Trip Report Trip Report-Philippines-Puerto Galera-El Galleon/Asia Divers-April 1-14, 2019

[AlMitch]

If you are booked in for a Raja trip in Feb then I would always recommend to start the trip in Lembeh for a few days to acclimatize and get over jet lag.
If you wanted you could pair it with a few days in Bangka.
Yes Lembeh is mostly muck diving...but it is significantly better than the muck diving you are doing now in PG. And there are a few pretty reef dives in Lembeh too.
Then it is a direct flight from Manado down to Sorong.

 

[D_Fresh]

@Trailboss123 , You should try to get a dinner in at Tamarind, right next too Atlantis. Their steaks, ribs, and pretty much everything on the menu is excellent. There can be a bit of a wait sometimes, it's not a large place, but well worth it. It's my favorite restaurant in Sabang. Let us know what you think

 

[drrich2]

If you don't mind, post some pics of what it looks like walking around Sabang. Might help give a feel for what the place is like topside.

We ended up at the Atlantis Dive Resort and their Toko’s restaurant. Food was pretty good. Wife had a Greek salad and a plate of Spaghetti Aglio Olio. They had some Mexican on the menu and that sounded good, so I had the chicken burrito, which tasted more Asian than Mexican- but was good. Portions were pretty small.

I don't know how many of you guys spend time on the Quora forum, but I've been lately, and when a thread asks what Europeans find surprising when visiting America, one of the 'you can count on it' common items is that our food serving portion sizes are really large by many of their standards, to the point some are obviously offended by it.

Which has me scared of ever going to Europe. Don't mess with my groceries!

So I'm curious whether the small portion thing is something to do with Atlantis Dive Resort's restaurant, or the Philippine dining scene more generally?

Richard.

 

[Trailboss123]

@Trailboss123 , You should try to get a dinner in at Tamarind, right next too Atlantis. Their steaks, ribs, and pretty much everything on the menu is excellent. There can be a bit of a wait sometimes, it's not a large place, but well worth it. It's my favorite restaurant in Sabang. Let us know what you think

Others here have made the same recommendation- We will try and get over there.

 

[Trailboss123]

If you don't mind, post some pics of what it looks like walking around Sabang. Might help give a feel for what the place is like topside.

I don't know how many of you guys spend time on the Quora forum, but I've been lately, and when a thread asks what Europeans find surprising when visiting America, one of the 'you can count on it' common items is that our food serving portion sizes are really large by many of their standards, to the point some are obviously offended by it.

Which has me scared of ever going to Europe. Don't mess with my groceries!

So I'm curious whether the small portion thing is something to do with Atlantis Dive Resort's restaurant, or the Philippine dining scene more generally?

Richard.

I can only compare Atlantis with El Galleon. The portions of everything we saw coming out of the kitchen were much smaller compared to El Galleon. El Galleon is probably too much food, which is why we didn't do AI for lunch and dinner, as we had heard that ahead of time. The AI option comes with an appetizer, entree and dessert with lunch and dinner and the entrees are quite big by themselves. We figured we could just order a la carte and watch the caloric intake. It has worked well for us. To date, we have gone a la carte and had 12 meals each and a couple of desserts (lunch and dinners) and our food tally is $178 total for the two of us. So, roughly $7.50 per meal and we feel like we are eating a bit too much still. Again, we have largely eaten vegetarian, but not exclusively and haven't skimped.

I'll try and get some topside pics posted. Good idea!

 

[chillyinCanada]

I can only compare Atlantis with El Galleon. The portions of everything we saw coming out of the kitchen were much smaller compared to El Galleon. El Galleon is probably too much food, which is why we didn't do AI for lunch and dinner, as we had heard that ahead of time. The AI option comes with an appetizer, entree and dessert with lunch and dinner and the entrees are quite big by themselves. We figured we could just order a la carte and watch the caloric intake. It has worked well for us. To date, we have gone a la carte and had 12 meals each and a couple of desserts (lunch and dinners) and our food tally is $178 total for the two of us. So, roughly $7.50 per meal and we feel like we are eating a bit too much still. Again, we have largely eaten vegetarian, but not exclusively and haven't skimped.

I'll try and get some topside pics posted. Good idea!

How much more would it have cost you to go all inclusive vs the way that you have chosen?

 

[Trailboss123]

How much more would it have cost you to go all inclusive vs the way that you have chosen?

Logical question and one I have wondered myself since getting here. When booking originally, I didn't even ask, as I had already decided that I only wanted the breakfast included and then have the flexibility. I will need to contact Bluewater Dive Travel and ask and I plan to do that and will report it here when I get a chance.

 

[ReefHound]

Logical question and one I have wondered myself since getting here. When booking originally, I didn't even ask, as I had already decided that I only wanted the breakfast included and then have the flexibility. I will need to contact Bluewater Dive Travel and ask and I plan to do that and will report it here when I get a chance.

You should try to go into Sabang and sample some of the restaurants offering great food at half the cost of what you've been paying to have a fair point of comparison. I think the only outside dinner you've had was at Atlantis, an upscale resort? Try Papa's, Mangosteen, Tina's, Tamarind, Hemingway's, etc.

 

[Trailboss123]

If you don't mind, post some pics of what it looks like walking around Sabang

 

[Trailboss123]