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Anilao, Philippines

A GUIDE TO ALL THINGS ANILAO 


WHY DIVE ANILAO? 


Credited with popularizing diving in the Philippines, Anilao is a haven for photographers and fans of macro life, critters, and blackwater dives. Anilao is on Luzon Island, three hours south of the capital, Manila. The municipality is covered in sprawling jungle and surrounding resorts with plenty of stunning greenery. Known for its diverse reefs, fish, critters, and nudibranchs, Anilao attracts divers to its crystal blue waters year-round. 


ARRIVING AT ANILAO - HOW TO GET THERE


Visitors arrive at the Filipino- and English-speaking destination by first landing at Manila International Airport (MNL) and are usually met with a resort shuttle. The two- to three-hour ride from the airport brings guests to their resorts, liveaboards, and dive centers. Trips to Anilao are often combined with trips to Puerto Galera, Cebu, or Dumaguete.


DIVING IN ANILAO 


A typical day in Anilao includes two morning dives before returning to the resort for lunch. Then, guests spend their afternoon at their resort relaxing poolside or exploring the jungle. After, there is an option for two late afternoon dives and one night dive. Night dives are considered a must in Anilao as they do not have strict time constraints and usually take place from house reefs. For guests looking for adventure, resorts can arrange blackwater dives. 


    

Diving is made easy in the Filipino municipality—dive sites range from a 10- to 20-minute boat ride from most resorts. The healthy, colorful reefs keep divers in a state of awe, and the muck, blackwater, and night diving opportunities make them ready for more. Dives take place from bankgas, which are small boats that seat up to four divers and two to three crew members. The highly experienced crews keep divers safe while pointing out the vast marine life. Popular sightings include shrimp, crabs, nudibranchs, squid, cuttlefish, frogfish, pipefish, seahorses, wonderpus, blue-ringed octopus, and bobbit worms. With such unique experiences, Anilao is also beginner-friendly due to the often calm currents and shallow dive sites. 


While Anilao is known for its small marine life, larger beings like jacks, turtles, and giant seahorses can be spotted. Sites like Manitit Point have strong currents that bring in larger life like reef sharks, hunting barracudas, and giant and bluefin trevally. In deep waters, there are rare sightings of small whale sharks.


With stunning jungles on land, guests also flock to the soft coral forests, which range from 70 to 130 feet deep. The untouched corals feature rare critters like seahorses and rhinopias.


TOP DIVE SITES 


One of Anilao’s iconic dive sites is Twin Rocks, with vibrant life as shallow as 10 feet and as deep as 130. Photographers love this site for the macro life and wide-angle opportunities. Soft corals, jacks, jawfish, and more are just a few of the creatures spotted here.


Beatrice is popular with experienced divers who can brave the strong currents. With more wide-angle shots, Beatrice is known for swarms of anthias and stunning corals. Kirby’s Rock is another macro life mecca with a stunning wall and incredible visibility. For the muck diving fanatic, Secret Bay is a hot spot for mimic octopus, wonderpus, pipefish, and seahorses. Blackwater dive sites vary but spotting one-of-a-kind jellies, larvae, and invertebrates is a guarantee. 



DIVE CONDITIONS AND WHEN TO VISIT  


Waters are calm and warm year-round, ranging from 77°F to 81°F (25°C to 27°C) and a visibility of 40 feet to 50 feet (10m to 15m). The main season is from October to early June, with November and December as the peak. April and May tend to be the most crowded months for resorts. Monsoon season is in July and August, but dive sites can still be accessed.


WHERE TO STAY

Crystal Blue Anilao

Crystal Blue Anilao is set in the bay area and features accommodations for families, groups, and couples. Guests praise the resort for their dive facilities, which include a covered dive deck, rinse tanks, showers, camera rinse tanks, and a camera room. 


Buceo Anilao
      

Buceo Anilao features a PADI-certified dive shop with Nitrox and air fills. The camera room includes eighteen workstations with air guns, rinse tanks, lockers, matted desks, and shelves. In addition to the iconic muck and macro diving Anilao is known for, Buceo brings guests to wreck and cave dives as well as weekly dive trips to Verde Island. 


While Anilao itself doesn’t have much outside of diving and watersports, the resorts keep guests busy with karaoke, bars, spa treatments, and pools. 


Ready for your Anilao adventure? Book with us today!

Scandi Divers - Puerto Galera, Philippines

Scandi Divers & Campbell's Beach Resort - Puerto Galera, Philippines

Seattle Dive Show Special

We have just returned from the Seattle Scuba & H2O Adventure Show with some great offerings, the Scandi Divers and Campbell's Beach Resort are two great deals. If you are looking for friendly staff, clean rooms, good food, and solid dive teams, this is your destination. And the resorts serve Starbucks coffee direct from Seattle…! How good is that? Ask for our Dive Show Discount.

We have two packages, 7 night or 12 night, including standard room accommodations, meals, and unlimited diving at either resort. Room upgrades from Standard are available. 

  • 7 Nights with All Meals $1,269 USD per person. Nitrox add $95. Single diver add $200
  • 12 Nights with All Meals $1,995 USD per person. Nitrox add $135. Single diver add $350 
  • Ground Transportation $153 USD One Way for 6 PAX

Atlantis Resorts - Puerto Galera & Dumaguete, Philippines - DEMA Deal

Atlantis Resorts DEMA Deal

Our thanks to Kristi Marchetti with Atlantis Resorts for this great DEMA Dive Show Deal. Book a 7 night stay at either Atlantis Dumaguete or Atlantis Puerto Galera and get 2 additional nights FREE.

These resorts treat you like you are on a liveaboard with up to 5 dives a day possible.

Dumaguete travel dates valid Jan 1 - Feb 13 or May 23 - July 4 or Sept 12 - Dec 31, 2015. Must book by Nov 30, 2014.

Puerto Galera travel dates valid January 1 - December 31, 2015. Must book by November 30, 2014.

  

Aiyanar Beach & Dive Resort - Anilao, Philippines

Anilao is one of the most popular diving destinations in the Philippines. Strategically located in Mabini, Batangas, only 2-3 hours drive from Metro Manila, Anilao is known to be home to the beginning of a majority of the diving population in the Philippines. Divers who take their open water course in Manila or in any location within Luzon most likely have their first taste of real open water in Anilao. In addition, it's accessibility to Manila makes it a favourite among weekend warriors and excursionists.

Decades ago, Anilao was merely a secret haven for locals. Today, resorts line the coast of Mabini catering to a myriad of clientele. It is a town built upon the love of diving. As such, development in Anilao strictly abides by the rules of conservation and sustainability. Locals proudly hold that Anilao has been a protected marine area since the 1970's, and are determined to keep it pristine.  

For those with a keen eye and a love for critter photography, Anilao delivers critter diving that rivals the best critter diving in the world. Sites such as the more recently discovered "Secret Bay", and the Anilao classic "Basura" offer critter diving that equals the shores of Dauin, and even Lembeh in Indonesia.

Aiyanar Beach and Dive Resort is our latest addition to the list of fin-tastic resorts in the Philippines. Our dive buddies at the resort are offering us a great discount package for the DEMA Dive Show taking place in Las Vegas November 19-22, 2014. We have a variety of packages including stays from 5 to 14 nights, with or without meals, and either 2 dives or 3 dives per day. Our typical 7 night package, full board meals and 12 dives is discounted to $1400 per person double diver occupancy.

If you love the macro or the majestic, Anilao has a dive site to fill your camera with photos. Book a trip to the Philippines…!

El Galleon Dive Resort

Asia Divers and El Galleon Dive Resort - Puerto Galera, Philippines

Asia Divers and El Galleon Resorts are located in Puerto Galera on the North East tip of Mindoro. Puerto Galera was originally a fishing community. Then in the 1980s, the Philippines Government discovered just how many species of fish and corals there are here and declared the entire area a Marine Reserve. Once a thriving fishing village, Puerto Galera soon became the premier scuba diving destination in the Philippines.

It was around this time that the El Galleon resort came into existence along with Asia Divers who have been catering for top class vacations ever since. The El Galleon resort is a premier diving resort just a couple of hours South of Manila, providing unashamed luxury at prices that most Westerners would expect to pay for a two star hotel. Hotel rooms in the resort start for as little as $56 a night.

The diving here is unquestionably the best of anywhere in Oriental Mindoro and some would say all the Philippines or Asia.

If you are looking for a beach vacation then come to El Galleon, the jewel of the Philippines, where the resort staff will do their very best to spoil you.

If you like to scuba dive, then let us tell you right away that our resort is smack in the middle of a marine reserve, created and protected by the Philippines government.

If you are looking for a romantic resort, this really is where y ou will experience the magic of the Orient. It's hardly surprising then that we are so popular with honeymoon couples here in the Philippines.

 

Our dive facility here in Puerto Galera is less than two years old and there is nothing like it in Asia! We have a huge private diving platform with a large pontoon at the end of it. No other dive shops or resorts in the area have this. Boats can easily dock on the pontoon making it easy for divers to get on and off the boats. Each diver has their own crate in the dive shop to store their gear. There are showers, rinse tanks, towels and drinking water right there. We also have a dedicated camera room with computers available for use and a rinse tank specifically for cameras. The dive deck has a lot of space, so even when the shop is busy you never feel crowded. It’s a very relaxed feeling, and you know that you’re being well looked after by the experienced diving guides and crew who are always there to help you with anything you may need.

We have some fin-tastic package prices with poolside rooms starting at $68 per night double occupancy, boat dives are $32 each, half board meal package is $30 per person per day. Add this up and two divers can get a package for $1535 for 7 nights, meals and 10 boat dives. Transportation from Manila is $310. Contact us for availability…and ask for our agent's discount on this package.

Photos and text courtesy of El Galleon Dive Resort and Asia Divers!

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