Dive Review of Marco Vincent in
Philippines/Puerto Galera

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Marco Vincent: "Great trip to Marco Vincent, Puerto Galera, Philippines", Oct, 2015, by Thomas Butcher, NY, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8758 has 1 Helpful vote.
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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	All Good. Stayed at Marco Vincent, Puerto Galera from Oct 22 - Oct 31, 2015 as part of a group of 14. The main purpose was to Dive on the local reefs, so our package included the hotel and diving from their large boat, Big Beth. The hotel staff and boat staff were exceptional, providing fantastic service at a much higher level than I ever expected. The staff worked long hours from early morning until night, always met us with a wide smile and friendly conversation. The food was buffet style, very tasty and fresh. It was very hard to leave, which I could have stayed longer. The staff makes it a point to learn your name quickly, making every interaction feel like you are staying with family and friends. The hotel and boat are very clean. The hotel is well appointed, might be the best property in the White Beach area. They definitely have the best boats in the area. They have 2 boats, Big Beth and Lady Mercy. Big Beth, a 85 ft Panga, is very similar to being on a liveaboard. Every time we climbed on the boat after a dive, we were greeted with a small cup of ginger tea, a hot wet wash cloth, and a dry towel. It helped us warm up after our typical 60+ minute dive. The Dive Masters provide a good thorough briefing before every dive, and are attentive to the group of divers they are leading around the reef. If you get separated when taking your photos, they will bring the group back to locate you. They try their hardest to find all the critters the dive site has to offer. I got some amazing photos of pigmy sea horse, hairy squat lobsters, large Frog fish, large Stone fish, Dragon Moth fish, Sea Horses, Turtles, Mantis Shrimp, Giant Clams, Ghost Pipe fish, Electric Clams and name a few, there was much more. Thanks to Marco Vincent staff, I have a nice collection of Nudibranch photos. We were there during a full moon, so the Nudi's were almost everywhere looking to pair up. Most of the dive sites we dove were around Puerto Galera, taking in all the of the known sites in that area. We dove sites around Anilao one day, the best dives and the most challenging dives were off Verde Island. The fish life off Verde Island was amazing plentiful. The current was fast, but manageable due to the experienced Dive Masters and their detailed briefing. This was my first trip to the Pacific, it was truly amazing. I should point out, the Marco Vincent operation had staff meet us at Manila airport at midnight when the plane arrived, they made sure we got to the hotel without issue after 22 hours of air travel, which was greatly appreciated. They helped us plan a 2 day tour in Manila to see the sights, which helped us acclimate to the local time zone before the dive trip started. Our group was from the New York area so we had to deal with a 12 hour time difference. They also helped us get a great rate at the Pan Pacific in Manila. Watch the Manila hotel pricing, there is a 25% increase for Occupancy and VAP Taxes most hotels don't mention. The Pan Pacific pricing they helped us get was very competitive. I highly recommend Marco Vincent to anyone that wants to visit Puerto Galera or anyone that wants to dive the Philippines. They went far above beyond my expectations to make the trip more enjoyable than any dive op/dive resort I have met.
Websites	Marco Vincent
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Bonaire, Little Cayman, Cozumel, Florida coast, NY/CT/RI/MA Ocean Coast, 1000 Islands
Closest Airport	Manila	Getting There	Koean air, NYC-Manila. Bus to Verdi Straight, Ferry to Puerto Galera
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	40-120 Ft/ 12-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Recreational limitations, no one is group looking to go past them
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Dive Masters tried to cater to the divers and photographers. We had 4-5 divers per Dive Master, allowing folks to dive with close friends. DM's pointed out lots of little/tiny subjects that I did not see. Got an amazing photo of pigmy seahouse on sea fan, cleaner shrimp and tiny crabs on Ananomies. Boat has 2 large tanks for cameras. We kept the larger cameras away from the smaller cameras. There is a dry room for laptops, the boat has wi-fi, which I did not use.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Marco Vincent in Philippines/Puerto Galera

Marco Vincent: "Great trip to Marco Vincent, Puerto Galera, Philippines", Oct, 2015,

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 Marco Vincent in
Philippines/Puerto Galera