Dive Review of Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort in
Philippines/Dumaguete/Dauin

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Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort: "Excellent Resort and Dive Operation", Jun, 2022, by John Crossley, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 29 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 11987 has 3 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort, combined with their Sea Explorers dive operation is one of the best dive resorts I've visited. The resort itself is beautiful and the cottage we had (Dolphin Family Room) was spacious, clean, and well designed. We had four family members in a cottage that had a half-wall between one room with a double bed and the other room with two single beds. The bathroom could be accessed by either room. Beds were comfortable, AC and hot water worked great, and there was a mini-fridge and a safe. Our front porch had chairs and a rack for drying clothes. Pura Vida resaurant has a huge menu and the food was great. We ate mostly at the main resuarant, but sometimes took lunch at the beach-side bar near the dive center. There are two swimming pools, a big one next to the restauarant and a smaller one near the dive center. When not diving we could play billiards, foosball or darts next to the main pool bar and it was free! My wife enjoyed the resort's massage center and there is a well-equiped fitness center a block away. The Sea Explorers dive center has a great layout with plenty of places to sit for getting wetsuits on & off. Numerous rinse tanks, a fresh water shower, restrooms, equipment room and dive shop are top-notch. Each diver gets a station for hanging dive gear and a large basket for equipment. The baskets are carried to the boat by crew and they will carry big camera rigs too. They also have a separate camera room with plenty of space, lights, charging stations, etc. The main dive boat is a spacious "panga" style with lots of shade, storage areas, camera rinse tanks, and toilet. Dive entry is by a giant stride, but one guest was allowed to jump-in, then gear up in the water. The dive exit ladder is great because the steps go several feet into the water and there are a handrails for climbing up. Most divers took their gear off in the water and handed things up to the dive crew and then walked up the ladder. We typically had 4-6 divers on board with two dive guides. Dauin is known for "muck diving" in the brown sand, but there are also numerous sunken fish & critter magnets like old cars, tires, abandoned fish traps, etc. Viz was actually pretty good, typically 40-50 feet in the muck dive sites, and the dive guides found sooo many critters for us. These included several types of frog fish, coral crabs, cleaner shrimps, flying gunnards, scorpion fish, ornate ghost pipe fish, robust pipefish, cuttlefish, nudibraches, a harlequin shrimp, orangutan crabs, and more. However the great highlights were wonderpuss on several dives, including a pair mating. Two other highlights were the "Shaun the Sheet" nudibrach and several infant frog fish about the size of a small vitamin pill. Fantastic diving and every site had good stuff! We also made a three tank trip to Apo Island to dive the walls. Corals were pretty good there and 3 to 6 turtles were seen every dive....some very close up as they swam by. Viz was 80 to 100 ft at Apo Island. It was my first dive trip to the Pura Vida Resort, but I will come back!
Websites	Sea Explorers Philippines Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia, Fiji, Truck, Yap, Palau, Bali, Lembeh, Hawaii, Florida, Red Sea, Soloman Islands, PNG, Caymans, Bonaire, BVI, Philippines and others
Closest Airport	Dumaguete	Getting There	Fly to Manila or Cebu then connect to Dumaguete
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	83-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Stay pretty close to depth planned and avoid decom
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	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	A separate camera room, rinse tanks on-board and at the dive center, and crew who knew how to handle the cameras.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort in Philippines/Dumaguete/Dauin

Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort: "Excellent Resort and Dive Operation", Jun, 2022,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida Beach and Dive Resort in
Philippines/Dumaguete/Dauin