I'll be visiting Anilao with 5 friends (4 of them fellow divers and one snorkeler) and have been trying to finalise a place to stay. In the past I've stayed at Balai Resort and had great diving and really good food. That was quite a long time ago though. I was surprised to see on Tripadvisor that they were only reviewed once in 2014 and was not rated that highly amongst other resorts in the Mabini area. Have they gone down hill? Dive Solana seems to attract better reviews these days and while being more expensive does seem to offer a more upmarket service. Does anybody have an opinion one way or the other? How good is the dive operation at Solana? Is Balai still up to scratch?
Dive Solana or Balai Resort?
- Thread starter HKBruce
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Ben_ca
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I'm not sure... I'm in Manila right now and might get a chance next week to hit Balai. But as far as trip advisor I wouldn't take it as gospel. Balai is more of a "local" resort for the Manila crowd. It is upscale from the backpacker resorts but not as high as Solana. If I hear anything I'll let you know.
Hi Ben. Thank you for taking the time to reply and offer of further feedback.
Since posting the above, a different package altogether arose and I'll now be staying at Pier Uno with 5 friends. Not a resort I know anything about beyond their website and trip advisor reports but they were responsive online, resort looks fine and pricing seems competitive. I do find the notion of being charged a fee for being a photographer (US$5/dive) a bit odd but I gather from this forum that DM'ing in the area is something of a freelance industry and I guess they want to capitalise on their ability to find critters. Not sure I would accept it if I was planning a longer visit but their lower cost overall does compensate somewhat and some of my colleagues don't take photos so they will benefit.
I shall post something on here post-trip to let folks know how it went. Cheers for now.
Since posting the above, a different package altogether arose and I'll now be staying at Pier Uno with 5 friends. Not a resort I know anything about beyond their website and trip advisor reports but they were responsive online, resort looks fine and pricing seems competitive. I do find the notion of being charged a fee for being a photographer (US$5/dive) a bit odd but I gather from this forum that DM'ing in the area is something of a freelance industry and I guess they want to capitalise on their ability to find critters. Not sure I would accept it if I was planning a longer visit but their lower cost overall does compensate somewhat and some of my colleagues don't take photos so they will benefit.
I shall post something on here post-trip to let folks know how it went. Cheers for now.
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Hi Bruce... Look up aiyanar beach and dive resort... www.aiyanar.com or www.aiyanar.net
we currently have an offer for your market that you might like... Email me marco.santos@aiyanar.com for more information...
Warm Regards,
Marco
we currently have an offer for your market that you might like... Email me marco.santos@aiyanar.com for more information...
Warm Regards,
Marco
Thank you for the info Marco. I will take a look for my next Anilao visit.
I did promise some feedback on Pier Uno since that is where I ended up. A bit late but I've been busy!
Pick up from airport went smoothly. 6 of us in a reasonably comfortable van. Arrived at the resort late at night but was still greeted with refreshment. Check-in was quick. Rooms were basic but clean and everything worked and we did just book the basic rooms. Only glitch was that one couple were given a twin room instead of double.
Resort is clearly very popular with locals at the weekend for non-diving holidays. For the majority of our stay the other guests were Chinese from Mainland, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Was concerned to see a jet ski zipping about close to shore but this disappeared after the weekend. Resort has a nice pool for chilling out (plus one for training) and a verandah giving great ocean views. Food was basic buffet fare and very asian oriented (rice and meat) but that was the main clientele. Staff were very happy to find extra portions of vegetarian dishes and fresh fruit when this was in short supply. To be fare I hadn't specified in advance that I was vegetarian so don't consider this a fault of the resort. Biggest gripe with restaurant was that it allowed smoking at the tables and a lot of Chinese divers smoke.
Dive shop was spacious with lots of rinse tanks and covered drying areas. No specific camera area so did all my prepping in the room. Did have a partial housing flood and shop was quick to supply an HP air supply for drying things out. Diving was great but then Anilao is a great diving spot. Boat used (Banka) seemed a little small but it was just our group (max 6) going out each time so wasn't a hardship. Might be trickier had more of us been carrying camera gear as not much space for storage during transit. The $5/dive fee for carrying a camera didn't materialise so I was happy to put it toward a tip instead.
Overall the trip was good value and I'd recommend the resort to non-serious camera divers and mixed groups where non-divers are also present or not everyone wants to dive to the max. Pricing was very competitive in this respect. If you're particularly sensitive to cigarette smoke or looking for western style food then you'd best steer clear. All staff were helpful and friendly and our group had a great time. Had our group been all divers and/or heavily photography orientated I'd have probably gone for one of the other resorts that cater solely for this market.
I did promise some feedback on Pier Uno since that is where I ended up. A bit late but I've been busy!
Pick up from airport went smoothly. 6 of us in a reasonably comfortable van. Arrived at the resort late at night but was still greeted with refreshment. Check-in was quick. Rooms were basic but clean and everything worked and we did just book the basic rooms. Only glitch was that one couple were given a twin room instead of double.
Resort is clearly very popular with locals at the weekend for non-diving holidays. For the majority of our stay the other guests were Chinese from Mainland, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Was concerned to see a jet ski zipping about close to shore but this disappeared after the weekend. Resort has a nice pool for chilling out (plus one for training) and a verandah giving great ocean views. Food was basic buffet fare and very asian oriented (rice and meat) but that was the main clientele. Staff were very happy to find extra portions of vegetarian dishes and fresh fruit when this was in short supply. To be fare I hadn't specified in advance that I was vegetarian so don't consider this a fault of the resort. Biggest gripe with restaurant was that it allowed smoking at the tables and a lot of Chinese divers smoke.
Dive shop was spacious with lots of rinse tanks and covered drying areas. No specific camera area so did all my prepping in the room. Did have a partial housing flood and shop was quick to supply an HP air supply for drying things out. Diving was great but then Anilao is a great diving spot. Boat used (Banka) seemed a little small but it was just our group (max 6) going out each time so wasn't a hardship. Might be trickier had more of us been carrying camera gear as not much space for storage during transit. The $5/dive fee for carrying a camera didn't materialise so I was happy to put it toward a tip instead.
Overall the trip was good value and I'd recommend the resort to non-serious camera divers and mixed groups where non-divers are also present or not everyone wants to dive to the max. Pricing was very competitive in this respect. If you're particularly sensitive to cigarette smoke or looking for western style food then you'd best steer clear. All staff were helpful and friendly and our group had a great time. Had our group been all divers and/or heavily photography orientated I'd have probably gone for one of the other resorts that cater solely for this market.
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