Stay in Alona

[jeff99]

Hi!

Will be coming to Alona for a week in April after Leyte and was thinking of staying at the Oasis Resort and diving with Seaquest. Is the resort OK and are Seaquest a good operation? Have seen some of the pics from Balicasag and Alona from Pakman - great shots by the way! Any info regarding Oasis?

Tickets arrived yesterday - really rubbing our hands together now Can't wait for the end of March!

Thanks - Jeff & Susi

 

[Len00]

Seaquest is ok but a little pricey. Nice resort, A/C bunglows with swimming pool in garden setting. Big efficient operation, but can get a little impersonal for my liking. I also dove with Alona Divers, smaller outfit but great service with a personal touch, at a cheaper price. Thess and Peter are the owners. They can book you on any accomodation on Alona beach. Ask for Zaldy who is a fantastic DM with keen eye for both big and small creatures. For diving, go straight to Balicasag and forget the rest. You get to see huge schools of big-eye travelly and barracudas.

 

[jigo]

just dove balicasag during the typhoon. you may also want to try baywatch divers. $35 for two dives. lower than most dive ops there. the guide, butch, has really sharp eyes and even knows when the big wind was about to blow. made it back to shore just before typhoon him.

 

[chinadan]

Have been there 2 times...solid operation and pleasant resort with a good location (close to the only but excellent Italian Restaurant) and some lady has a small BBQ operation right at the beach, at the doorsteps of the dive shop.

Balicasag is very nice but do not discount the house reef! Had a run-in whith a whale shark there this July. I was staying at another resort towards the south end of the beach and was they only customer in the dive shop for 10 days...talk about excellent service. PM me if you need more help on Panglao...

 

[Traminer]

Nice tips all... is Balicasag a day trip?

 

[jigo]

its only about 30 minutes from alona kew in panglao where most resorts are. you can easily do 2-3 dives a day there. best dives from alona are in balicasag.

 

[Traminer]

On a related topic, for Cebu - Tagbilaran, should I take Oceanjet Business Class, Supercat or Weesam? Thinking of comfort and not being packed like sardines on New Year Eve.

 

[pakman]

The Oceanjet regular seats were OK. didn't realize that they had a biz class!

 

[rhadamantus]

supercat stopped its cebu-tagbilaran route. weesam and oceanjet are more or less at par (weesam is a little peso cheaper).

and dont get a business class, it is just a 2-hour ride and regular seats are okay. besides, they do not overbooked. everybody gets assigned to a seat. they may ask you to leave ur handcarried luggages outside the boat to control the stuff that are brought inside the passenger area.

 

[nicke]

Oceanjet bizclass was well worth the extra fee..
Got some food, a huge seat and a nice movie to watch

I stayed at Alona Tropical, nice place with very nice crew, went diving with Sea Explorers - Perfect service.