of divers, dives)... these are the ones posted on the website

cost of extra dives outside of this include the cost of tanks, DMs, boats, etc.

is there a possibility that the "doubling" of the cost was brought about by your being charged the trip rate for divers? a lot of local divers, you see, check on the non-diver package and just pay extra for their dives (so they can dive how often and when they like to)

this is the URL of balai's rates for the anilao resort http://www.balai-resort.com/anilao_rates.htm

i hope this can be ironed out... feel partially responsible as you put my name in your dive report...

Jag

Click to expand...

hey jag i heard so much about your resort have several friends who have recommended it to me several times. Btw my girlfriend will only dive in balai as she finds the other resorts not as cozy. keep up the good work and hope to check your place out soon!

Could you Pm me your rates if possible? thanks!

I liked your comment because you found Anilao to be better than P. Galera...you summed up for me the question "Overall, taking into consideration prices, accessibility, and travel time, which is better if I'm coming from Quezon City?"

I'm going to Anilao and seems from the posts here that Balai is a popular spot. I'm bringing along a family friend who just got out of the US Navy, so he's an experienced diver. I have have some questions for you...please feel free to redirect me to other people that I can ask.

1) Do I pay a basic fee for an organized dive trip/tour?
2) Does this trip include the DM (divemaster?)?
3) My friend is the only experienced diver, but the rest of the group will be newbies. Do we pay the same basic fee for the organized dive trip/tour?
4) If I have a car, is it better if I drive to Batangas? Is Anilao on the mainland or do I do a transfer....that means I have to park the car somwhere?
5) Or is just more efficient to get the package transportation to and from Manila?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

ClassicMisfit:

I liked your comment because you found Anilao to be better than P. Galera...you summed up for me the question "Overall, taking into consideration prices, accessibility, and travel time, which is better if I'm coming from Quezon City?"

I'm going to Anilao and seems from the posts here that Balai is a popular spot. I'm bringing along a family friend who just got out of the US Navy, so he's an experienced diver. I have have some questions for you...please feel free to redirect me to other people that I can ask.

1) Do I pay a basic fee for an organized dive trip/tour?
2) Does this trip include the DM (divemaster?)?
3) My friend is the only experienced diver, but the rest of the group will be newbies. Do we pay the same basic fee for the organized dive trip/tour?
4) If I have a car, is it better if I drive to Batangas? Is Anilao on the mainland or do I do a transfer....that means I have to park the car somwhere?
5) Or is just more efficient to get the package transportation to and from Manila?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

why not start a new thread? This thread is outdated already.

1) Do I pay a basic fee for an organized dive trip/tour?
Anilao diving is different from other sites in the sense that the resorts do not charge a fixed rate per dive. You and your group will have to pay the actual cost of boat, tanks, DM fee and equipment. Boat rates vary on where you want to dive and will range from P1200 to P2500 for 2 dives plus additional P500 to P1000 for the 3rd dive of the day and can be divided among the number of divers on the boat maximum of 6 on the boat including the DM. tanks are P130 and refills at P90. DM fee for resort based DM's/Dive guides is usually P1000 for 2 dives and P600 for every succeeding dive and can be divided among the number of divers on the boat maximum of 6 on the boat including the DM. Most Manila based DM's and instructors usually charge higher at a range of P150 to P250 per dive per person. You are not required to hire a DM

2) Does this trip include the DM (divemaster?)? As stated above

3) My friend is the only experienced diver, but the rest of the group will be newbies. Do we pay the same basic fee for the organized dive trip/tour?
The same fee as above regardless of experience. There is just a maximum limit of 6 passengers on a boat including the divemaster/instructor

4) If I have a car, is it better if I drive to Batangas? Is Anilao on the mainland or do I do a transfer....that means I have to park the car somwhere?
Yes its better to drive because its cheaper. Getting to Balai requires driving on rough road you may leave your sedan at a parking slot about 2km from the resort and they will send a service to pick you up. Anilao is on the mainland

5) Or is just more efficient to get the package transportation to and from Manila?
More expensive but if you don't mind spending its much more relaxing considering that it is a 3 hour drive.


Your help is greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE]

ClassicMisfit:

I liked your comment because you found Anilao to be better than P. Galera...you summed up for me the question "Overall, taking into consideration prices, accessibility, and travel time, which is better if I'm coming from Quezon City?"

I'm going to Anilao and seems from the posts here that Balai is a popular spot. I'm bringing along a family friend who just got out of the US Navy, so he's an experienced diver. I have have some questions for you...please feel free to redirect me to other people that I can ask.

1) Do I pay a basic fee for an organized dive trip/tour?
2) Does this trip include the DM (divemaster?)?
3) My friend is the only experienced diver, but the rest of the group will be newbies. Do we pay the same basic fee for the organized dive trip/tour?
4) If I have a car, is it better if I drive to Batangas? Is Anilao on the mainland or do I do a transfer....that means I have to park the car somwhere?
5) Or is just more efficient to get the package transportation to and from Manila?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

If you want fixed rates then go to Puerto Galera. In my experience (based on two separate Anilao dive resorts) it's almost impossible to get pre-agreed package rates in Anilao because they break it up to include the boat and DM fees separately, which are usually divided among the group of divers, so if there happens to be many divers, then the dives are cheap, but if you end up diving alone then it'll be significantly more expensive. Obviously the resorts cannot guarantee the number of divers ahead of time (unless you do), so they cannot guarantee the rates. With a 3+ person group (of divers) you should be fine though and eligible for the good rates. This is just my experience and I'll still go back there, but I do wish the pricing was more predictable.