Buceo Anilao Beach and Dive Resort

We have have had the best stay you could image at Buceo Anilao. The resort is everything a diver / photographer could want. Located at a nice hill the views from the balcony where stunning looking over the ocean. The staff working there are friendly and a real part of the excellent experience. For the divers, there is a camera room for all your camera equipment, nice storage room for the diving gear and the dive masters are very experienced finding the smallest and rarest creatures for you. Special shout-out to Benji who made all of our dives the best!

The Buceo Anilao Resort was highly recommended by our friends and it did not disappoint! It is located about a 2.5 hour drive south of Manila followed by a 5 minute boat ride. We really appreciated the warm welcome and the remote nature of the hotel. We stayed in the deluxe Frogfish room, which was spacious, immaculately clean, featured a very bright, large bathroom with plenty of counter space. We also had a good size balcony overlooking the ocean and enjoyed the nicest sunsets. There is a pool which is well designed and maintained/cleaned daily. The dining area is also impressively clean, comfortable, the staff professional and very friendly. The food was lovely, the portions perfect and the variety great! The hotel has a very nice bar for pre/after dinner cocktails, where we were able to socialize with the owner, David, his family, as well as other guests from around the world. Very nice! The resort is built on a hill, so please NOTE that there are stairs. There is a nice spa on top offering massage etc. Diving was absolutely superb, well organized and safely run. No more than 2-3 divers per dive master. Special thanks to Joy and Jury for taking such good care of us. Water temp was 85*F and almost no current. Special recognition goes to whomever designed the dive locker area, again, it is huge and very well ventilated, so your wetsuits dry fast in between dives. Photographers' have a large camera room with fans for extra comfort. Valet service is much appreciated, we carried nothing except our masks onto the boat. We liked this resort so much that we have already booked it for 2025...and cannot wait to return!! Thank you once again for having us, Maria and Warren

Overall the diving was good the set up was great and made for divers with good boats and effecient staff and well maintained area for tank fills, washing and drying areas and huge camera room and storage. Our guide Joy was very good and eyes like a hawk, I did notice there were never any guide briefings fron any guides and a case of drop in water and dive. They do have made up plans for each dive but never used. Just concentrating on the dive operation it ticks the boxes. Yes, there are lots of steps so you have been warned.. Beach is also an extra point for boats and often a collection point for rubbish with wind direction. Rooms are spacious and clean with open views and a huge shower. Staff are all friendly if you take time to interact with them. Transfers to airport were a breeze. A good pool to swim and relax around. Breakfast is pretty basic though and it could be improved and a cleaning of the dining area and regular washing of table mats might help with the hassle of flies. Ordering food when you have just eaten was always difficult but guess it needs to be defrosted and prepped.. it was ok most the time. Beware of weekends with locals from Manila flock and all standards slip. We were pretty disgusted one night when after a dive a group descended to the dining area in wet swim gear and only a towel and sat down to eat with managent saying nothing.. I guess they pay the bills when overseas guest are not there. We and other couples were not impressed as other resorts would have ensured a certain standard was maintained for all. Our plans changed a few days prior and we stopped diving, we noticed a distinct change from management after that as I guess we were not paying the $$$ Saying that we felt we were under constant observation at the bar with our drinks by management and dive staff who frequent one side of the bar at night. After that we were glad we departed a day early. But these were our views and highlights

We enjoyed a magical dive trip at Buceo Anilao. The resort staff were super friendly and attentive. The delicious food was a mix of Western and local dishes. The dive guides took us to amazing dive sites and pointed out the amazing marine life.

This was the last leg of our 6-week dive trip to the Philippines and our second stay at Buceo Anilao Beach & Dive Resort for three weeks. Our trip started with 11 nights at Atmosphere Resort, followed by 10 nights at Magic Oceans Resort. I booked all through Blue Water Travel, which was more convenient and less time-consuming than direct booking. Returning to Buceo Anilao felt like coming home. This year, we chose a deluxe room, which was spacious and luxurious, with a work table and many conveniently located power outlets. The room had a large balcony with comfortable chairs and a stunning view. All deluxe and superior rooms share this amazing view. The resort is well-equipped for underwater photographers with four large camera rinse tanks and a well-equipped, non-air-conditioned camera room. We dived from traditional Filipino "bangkas" to over 40 nearby sites. The furthest dive site was 25 minutes away. I completed 41 dives, including four night dives and one black water dive. Anilao is known as the "Nudibranch Capital of the World," and it lived up to its name with vibrant nudibranchs, seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, camouflaged frogfish, and elusive rhinopias. Our cheerful dive guide, Joemar, was extremely helpful and found many critters we would have missed. We enjoyed the restaurant, especially when Chef Teddy was cooking. The restaurant offered healthy meal options and was flexible with our plant-based diet, even ordering beans and legumes for special vegan soups. We appreciated this consideration very much. Ask Teddy to cook traditional Filipino Mung Bean Soup, which isn't on the menu yet. The only dish I wouldn't recommend is the Mango Float, because it's so good you might get addicted! The resort staff was very helpful, and everything, including the dive operation, was well run. We enjoyed peaceful moments at the resort, watching sunsets by the pools and getting afternoon massages. My wife recommends masseuse Cheryl. Most guests we spoke with were repeat visitors, some coming multiple times a year, showing Buceo Anilao's appeal. We were also captivated and look forward to returning. Overall, our second trip to Anilao was fantastic, with incredible underwater sights and friendly faces at Buceo Anilao Beach & Dive Resort. We'll be back next year.

We stayed last week at this Resort for 7 nights. We really did have a great time staying at this place. Our room was spacious,clean and had the best view from the balcony. Sir David,Dood and the Staff were very kind, friendly and helpful, and very accomodating as well. The management is also very hands-on so our experience was great. Food is also good, but I can't say the best, because mine is still the best hahaha... Ok the Resort itself is very clean, but it's sad to see that when you get out of the resort, everywhere is trash. It's really sad to see,and it's not easy for the resort owner because they are the ones that the customers often tell about it.. I know that they are doing their best to solve the trash situation, but the problem is that the people are really lack of discipline. I just hope, one day, they will realize what will happen if they continue to let this happen. Praying for this. I discovered this resort by myself and I didn't regret it, because it was really one of the best. PS: Me and my 13 year old daughter did our Open Water Dive lessons here with Instructor Dood, yes he is super kind and has a lot of patience with me especially when it comes to the exercises and my daughter who is very naughty underwater, she is like a sea lion, hehehe... He's a really good teacher. Will definitely go back and recommend this resort to my family and friends. Thank you Buceo :),till next time Best Regards, Lyn,Remo and Cecile