Elegant is the word that comes to mind when thinking of the Eagle Point Resort, Maybe not the crazy ride in the taxi to get there, but the resort itself was quite nice. NOTE: Riding in any taxi in the PI is scary. You can't get around it. But, since the PI has some of the BEST diving in the world, deal with the taxi issues…I suggest dramamine and a blindfold..lol!

So as soon as you get there, a "bellhop" takes your bags and shows you to your room. It was a little bit of a walk plus stairs, but nothing tough divers like us can't handle:) The rooms were quite spacious! I wasn't rooming with anyone so I really had a ton of space all to myself:) The bed was nice and comfy. You could have a massage therapist come to your room. There was a balcony/patio with an amazing view of the ocean. That's a view that never gets old to me! Then there was a descent size bathroom as well. Compared to other resorts I've been to, it was big. Now the ONLY issue had was with the pumping. Apparently, my toilet had a mind of its own. No one else had issues just me. I guess I'm just the lucky one that enjoyed a room with a finicky toilet (-_-) .

The resort has a pool and recreational area for your non-diving time. I enjoyed a few days of just laying out in the sun, had a few dips in the pool, and played a few games of pool in the game room. One really cool aspect of this resort was a separate "pool". This was full of ocean water. They had a few groupers and baby black tips in this pool. You could snorkel in there. It was pretty neat! I believe they also offer other activities such as kayaking, but I did not do any of that.

I was worried about the food in the PI (mind you, this was my very 1st dive trip to the PI..Now I KNOW there is really good food there!) The restaurant was one of the reasons that the word "elegant" came to mind. The decor was inviting, the wait staff was kind, and the food was yummy. Again, the PI has some of the most delicious fruit on the planet. Obviously, they will serve various seafood dishes (I'm not a really a seafood person, but some of the fish I've had in the PI was mouth-watering!). And they throw in a few "American dishes" to please folks like me.

The dive shop was part of the resort as well. They took very care of our gear overnight, and placed it on the boat in the morning. It's been so long since I've done this trip I don't really recall how long it was to the dive sites. I do remember us just doing a surface interval on an island/in the boat on one occasion. So, that dive day it must not have been worth the ride back to shore. I do remember that we had gotten cold (our group lives on a tropical island…we get cold easily). So, after that, the boat crew brought us hot tea to have after each dive so we could warm up:) The critters you can see on this trip include ribbon eels, leaf fish, frog fish, blue-spotted sting rays, nudibranches, pigmy seahorses, sea horses, turtles, etc. The only thing I didn't care for about the diving was the size of the boat. I felt like it was too small especially after I went on other trips to the PI and could compare.

SHORE DIVING: You can shore diving from Eagle Point Resort! I mean, right there! Very easy access and lots of critters! We did day and night dives from the shore!

Evolution took care of our accommodations, diving, food, everything! i really liked how everything was very close. Our rooms had 2 big beds, one small bathroom, and plenty of drawers to put our clothes and other items in. I like how they had a bucket of water right outside the door to clean your feet off before you entered. There was also a small table outside our door on our "porch". You could hang clothes to dry. Again, my biggest appreciation was that once I stepped out of my door, it was just a few yards to my dive gear, the restaurant, an the boat.

The dive guides did an excellent job. They cleaned our gear, brought our gear to the boat every morning, took care of our gear at night, The boats were a little different from others I've been on in the PI. They were still spacious. The crew took your gear from you before you climbed the ladder to get back on the boat. There was water and tea/coffee served on the boat.

The restaurant had a nice variety of food. The menu had seafood choices, burgers, tacos, and it seems like more elegant choices for dinner. They offered a "special" each night. However, this establishment was at a different end of Malapascua than TSD. So, there were a few other restaurant choices. But, we mostly ate at our resort. There was also a place for really good massages like 2 doors down.

This dive operator/resort made everything convenient and enjoyable:)

How would you like to wake up to THRESHER SHARKS, swim UNDER an island, and do night dives with blue ringed octopus? Uh, YES PLEASE! SIGN ME UP! Oh wait, I've done this trip twice. For me that's pretty crazy because I'm cheap and have too many destinations I want to go in the world. It has to be a very special place to get me to pay to go back again…Malapascua IS that kind of a place:)

First thing to know about Malapascua is that it does take a bit of travel to get there: At least 2 flights (Manila and Cebu for me), then a very long taxi ride (at least 2.5 hours, I can't remember exactly), then a short ferry boat ride to take you to the island.

Second thing you should know is that Malapascua (or any tiny island in the PI for that matter) is not extremely modern in the sense of banking. Make sure you do all of your money exchanging in Manila at the airport. There will be no banking/atm on Malapascua. You can use a credit card at the resorts, dive shops, and most restaurants, but they charge at least 6%. It's better to have cash.

Now to the BEST part…..THE DIVING :D EVERY morning we got up around 5:00am to dive with THRESHER SHARKS! Out of the 2 weeks I've spent in Malapascua, there was only one shark dive that I did not see the sharks. There was still stuff to look at even though the sharks did not come. So, it wasn't a wasted dive. In fact, that is where I found my first ever sea moth! After the shark dive, we went back to the resort for breakfast. then 2 more dives in the morning/afternoon. Either come back for lunch or pack lunch on the boat and dive kinda far from shore. And, if you're like me and LOVE night dives, that is also an option.

Monad Shoal is the name of the cleaning station that the sharks come to. However, this last trip I went on they took us to a new spot. It was even better than Monad Shoal! I had 3 threshers swim right in front of me!!!! Seriously, it. was. AWESOME!!! The island you can swim under is called Gato Tunnel. After you swim under, you can look around for frogfish, sea horses, pigmy sea horses, pipefish, sea snakes, cuttlefish, etc. All of the other dives include the small animals I just mentioned. And another amazing aspect of the PI is how much life and color you see in the ocean. There is one dive in Malapascua that has a reef covered in the most gorgeous soft coral ever. No dive in Malapascua was disappointing. Each one had something to offer.

I do have to give a special shout out to the night dives. If you want to see a blue ringed octopus, night diving is a must! BTW the first day (of my 2nd time to Malapascua) I got on the boat and said, " 500 PESOS (about $13 US) to the one who finds me a blue ringed octopus!!!" Guess who those guides came swimming after EVERY TIME a blue ring was found:) I spent about 20 minutes with my first blue ring…I just got goosebumps writing that!!!! I saw 3 altogether:) And yes, each dive guide got the 500 peso blue ring tip because they were both awesome:) So not only did I get to dive with one of the cutest, coolest, deadliest critters in the ocean, I also saw so many crab species in was crazy! Plus there were sea horses, cuttlefish (one as tiny as my thumb nail), and mandarin fish too!

I feel as if Malapascua has such a huge variety to offer. I try to base my trips on getting to dive with some type of shark species along with the awesome macro stuff:) I honestly cannot recommend a better place for you to dive:)

Truk Lagoon is not known for it's marine life, but obviously the shipwrecks. It's possibly the number 1 wreck diving spot in the whole world. I dove it this summer and can totally see why! First of all, I usually go on trips to see an exotic shark species. That is what draws me in. And, I actually did get to dive with my 8th shark species, a zebra shark, during my trip at Truk Lagoon. But, I also knew that I had to dive the number 1 wreck diving spot even if I wasn't promised a shark. Some of the other marine life included spotted eagle rays, jellyfish, eels, and nudibranches. Again those were not the cause of your breath being taken away. It was the magnitude of the ships, the ammunition left behind, the gadgets found in the ships that would've been used by the crew, and just the sobering reality that you are diving a gravesite. i am not one to take human life lightly. So, for me seeing the skull embedded into the ship was quite the experience. Not only do you have to swim up into a somewhat small, dark, secluded area to see it (kinda made me a little claustrophobic, and I'm not usually like that), but again knowing that was a life just made it a little bit surreal.

Let's just say I swam through a betty bomber, torpedo holes, and down to the million dollar wreck known as the San Francisco! Missiles, tanks, land mines, and much more are still there for us to dive with. That was my deepest dive ever. Extremely EPIC!

No matter where you stay, Truk Lagoon needs to be on your bucket list!!!!