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My Dive Map

Reviews (12)

Puerto Galera

5
5
4
4

Puerto Galera is a good place for nice and easy diving at a slow pace. It is much more developed than Anilao, which is just 1 hour away by boat, and the value proposition is completely different. Anilao has better marine life and critter diving, but Puerto Galera has more resort choices, non-diving options, dining options, and nightlife. If you are looking for a laidback place to relax and dive at a leisurely pace, Puerto Galera is for you.

There are plenty of dive shops and accommodations in Puerto Galera so it is easy to customize your trip to be whatever you want it to be. I prefer to stay in the areas of Big La Laguna or Small La Laguna, which are quieter than being in Sabang town proper. That way, I get to enjoy peace and quiet, and I can head to Sabang for a meal or nightlife. I highly recommend Captain Gregg's in Sabang for a hearty meal.

Puerto Galera gets deep very quickly so all the dive sites are only minutes from shore by bangka boat. The Alma Jane is a nice metal wreck in about 30m of water and very close to shore. It is covered in marine life and several schools of fish make their homes there. For exciting dives with strong currents and big schools of fish, take the 1 hour boat ride to Verde Island. Marine life is a combination of general reef fish (sweetlips, snapper, barracuda, parrotfish, etc.) and strange macro critters (seahorses, octopi, crustaceans, etc.)

Visited on 04/2010 - Submitted on 08/24/2014
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Solitude Acacia Dive Resort

3
4
5
3

Acacia is a higher end resort in Anilao. Great location, nice people, and excellent diving.

Key highlights for me are as follows:
Excellent location: It is roughly in the middle of the stretch where all the dive sites are, making boat rides very short. The longest boat rides are about 15 min to Anilao Pier (to the north) and Secret Bay (to the south).
Beautiful grounds: The resort is named after a huge and ancient acacia tree in the middle of the property. It is beautiful, as is the rest of the property.
Flexible diving: I've hired private guides and boats and they will follow your schedule. Tell them what critters you are looking for and they'll help you find them.
Good food: Food is buffet style and is plentiful and tasty. The cuisine is Filipino food with some Western influence.
World class diving: read more about it on the Anilao page, but Anilao has one of the highest concentrations of marine biodiversity in the world. There is an amazing variety of fish and critters and Anilao is known as the nudibranch capital of the world, a name that is well deserved..

On the downside:
Cost: Acacia is on the higher end in Anilao and can be a fair bit more expensive than some of the other resorts in the area.
Rooms: The last time I went (2012), some of the rooms were starting to show their age. There was rust and general wear and tear on the furniture and fittings. Rooms are otherwise quite good and are clean with minimalist decor.

Visited on 04/2012 - Submitted on 02/06/2014
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