Crystal Blue Resort

(21 REVIEWS)

A collage of images of Anilao's Crystal Blue Resort in the Philippines.

A team member stands in front of the entrance to Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

A spacious white building featuring a balcony, offering breathtaking views of Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines

Camera stations in the large camera room at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao.

Enjoy the charm of a large restaurant with wooden floors and a ceiling fan at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines

Platters of food adorn a table overlooking the ocean at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao.

A seating area on a deck overlooking the ocean at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao.

A woman snorkels in crystal clear water in Anilao, Philippines.

A map of dive sites adorns the dive shop wall over rinse tanks, looking out onto crystal blue water.

A dive guide helps divers try on masks at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao.

Relaxing room with two beds and a TV at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

A dive shop nestled on the shore of crystal blue waters at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

The dive shop with scuba cylinders and equipment rinse tanks at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao.

A diverse group of individuals gathered around a table, accompanied by a suited man, at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

A cozy wooden bench under a tree in front of a charming family villa at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

A modern bathroom at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines, featuring a toilet, sink, and shower.

A picturesque room with a thatched roof and a path leading to it, located at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

Breathtaking ocean and mountain view from patio at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

An air conditioned camera room with glass doors looking onto a garden.

Tables and chairs set up for dinner at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

Comfortable restaurant lounge area with ceiling fan and scenic patio at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

Vibrant spa room with colorful furniture and ocean view at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

An office and gift shop with a thatched and green roof, located at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines.

Crystal blue Resort, Philippines

Mabini, Batangas, Philippines | Full board + 3 dives from $330++/ppn

Crystal Blue Resort Quick Pitch

Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao, offers spectacular diving, amazing macro photography, knowledgeable guides, incredible cuisine, and comfortable ocean-view accommodations.

Quick Information

No of Rooms: 17
Dive Center: On-site
Amenities: AC, camera room with over 20 stations, large dive locker, Jacuzzi, massages, bar and more
WiFi: Yes, free
Nearest International Airport: Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Airport shuttle: Yes, surcharge

How to Get There

Crystal Blue Resort is located in the heart of Anilao known as Bagalangit, Mabini, Batangas, Philippines. Transfer from Manila to Crystal Blue Resort is easily arranged. The land transfer from Manila to the resort will take about 2-1/2 hours. Pickup can be from either of the two Manila airports (International or Domestic).

Dive Overview

Anilao is a world-renowned scuba diving destination known for its incredible biodiversity and stunning underwater landscapes. The area boasts an abundance of marine life, including over 90% of the world's known species of hard coral and countless fish species. Scuba divers of all levels can enjoy diving in Anilao, with shallow reefs for beginners and deeper sites for advanced divers. With its warm waters, excellent visibility, and unmatched underwater beauty, Anilao is truly a scuba diver's paradise.

[Read More: Anilao Dive Travel Guide]

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Accommodations

Crystal Blue Resort Rooms, Amenities and Photos

Crystal Blue Resort Accommodation Overview

The resort offers deluxe rooms, superior rooms, and a large family villa.

Family Villa

The Family Suites include two separate rooms with queen-sized beds. Air con for each room, a dining table, family area with center table and chairs, a private bath with hot and cold shower, refrigerator and is fully air-conditioned.

Superior Rooms

The Superior Rooms have their own private baths, hot and cold shower, dining table, closets, 2 queen beds with comfortable sheets, and fully air-conditioned. The balcony/lobby offers spectacular views of the property, ocean, and sunsets.

Deluxe Rooms

Featuring either one queen or two single beds with dining table, closets, private bath, air-conditioning, and balcony/grassy lobby.

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Resort Facilities

The resort is on a hill and involves climbing stairs

Restaurant Lounge Area (LEFT) & Spa (RIGHT)

Crystal Blue Resort Features

Jacuzzi
Bar
Restaurants
Coffee shop
Room service
Spa
Camera room

Crystal Blue Resort Food & Drinks

The chef's specialties are seafood, continental, oriental and Filipino cuisine, prepared in a professional-grade kitchen.
The food is served buffet-style and includes two to three choices for every lunch and dinner.
Coffee, tea and free-flowing water from our fresh water filling stations are always available in the dining room.
Hot water kettles are available in the office.

Crystal Blue Resort Activities

Scuba diving
Hiking
Island hopping
Kayaking
Spa treatment

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Package & Rates

RAtes & availability

For information on rates, availability, and to book, drop us an email at bookings@bluewaterdivetravel.com or call us at +1-310-915-6677 and we will gladly help you plan your dream dive vacation!

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Dive Information

Dive Overview

In a tropical, oceanside setting, Crystal Blue Resort finally offers a finer quality of lodging perfectly placed to experience Anilao's excellent scuba diving and underwater photography opportunities.

Crystal Blue Resort is conveniently located in front of Arthur's Rock Marine Sanctuary where scuba diving enthusiasts can have their once-in-a-lifetime underwater adventure.

You as our guest can enjoy the unparalleled beauty right under the Anilao sea.

The dive boats go out in the morning for two dives. After lunch, a single-tank afternoon dive is offered, with the option of a night dive. Most of the diving is to 70 feet or less, and dive times of 70-minutes or more per dive are common.

Marine Life

The reefs in Anilao are very rich - home to abundant marine life. Anilao is not a place to visit if you're looking for pelagics, but is heaven for macro photographers.

Divers can expect to find more nudibranchs than they could ever photograph in a single trip along with common sightings of blue-ringed octopus, frogfish, Ambon scorpionfish, pygmy seahorses, lionfish, hairy squat lobsters, mantis shrimp, harlequin shrimp, boxer crabs flamboyant cuttlefish and many more reef creatures.

There is a wide variety of hard and soft coral, sponges and reefs patrolled by schools of anthias.

Wide-angle photographers will find stunning, colorful reef-scapes, a wreck, batfish and even resident school of jacks.

Those who are lucky will find some of the rarer critters, including bobbit worms, hairy frogfish, wonderpus octopus, pipefish and even rhinopias.

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Dive Center Information

Crystal Blue Resort Dive Center Overview

Diving with Crystal Blue is a pleasure. Their valet-style approach means you don't need to handle your gear - the crew will have it on the boat ready to go for each dive.

Dives are made from the traditional Filipino bangkas (double outrigger boats) that accommodate 4 divers plus a guide, driver, and crew member. All dives are conducted as guided dives at Crystal Blue and our sought-after guides are the

best in Anilao. Professionally trained to find critters, assist photographers, and coordinate dive sites throughout the day and are trained to current PADI standards.

The dive locker is large with ample space for the staff to rinse dive gear daily and hang wetsuits. It also has an outdoor hot and cold water shower as well as dedicated camera rinse tanks.

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Other Information

Practical Information

Electricity: 220 volts
Time zone: UTC+8
Languages: Filipino & English

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Got Questions? Ready to Book?

Call us today at +1-310-915-6677 or email us bookings@bluewaterdivetravel.com

And let us book your dream vacation!

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Underwater Gallery

Coming Soon!

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Reviews (21)

debi

1 Reviews

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Overall Value

Accommodations

Marine Life

Food

I'd done my research, but still wasn't sure of what I would find at Crystal Blue/Anilao. I was not disappointed by the hotel, staff or diving. The diving was phenomenal and made up for the travel time in getting to Manila. This trip was part of the Blue Water spring photo workshop. This was the first visit to Anilao and first photo workshop that I have participated in.

Food - variety of food and quality was very good. Not five star meals, but very tasty and satisfying and plenty to eat after diving. Enough selection that everyone had something to enjoy, including vegetarians (and other food restrictions were accommodated). Open air dining room, and with fans/breeze very few bugs to annoy you. This is the only area that has wifi, but was also where people hung out between diving. Wifi worked very well while we were there, a number of people used skype/facetime to call home.

Rooms - Well maintained, and what you see on the website (superior). I'm used to sharing a king size, so the beds seemed pretty small, but with two beds, we used both. Large shower and enough space on the sink counter for our toiletries. no TV but didn't really need it or have time to watch anything. Massages were nice and cheap.

Diving - Great set-up for cameras (now I'm spoiled). Camera room with individual stations with AC and power at each station. Bring your camera down and dunk in 2 big rinse tanks that were for cameras only (another set on the other side for gear rinse), leave it on the table beside the rinse tank and your boat crew will take it to your boat.
Panga boats are a neat experience and crew helped you get into your gear, changed your tanks, and helped you get into the boat (with our without gear - preferred without gear), and handed down cameras. Helped you up the ramp to the boat ... helped with everything you wanted/needed. Went out for 2 dives morning and 2 dives for afternoon and sunset. or skip a dive and just let the boat know so they can be close to pick you up or drop you off.

Dive Guide - not a dive master, a guide. He helped you find all sorts of macro subjects. We would be working on a shot, and he'd be calling us over to another subject. Help set-up the subject for shots. I wouldn't have found half the critters I did without him, as he knew what could be found on the different dive sites.

Critters: ribbon eels, flamboyant cuttlefish, frogfish (multiple types and multiple fish), blue ring octopus, mantis shrimp (peacock, pink eared), pipefish, pygmy seahorse, ornate pipefish, crabs (orangutan, candy, …), filefish, gobies, shrimps… and nudibranch (lots of different nudibranchs)

The workshop was well run, and kept us hopping. Review photos between dives and review them as a group in the morning before diving. After lunch workshop on different topics, and mostly focused on macro as that was the majority of the subjects for the week. Afternoon/Evening after diving ask questions or get help from the pros from Blue Water and Crystal Blue's Mike Bartick.

Visited on 05/2016 - Submitted on 08/15/2016

Images

maryp

1 Reviews

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Overall Value

Accommodations

Marine Life

Food

We attended the Anilao Underwater Photo Workshop in April 2018. This was our first photo workshop experience and first trip to the Philippines. From my first contact until the very end my experience with Adam at Blue Water was great. In addition to the time at Crystal Blue Resort, we added a trip to Tubbataha. Adam made all of the arrangements, did lots of trouble shooting, and made sure that our needs were met.

Crystal Blue Resort was great. Every single staff member was attentive and as helpful as possible. I cannot say enough about how wonderful every one was. The hotel has many steep steps. Any time staff saw me on the stairs with some thing in my hands someone came to carry for me. There was a water cooler very close to our room and we filled our water bottles with cold water several times each day.

The rooms were well maintained and clean. The food was plentiful and always a good variety. I LOVED the fresh fruit that was always available and the desserts were wonderful and very creative. Dining room staff were attentive and accommodating. Wifi was available in the dining room/classroom area and worked well.

The workshops were well run and organized. The photo reviews were very helpful. Mike Bartick has a really good sense of humor and is easy to listen to. His knowledge base is amazing.

The camera room was also amazing.... every photographers dream. We are used to boats and resorts that treat cameras like an after thought. We were well and truly spoiled.

The diving did not disappoint. We were able to see the critters that Anilao is famous for. Our dive guide and boat men were outstanding. The dive guide found multiple unique critters on every dive. He was consistently patient while the photographers took the time they needed to get the perfect shot and made sure each person had something cool to see. The boat men handled cameras and scuba gear with care and made it look so easy. We appreciated the very low guest to dive guide ratio (3:1) that allowed us time for the photography. We did have a few dives in very heavy current that were more challenging than I would have liked.

We had a wonderful experience with both Blue Water and Crystal Blue!

Visited on 04/2018 - Submitted on 05/10/2018

steve.harms

1 Reviews

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Overall Value

Accommodations

Marine Life

Food

CBR is by far the best photography dive destination I've ever visited. The camera room is second to none and Mike Bartik is a master teacher and a wealth of knowledge on the critters in this area. I have three criteria for a good dive resort. The room needs to have a comfortable bed, air conditioning and enough water pressure to get shampoo out of my hear. All three were met.

The resort has one of the the most efficient diver operations I've experienced and the dive guides are expert critter finders. All of these things combined with an outstanding chef, excellent service and super friendly environment have moved CBR into the ranks of one of my favorite places to go. I absolutely plan on going back.

Visited on 04/2018 - Submitted on 05/11/2018

tedtim

Kanata,
Canada

3 Reviews

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Overall Value

Accommodations

Marine Life

Food

If getting there is half the fun, then being there is worth the trip. CBR is a wonderful place to be for diving and underwater photography.

Mike Bartick (otherwise known as Sir Mike of Blackwater) and the entire staff at CBR made this a trip to remember. Mike is a super enthusiastic individual willing to share his knowledge of the local critters and underwater photography. His enthusiasm for diving extends to the entire dive team from the hard working guys on shore through to the boatmen and our dive guide (Pong).

Diving is all from boats with a maximum of four divers per boat. My wife was concerned when she saw an image of the narrow ramp to board the boat, but that concern quickly faded the first time we boarded. The boat crew handles the loading of all dive gear and camera equipment. All of the dive sites were within a 20 minute ride.

Not to be missed is the option for the Blackwater night dive. A line is extended from a surface float with lights every 15 feet down to about 75 feet. Floating in then dark of night while in sight of the line and waiting for the strange night critters is an amazing experience.

And there are lots of critters. In other places we have visited the question my wife asks is usually ‘are we going to see a frogfish and a seahorse?’ Seahorses on almost every dive. As for frogfish, it is not how many you are going to see, but how many varieties on each dive.

For underwater photographers the camera room is well laid out with a separate station for each person including ample plugs to charge batteries.

Accommodations are quite comfortable. The resort staff is extremely accommodating and friendly. Service is excellent throughout.

The food is served buffet style with plenty of fresh choices at every meal. Always a good meal to be had.

When diving is done, take advantage of the spa for a very relaxing massage.

Transportation to/from Manila airport was easy. We arrived in Manila on a 4:00 AM flight and a driver was waiting for us as soon as we exited the arrivals area. It is about 2.5 hours from Manila to the resort.

Visited on 05/2019 - Submitted on 05/10/2019

Jaymack83

2 Reviews

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Overall Value

Accommodations

Marine Life

Food

Overall value was exceptional.

I was there for an underwater photography workshop, so spent a bit more time with the photo expert, Mike Bartik, than I otherwise would have if I were just going as a solo diver. He's a great guy and loves to share his knowledge. I learned a ton and really improved my underwater photography in just the 7 days I was there. If you ask Mike to give you constructive criticism, you get it. He doesn't tend to sugar coat things. If you're thinned skin, I could see him possibly coming across as harsh, but for someone like myself who is constantly trying to improve their photography, his criticism was invaluable.

The camera room is top notch. Everyone has their own individual cubby where you can setup your gear, leave equipment, etc and not worry about it between dives or be in anyone's way.

I've generally always had good boat crews, but this boat crew stood out. All of your gear was taken care of. You just had to get yourself to the boat for each dive. After the first day, your camera was loaded as soon as you brought it from the camera room, unloaded as soon as you landed, and your mask, fins, and BC were already setup and waiting on the boat.

Our dive guide, Jomer, was an all star dive guide. I was able to photograph a subject for 90% of every dive. If we wanted to see a particular critter (pregnant pygmy seahorse or brooding jawfish for instance), it was either the next dive or on the list for that day. As long as the divers communicated among themselves prior to the dive, we never felt rushed underwater. If I wanted to spend an entire dive with 1 subject, I could.

As for the accommodation, I rarely ever care about having a luxury room on a trip like this. I'm literally only in my room for 8 hours a day to sleep. So I just need a comfortable bed, a place to keep my things, and hot water for a shower. This didn't disappoint in that regard.

Aside from our feast on the last night which was phenomenal, I'd say the food was average. It was buffet style, so usually always had a steak, chicken, seafood, and vegetarian option. Nothing was bad, but then again, I wasn't asking the chef for their recipe either.

Visited on 05/2019 - Submitted on 05/21/2019

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