Hippocampus Beach and Dive Resort Reviews & Specials - Bluewater Dive Travel

Hippocampus Beach and Dive Resort

4.75
(1 REVIEW)

 

Destination: Philippines

Bounty Beach, Barangay Logon, Daanbantayan, Cebu, 6013 Malapascua Island | Room + breakfast only + 2 dives from $126++/ppn

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Hippocampus Beach and Dive Resort Quick Pitch 

Spacious and stylish, Hippocampus provides comfort in a beautiful natural setting. Deluxe rooms boast pristine beach views, while the on-site dive center makes it easy to enjoy the underwater world.

 

Quick Information 

  • No of Rooms: 18
  • Dive Center: On-site
  • Amenities: AC, ensuite bathrooms, private verandahs, wifi, bar, island excursions, Nitrox
  • WiFi: Yes, free
  • Nearest International Airport: Mactan Cebu International Airport
  • Airport shuttle: Yes, surcharge
 

 

How to Get There

Located on Bounty Beach on Malapascua Island; the resort can arrange private road and water transfer from the Mactan International Airport.  

 

Dive Overview 

The Philippines are home to a dense population of marine life, boasting colorful reefs and incredible macro life. Malapascua, in particular, boasts encounters with thresher sharks and schooling hammerheads, making this area of the Philippines very special.

 

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Accommodations

Types of Rooms, Amenities and Photos

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Hippocampus Resort Accommodation Overview 

Several room categories are available, i.e. deluxe rooms with all amenities like silent split aircon, hot shower, ceiling fan, minibar/fridge, safe and a prime beachfront location with direct view and access to the ocean or comfortable superior rooms with aircon, hot shower, minibar/fridge, safe and garden view.

Also available are several simple economy or standard rooms with electric fan only. All rooms have private, European style bath and insect proof screened windows.  Furnishing is in colonial style and includes a spacious double bed or alternatively two single beds.

A communal power network or the resort's own noise proof generators supply electricity around the clock, voltage is 220 volts and rooms have Philippine and European power outlets. Hippocampus uses its own small waterworks in the island interior which supplies almost drinking water quality (not self-evident on Malapascua!). WiFi internet access is available for guests without charge.

 

Hippocampus Resort Standard Room  Hippocampus Resort Superior Room

Standard (LEFT) & Superior (RIGHT) Rooms

Hippocampus Resort  Hippocampus Resort Deluxe Room

Deluxe Rooms

 

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Resort Facilities

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Hippocampus Resort Dining Hippocampus Resort Bar

 

Hippocampus Resort Features

  • Air conditioning
  • Free Wifi
  • Restaurant
  • Bar
  • Laundry
  • Room service

 

Hippocampus Resort Food & Drinks

Hippocampus Bar and Restaurant is small but mighty, located directly on the beach, you can enjoy your ala carte breakfast, lunch, or dinner with the sounds of the sea in your ear. Try our inspiring cocktails during happy hour when it's buy one get one free from 4pm to 7pm every day! The cocktail menu was created by Mixologist, Fred Obach from Cebu City who  trained our staff on proper mixing techniques and bartender etiquette. The food menu was created by an American chef named Jonathan Stoffregen who consulted with us for more than 6 months. This consultation included menu creation, training for our staff, and quality control and hygiene. The menu consists of European, American, and Asian dishes with some grilled options and special fresh fish dishes which change with the catch! On top of this, Hippocampus hosts excellent live music shows every Wednesday and Saturday nights from 7pm to 11pm. See you there. 

 

Hippocampus Resort Activities

  • Diving
  • Snorkeling
  • Island hopping
  • Exploring the island

 

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Packages & Rates

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RATES & AVAILABILITY

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

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Dive Information

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Dive Overview

  • Throughout the Philippines and even South-East Asia Malapascua is known as a diver’s highlight. Diving season is all year round. All the small marine critter South East Asia is famous for, like numerous nudibranch species, crabs including the rare harlequin shrimp, ghost pipefish, frogfish, various seahorses and Mandarin fish are very well represented around the island. Good dive sites to look for these Philippine specialties are Lapus-Lapus, Bantigi or Chocolate island. But Malapascua is also the place in the Philippines to look for larger fish.
  • Calanggaman island, about 60 min by boat, offers superb walls and mostly excellent visibilities. Larger pelagics like eagle ray, tuna, mackerel or trevally are frequently seen.
  • Gato Island, a marine sanctuary, about 45 min by banca from Bounty beach, is a superb critter place but also breeding ground of black-banded sea snakes and home to a large population of grey bamboo and white tip reef sharks, which can be easily observed. More experienced divers may cross the small island in an underwater tunnel.
  • Monad Shoal, a sunken island, 30 min by banca, is the place to look for large pelagics like tuna or barracuda. There is an excellent Manta ray cleaning station and the site is world famous for daily sightings of Thresher sharks, which ascent from deep water to their cleaning stations at about 22 m early every morning.
  • Large wrecks like Dona Marilyn Ferry, sunk in a typhoon in 1986 and now lying in a depth of 16 to 32 m, complete the picture of Malapascua as a top diving destination.
  • You can read a detailed guide to diving Malapascua on our sister site, the UW Photography Guide

 

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Dive Center Information

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Hippocampus Resort's Devocean Dive Shop Hippocampus Resort's Devocean Dive Shop

 

Hippocampus Resort Dive Center Overview

Diving is operated by the in-house dive shop, Devocean Divers (PADI). They are a well experienced and well-respected dive shop here in the Philippines, and continue to build their reputation on high-quality service and fun atmosphere!

All dive trips depart and return directly at the resort and include boat trip, weights, tank, and rinsing of the equipment. Tanks (also Nitrox is available) are silently filled  at the back of the resort and loaded together with the equipment.

Dive guides are typically very experienced local divemasters, who know the specialties of Malapascua’s underwater world extremely well. Courses up to divemaster level can be taken in different languages, including English, French, German, Dutch and Filipino. Diving is generally done in small groups of about four to six and safety is a priority!

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Other Information

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Practical Information

  • Electricity: 220 V
  • Time zone: UTC+8
  • Languages: Filipino, German & English
  • Accept Credit Cards?: Yes, Master Card & Visa

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Got Questions? Ready to Book?

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

And let us book your dream vacation!

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Underwater Gallery

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Coming Soon! 

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Reviews (1)

5
4
5
5

Malapascua is a haven away from the bustle that is the Philippines urban life. The picturesque beaches are lined with resorts and the sleepy interior houses the resort workers. And somewhere on the idyllic strip of sand is a laid-back resort that is both a sleepy tropical island destination and the ideal launching point for the area's world-class diving; Hippocampus.

You cannot mention Hippocampus without mentioning the food. Its inspiration comes from a number of European countries fused with Filipino cuisine. The result is delicious and possibly the best on the island. I still remember the Bruscetta. Yum!

We were there for 4 days with one purpose: to dive. Neighboring SeaQuest divers came to our room, grabbed our gear and took care of everything from there on. There is no shortage of help in the Philippines, making short work of the gear-rinsing tasks at the end of the day. Our favorite dives were the house reef with its muck critters, Deep Rock with loads of soft coral and pygmy seahorses, and of course the thresher dive. It was my first experience with Filipino diving and it was spectacular.

Getting to Hippocampus means jumping in a taxi and heading north to Maya which is about 3 hours away. From Maya you will catch a traditional banka style water taxi that will drop you off on the beach in front of Hippocampus. One word of caution: there are no ATM's on island and you are not allowed to tip by credit card, so bring plenty of cash to cover your stay.

Visited on 08/2014 - Submitted on 09/01/2014

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