Dauin was a bust compared to PG and Anilao. We stayed at El Dorado, which wasn't a great experience, and the dive operation there was a disaster.

Apparently El Dorado was overbooked, so they put two of our people in tiny un-airconditioned staff rooms. The resort was the most fly-infested place I've ever seen in my life. The best thing I can say about El Dorado is that the food was good, but it's hard to get enthusiastic about the food when your plate is covered with flies all the time.

But the dive operation was worse than a catastrophe. Of the three places our group travelled in the Philippines (Puerto Galera and Anilao were the other two), Dive Society was the only dive operation that was not well run and enjoyable. In fact, we would never stay at El Dorado again because of issues with their dive operation, the Dive Society. Unlike the other Philippine dive operations that were operated and staffed by Filipinos, Dive Society is owned by Europeans, and the divemasters were Europeans. Dive Society had promised a big boat that our group of 16 could dive on together, but the big boat was broke and they didn't seem too interested in fixing it. They advertised free nitrox, but their nitrox compressor was broken, and after a couple of days even their air compressor broke and they had to bring in tanks from another resort.

The dive boats were monstrosities that, despite their size, were uncomfortably cramped and difficult to enter the water from. I have a bad back and mobility problems, and when I explained this to the divemaster and asked for some help, he said okay, but he didn't really help very much. It wasn't until I exited that I realized that I could have entered the water from a ladder, which the divemaster apparently never thought of.

Boat dives were strictly limited to 60 minutes because they had to have the boat back for the next dive. I'm not making this up - they insisted on limiting dives to 60 minutes. During much of the time we were in Dauin, the weather was bad, so boat dives were limited, and most of us did shore dives on most days. There is a great dive at a nearby pier, but they take you there on a little jitney-type vehicle, where you then have to gear up and make a long walk with all your gear and cameras over broken terrain to make a shore entry.

Note: Dauin is 100% muck diving. To see coral reefs, you have to make boat dives to Apo Island several miles away. There is a protected marine sanctuary directly in front of the dive operation that offers great muck diving, but it also causes a problem. The dive boats can't enter the sanctuary, so they have to pull up on the beach about 100 meters north or south of the dive shop. After our first boat dive, the boat crew said they would bring our dive gear back. They did - by floating our tanks/BCs and dragging them through the water by the 2nd stage regulator and hose. When we noticed this, we ran out in the water and grabbed our gear and brought it back ourselves. There's no telling how many regulator hoses these guys have ruined by doing this.

A major irritant: The local politicians charge hefty fees for every dive, plus fees for taking a camera underwater, and they get a whopping $100 a dive for a video camera. The dive operators collect these fees when you check out. They are NOT included in your prepaid dive package, so be prepared for sticker shock when you check out.

The bottom line 1: my wife and I have dived with many dive operators over the 21 years we've been certified, and Dive Society is as bad as we've seen. We would love to return to Dauin for the great muck diving, but we will certainly not waste our money with the Dive Society.

UW Photography Comments: The dive shop had rinse tanks, but no rinse tanks on boats. We were there with a group of 16 underwater photographers, and the boat crews seemed perplexed at how to handle cameras.

We were told later by Filipino friends that there are much better dive resorts in Dauin. I wish we had stayed at one of these.

Jim, my friend, i cross fingers for you that everything will be ok with your back! I still want to dive with you some day!!!

Thanks, Patrick, I appreciate the kind words.

Jim, I'm pullin for you. Don't worry about your diving coming to an end. There is always a way to get in the water. My wife's back is pretty bad and she just sorta falls in off the back of the boats and puts her tank on in the water, much easier on the back. As we Boomers get older somebody like Peter Hughes will just add a hoist to the back of the boat so they will be able to lift our SS wheel chairs straight in. Of course the housing holder will be pretty pricey.
Cheers!
Steve

Hi Jim,

Too bad about the resort. Randy and I stayed at Atlantis Resort in Dauin a few years ago, and although it isn't our favorite place that we've stayed at; the resort was clean and comfortable, the dive operation was well run, and the divemasters and guides (all locals) were great! If you go back you might try them.

Good luck on your surgery.

Best,
Kathy

Thanks, Steve. Fortunately the places we usually dive are very helpful about helping me in and out of the water. In the Philippines, the boat crews were great in Puerto Galera and Anilao in helping me. Dauin was the only place where they weren't very helpful.

Kathy, some of our Filipino friends who met us in Dauin recommended Atlantis, saying it was much nicer than El Dorado. If we ever get back to Dauin, we'll definitely go with Atlantis.

But considering the lost time and extra expense of flying to Dumaguete/Dauin, I would stay at Puerto Galera and/or Anilao, they're both just fabulous beyond words.

Hey Jim...you forgot a few things!

1. You're charged for every drink...water included, despite having an all-inclusive package.
2. Packages are by the day...so if you miss a day, or only dive once one day, it counts as a full day.
3. Electricity kept going out...almost every day so the battery chargers would simply cook the batteries another few hours.
4. You either get your high speed wireless at the lobby or at the bar but not both places. You're billed for the internet despite an all inclusive package.
5. I can't swear to it but I think I had a couple of tanks make me a little nauseous (bad air)

While I had a great time, (you know I'd be happy in a deep mud puddle) I'd probably choose another location when I go back.

You're in our thoughts and prayers with your back, Jim.

I've stayed at Atlantis and it's ok. We did have an issue with the DM and safety on the boats. We had a couple who surfaced early in the dive due to low air and they were left to bob on the surface for 30 mins because the boat was moored already and they didn't want to leave the mooring line to pick them up. The other DMs finally swam out to get them ( they were an elderly couple). They used the big bangkas without a little skiff for emergencies.
Basically they assumed the current would carry everyone over to the boat in 45 mins except there was no current and it was a long swim. The dive planning and safety was not top notch for sure. Neither was the DM but she was later fired.
Funnily enough, we'd escape to El Dorado for the food at their restaurant.
When I stayed at El Dorado the time after, I never was in an overbooked situation and definitely never had the fly infestation issue. That is probably a new thing. Pity, but the food was the best of the 3 big resorts. Dive Society was ok but forgettable. I did my own spotting and they left me alone so all was good. Never had a bad air fill.
As for the park fees, I was there way back in the 90s when Ducomi was open for everyone. Then 9/11 happened and all ports had to be closed off as per US restrictions, then only the last 2 years did they open it up again.
Jim are you sure the camera fees were $100 per dive or PHP100? That's a big difference. Basically the locals realized that they had a popular area that was marked off as no fishing zones. None of it was really scientific (SPAG areas etc). Then the mayor saw how many people brought big cameras down and figured if they pay thousands of dollars for those rigs, what's a few hundred pesos in fees? Then the fees for camera, diving and existence were added on gradually.
Another place I stayed at was the Pura Vida. This was the newest of the 3 resorts and I liked it best of all of them, especially the dive ops. Note they are all foreign owned dive ops so you will always have the occasional grumpy euro dm with the local guides being much more congenial. Problem with many of those euro DMs are they have not much experience in critter diving, much less photographers. If I had a dollar for how many times they pointed at Volitans and turtles when I had my 100mm or macro lens video on? While I like the look of Bangkas, it's definitely not the most efficient or easiest way to transport divers. That gangplank walk of death to get up to the big ones with camera in tow is not fun!

Ce4jesus
To be fair, hotels all over the world normally charge $20-30 for internet service. It's an added service (even if we feel it's a necessity nowadays ). The all inclusive packages normally list what is given and what isn't. Normally you don't have drinks & beverages written down as included, except maybe at meals. I'd ask your organizer for the original stipulations and if it does say drinks are included, then make an issue by stopping payment on the credit card.
Bad air is inexcusable but since the power outages are probably not in control of the resort, even though they should have a back up generator for emergencies (and despite our priorities, I'm told charging batteries isn't one of them?)
In my opinion, Ducomi is the only great site to dive at Dumaguette. The other sites are ok but nothing special. Apo Island marine sanctuary is nice too but it's not the fishiest area in the region (let's be real in saying the local fishermen have done a thorough job of removing every scale). Balicasag, Bohol and that area has more fish and variety of diving. Even Verde Island in PG is better than Apo Island. Oh are they still talking about thresher sharks around Apo Island?

Drew, I can't remember what the fee was for still cameras, but they definitely told us US$100 for a video camera, and I think that was per dive. And they said that "people are watching." So Deborah left her video camera in the room and took a few little video clips with our Fuji E900.

So really, I can't figure why anyone should waste their time in Dauin when there are so much better accommodations and diving elsewhere in the Philippines. I won't name names, but whoever decided that our group should spend over half our trip diving days in Dauin at El Dorado made a huge mistake, and that's all I'll say about that.

And Gary really would be happy diving in a mud puddle if there were a couple of critters in there!

I think you are talking about Apo Island Sanctuary regarding that fee, which really is for doco and promotional stuff but they skin everyone who pops by with a camera. They asked me if my camera was video or still... PHP 300 or PHP3000... STILL camera sir!
Here's the costing FYI:


The fee is suppose to be per dive but they collect per day unless they really don't like you. I bought the fee collector a pizza at Liberty's so I sorta got left alone on my thresher shark breach hunt. It's a great place to get lost though. On the island there's no electricity until the evening for a few hours when I was there. Amazingly, I didn't miss it much. Definitely a model for sustainable living