Dive Review of Activentures/Aquaventure Reef Club in
Philippines/Anilao

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Activentures/Aquaventure Reef Club, Apr, 2012, by Jason Marks, CA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 8 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 6545.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This trip to Anilao (my first to the Philippines) was just plain fun. Activentures, a tour company based in San Francisco, set our group of four divers up with a good local boat and two (count 'em two) experienced and super competent divemasters, John D. and Padoy F. They met us at the Manila airport and drove us the 2-3 hours down to the Anilao area, where they also stayed for the week. Their personalized attention, both during the diving and before and after, really made our experience special. We stayed at a well located lodge popular with Manila divers, Aquaventure Reef Club. A nice layout, great casual atmosphere and the friendly staff almost outbalanced the unexciting food and the rather old, spartan and in some cases smelly rooms. If (no, when!) I return to Anilao I will probably try another of the small lodges that line the shorefront (Activentures also works with other hotels.) Our eight days of diving (late April) were during the Philippine summer and before the typhoon season, meaning the weather was hot and dry with mild winds and mostly flat seas. Rides to the dive sites (5-30 mins) were easy, and there was no surge underwater. Vis varied but was quite good in general. Currents came and went with the tides; they were fairly strong at some of the best "wide angle" sites, like Beatrice, Bahura, and Mainit Pt. -- creating the conditions for lively aggregations of tropicals, including thousands of anthias, and (at Twin Rocks, a marine sanctuary) a huge school of bigeye jacks. We did three dives a day, usually two morning and one afternoon, but also including a great dusk dive in front of the Anilao town wharf. Macro critter and small fish photo opportunities were excellent, comparable to some better known areas in Indonesia. Many pipefish (ringed, lined, ornate ghost-, and others) and seahorses (pygmy and thorny), frogfish (three giants swimming around at a site called Aphols, several painted and warty), weird scorpions and dragonets, big marbled shrimp and commensal shrimps on the crinoids, whip corals and sea cucumbers. And don't get me started on the nudibranchs -- they probably averaged five or more per dive, and that's only the ones I saw. There are not a lot of large fish here, presumably due to sustained fishing. No signs of dynamite fishing, though, and the corals appeared in good shape. Diversity of hardcorals and small softcorals is impressive, and there are plentiful anemones, sponges (including some big barrels), gorgonians (though not many big fans) and more crinoids than could ever be counted. Some small dendronepthya (sp) softcorals at certain sites, but none of the big colorful trees. For excellent, varied diving in a relaxed atmosphere, quicker to get to and less expensive than Lembeh, Wakitobi, etc., Anilao is a great option.
Websites	Activentures
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Thailand, Micronesia, Cozumel, etc.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	81-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Max depth and time were planned for each dive, but these were in the spirit of suggestion rather than rigid rule.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Diving is from small boats with room for a camera or two in a safe place. No rinse bucket on board, but rides were short. Resort had dedicated rinse tanks. Tables for set-up and charging available in the lodge's dining area. Plenty of towels.

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Dive Review of Activentures/Aquaventure Reef Club in Philippines/Anilao

Activentures/Aquaventure Reef Club, Apr, 2012,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Activentures/Aquaventure Reef Club in
Philippines/Anilao