Magic Oceans Dive Resort, Bohol

I loved my stay at Magic Oceans in Anda, Bohol. It’s about 2.5 hours from Panglao airport, and it’s so worth the trip! The vibe is super quiet and relaxed—never saw any other boats on the reef except ours, which was really cool. The dive center is spacious with plenty of room to gear up. While there’s no dedicated camera room, they’ve set aside some benches specifically for cameras, so that worked just fine. The boats are big with lots of space and shade, plus there’s a toilet onboard, which is always nice. We had fresh fruit with tea, coffee, and water between dives, which made the surface intervals really chill. The entry is a giant stride, and getting back on the boat is super easy with the stairs. The diving here was awesome! You can choose from walls, muck diving, or coral gardens, and the wall dives were insane—so much color and marine life. One of the dives had a really strong current, which made for an epic drift dive. Most dive sites were just a 10-minute ride from the resort, so you’re in the water pretty quick. Anda has just come into my top 5 sites in the world! Food was a highlight too! It’s all family-style dining with your dive group, but if you want a private table, you can ask for one. They went above and beyond for my gluten and dairy allergies. I even got crispy fried food and tempura veggies, which almost never happens with my restrictions. The rooms were super comfy and spacious, with big lounging chairs and a huge bathroom with solid hot water and complimentary toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body wash). I had an ocean view with lush forest right in front, and it was so peaceful. There’s a sandy oceanfront area with lounge chairs and plenty of shade for chilling when you’re not diving. There are hammocks around the resort too. Overall, I had an amazing time here and would definitely come back!

Magic Oceans was a perfect spot for our family to gather and enjoy diving for beginners and experienced divers. The staff was very friendly, attentive and ready to make our stay wonderful. Shout outs to LeeAnn who was with us for the whole time diving and touring. She was in tune with what we liked to do and was a great guide. Jamie, the manager, was personable and helpful too. The rooms were comfortable--beds and A/C- and were quiet. The gardens were really lovely. The dive shop was large and well-equipped and the dive boats were awesome! So comfortable with shade, good places to sit and easy on and off the boat. The diving was special--the diversity was great--we saw lots of nudibranchs, turtles, frogfish, cuttlefish, eels, sea snakes, shrimp, electric clams, gorgeous coral. Not the place to see sharks but loads of smaller things. We would go back--beautiful spot and safe. Night diving was also awesome!

I really enjoyed my five night stay at Magic Oceans. The staff were fantastic and very responsive to meet requests. Dive guides varied from good to excellent. Don't miss the night dives on the house reef: I went every night! Three boat dives are offered every day plus a guided shore night dive. I rented equipment which was good quality and set up for me (I checked setup); you can set up your own equipment if you wish. Dives were drift dives along a wall with plentiful varied hard and soft corals, sponges and anenomes. Challenging to hunt for small creatures when currents are strong! Fish life was pretty good, perhaps due to less local fishing pressure, but not a focus. The bungalows were spacious, simple and comfortable; I especially appreciated the supportive bed and nice balcony with big drying rack. Food was plentiful but too rich and salty for my taste. I had an excellent massage. Dive jetty was destroyed in the typhoon so we had to wade to the well-set-up boat, but rebuild should be completed soon since they are working day and night tides permitting! The resort pool and grounds are beautiful and well-designed. Caveat: if you have any mobility issues this would not be a good choice.

Magic Oceans is the sister resort to Magic Island. Most people spend a week at each dive resort. Magic Oceans is a bit newer and larger than Magic Island. There are a few more guests, but it does not seem crowded. The rooms and bathrooms are also newer and larger than the ones at Magic Island. Just like Magic Island, the staff is amazing. Within a day or two, the kitchen staff will greet you by name.The dive staff is also great. Shout out to LeAnn - she's a great dive guide. The house reef is a bit more difficult to access due to tidal variations. The real draw for Magic Oceans is the muck diving where you will see ever imaginable tiny critter. Secret Place at first glance seems like a barren sandy bottom. A closer look yields frog fish the size of small coins, flamboyant cuttlefish, shrimp, nudibranchs and octopus. It was such a great dive site that our boat group chose to go there three times during the week. The food was also very good and varied. We would absolutely go back again!

I had a very enjoyable stay at this resort. The diving was wonderful -- better than what I experienced in other Philippine diving (Dumaguete and Puerto Galera). The reefs were much healthier here and there was more diversity of fish and invertebrates. (I give "marine life" 4 stars only because marine life in the Philippines is limited in general -- mostly small stuff. This has nothing to do with the dive resort or location).The dive operation was well run -- skilled, helpful staff and a sizable, well-organized area for gear storage and clean-up. The bungalow I stayed in was delightful, the grounds of the resort were lovely and the meals were tasty. The dining room and bar staff were very friendly and accommodating. There's a nice little village nearby to visit via a short tuk-tuk ride. All in all -- terrific diving and a lovely resort.

Magic Oceans Dive Resort is situated on the more remote western side of Bohol Island, about 2 hours by road from Tagbilaran City. Tagbilaran City can be reached by OceanJet Ferry which sails out of Cebu City 13 times day with a transit time of 2 hours. In my opinion, the added transfer time is a good investment if you want to avoid the crowds and clouds of bubbles in the water. Not once while I was diving with Magic Oceans, were we joined by a boat full of scuba divers from another resort. This may, however, have been a function of some choppy sea conditions which did interfere with boarding and disembarking from the dive boat on several occasions while I was there, despite the fact that the resort keeps its own jetty.Magic Oceans Resort is not a large resort with only 16 rooms and for this reason, it keeps its charm. The service from the resort staff felt genuine and they were friendly, attentive and nothing was too much trouble. I liked the way they remembered everyone’s names. You just can’t get that in larger resorts. The traditional style Cabana’s are modern, spacious, comfortable, well maintained and came with all the amenities that one might wish for. Coffee and tea making facilities, a safe box, writing desk and air conditioning. There was also a terrace outside the front door with 2 seats and a coffee table plus clothes drying rack. There was no television provided, but the internet worked very well in all parts of the resort, so streaming video to my iPad was not an issue. In my mind, one of the real highlights of the resort are the well established and lush gardens, with large trees and plenty of flowering shrubs and greenery everywhere you looked. I have included a photo of the resort from the seaside perspective to show how the foliage effectively hides most of the resort from the sea. The garden was obviously well maintained and I really enjoyed the secluded and private feel it promoted.There was a significant difference between my expectations of muck diving in Bohol Sea and that which I actually experienced while scuba diving with Magic Oceans Dive Resort. When I read the diving information provided on the Magic Ocean website, it certainly mentioned diverse diving sites including muck diving, but all the sites, except one, that I visited during my 5 days of diving, featured drift dives along coral walls. There are macro subjects available but they are not as numerous and diverse as one might encounter in a more well known muck diving areas, such as Lembeh or Anilao for instance. So, if you are looking for real muck diving, then this area will probably not ring your bell too much. For hard and soft corals and drift diving along coral walls, then it is well worth a visit. The top of the reef, conveniently at a depth of 15 - 20 feet, was quite impressive with an abundance of diversely colored corals and quite a population of turtles. On one special day when I was doing a safety stop there, a Whale Shark cruised around us several times. Large marine life and Whale Shark sightings are not that common according to the staff at Magic Oceans, so I guess I just got lucky that day.The dive facilities were good with plenty of room to wash and store your equipment. The dive facilities could accommodate up to 35 divers, but while I was there, there were never more than 10 divers on the boat on any given day. The 5 rinse tubs were large, re-filled generously everyday and were designated specific to equipment, including one for camera‘s only. There was no air conditioned camera room but there were 4 small work stations along one side of the wall of the shower / rinse tub room. Each had its own light and electrical sockets but the air guns did not work. While I was staying at the dive resort, there was only one other large camera in use so the limited number of stations was not an issue in itself. I think its more of a reflection of the fact that the resort does not often accommodate many serious underwater photographers with large camera systems, at any given time. The dive boat too, was large and comfortable and even featured a good sized table upon which the camera’s could be stored. There was no large rinse tub provided however, which again indicates that the resort is not used to dealing with large camera rigs.The dive staff could have done more. They consistently gave good briefings and guided as best they could by pointing out subjects that they could, but there were just not enough macro subjects to point out. They did not want to seem to engage you in any way and kept to themselves on the dive boat and in the dive shop. I can not remember having a single one on one conversation with any of them about any part of my diving or photography, what my expectations were, or what I thought about a dive, or anything else for that matter. Also, they could have done more to help rig up and rig down equipment. The morning preparation involved every diver assembling their own BCD and Regulator on the tank which they then carried to the dive boat. It was the same thing after returning from diving, each diver was responsible for rigging down the kit and washing everything. I can’t remember the last time I had to do all of this and it is uncommon for diving resorts to work this way. They did their job, nothing more, nothing less. Because I felt like they did not go the extra mile for service, or go out of their way to help me in any way, I did not tip the dive staff. Sorry, but it was not earned. Also, the biggest team of divers that I had to dive with was 5 divers to one Dive Master. This was a little high and should be limited to 4 maximum in my opinion.The food was excellent and some of the best I have tasted in the Philippines. I was on a half board deal so I expected that the food would be served buffet style. I was happy to be completely wrong. A breakfast menu was provided which had a choice of about 8 different things, catering for all tastes. It was always served with fruit and the local Mangoes were my favorite. The orange juice was freshly squeezed and the coffee was real. For dinner, there were three courses and they brought up to 5 individual dishes for the main course to the table, in generous quantities, as appropriate to the number of guests seated, and you just helped yourself. I never heard anyone ask for more and the food was delicious.In summary, if you are looking for a cosy and comfortable diving vacation with a smaller travel camera, then Magic Oceans will no doubt suit you well. You will probably not need a wide angle lens because the diving is mainly drift diving along coral walls which will not disappoint you, but do not expect large marine life, beyond the size of turtles. The top of the reef is spectacular for diverse corals, color and small reef fish. You may want to do some homework on the weather conditions which prevail at the specific time of year in which you are planning to travel, especially with respect to sea condition. Magic Oceans Resort sits on the rugged coastline of the Bohol Sea, with little shelter from nearby outlying islands, so once the wind blows the cradle will rock. Magic Oceans have gone to the expense of installing a Jetty however, and I didn’t notice any other resorts out of Anda town, that had one as well. In this respect, they are probably better equipped to offer more diving comfort than other resorts in the local area.