Magic Oceans Dive Resort

Despite two typhoons our stay at Magic Oceans was an unprecedented one! Although the big stuff, besides lots of turtles,is missing during the diving, the diversity of small stuff is a big reward. In combination with beautiful coral gardens in a relaxed diving setting with very experienced, pleasant and supportive staff and a resort with good food and very pleasant staff made our trip one to remember! We can recommend this resort to any diver! De Soestduikers, The Netherlands

We had the most excellent dive trip to magic oceans. The dives were over the top amazing. The staff was so nice and accommodating. The resort was clean and beautiful. The food was excellent. We can’t say enough good things about this place. We didn’t want to leave, they made us feel right at home. My favorite part was coral gardens. Breathtaking diving, you just want to stay down forever.

A well-designed resort with a free-form pool surrounded by individual thatched "cottage-style" accommodation. Rooms are large with plenty of shelf/hanging space for clothes and hot water showers. The balcony also has a drying rack to hang out wet gear. (A door mat at the front door would be useful to help prevent skidding on the tiled floor). Meals are at communal tables but guests can eat at single tables if they wish. There is plenty of food throughout the day, mostly Western dishes, with a large menu to order from but we did find the food a little "same-ish" (meat or fish in a sauce). It would be nice if a few more local Filippino dishes were in the selection available each night as there wasn't really time to order one off the menu at lunch time and then go diving again. The bar is a great place to meet before and after dinner to chat away with other guests and the bar staff produce a selection of cocktails, some of which are quite potent and make for a merry evening. All the staff, from the serving staff to the gardeners, housekeepers, receptionists, dive staff and boat crew, are friendly and keen to ensure you have a great time during your stay and if you ask for anything they will do their best to get it for you. The dive centre is spacious and the dive boats are very well laid out with plenty of seating, and space for cameras and dry gear in the middle. The rubber-covered steps and handholds along the outriggers on both sides make getting out after a dive much easier than having to hang onto a rope and the dive staff are there to help you out if you need assistance. Our dive leader, Lee Ann, had an expert eye for spotting more unusual creatures and indulged us whilst we ferreted around on muck dives, on one pointing out three Wonderpus - how she even knows where to look was beyond us! There is a virtual certainty of seeing a frog fish on each dive! There are also many large turtles who seem totally oblivious to divers and happily swim around allowing photographers some great shots. The coral around the area is in excellent condition and the soft coral walls are absolutely beautiful to dive - Coral Garden is an absolute must. Our first night dive was amazing: squid, cuttlefish, morays, lionfish, tiny frogfish, nudis and crabs galore. I love muck diving and there was plenty to see in that category although I would have liked to have found a few more of the unusual nudis which other visitors have spotted. Reason to visit again in the future! We did a day trip to Canumantad Falls which was fun, albeit an expensive tour from the resort. Note that cars are not allowed to drive right to the waterfall so one is driven there on the back of a motorbike, which takes 5 minutes. We took a picnic lunch and ate that overlooking a nearby rice field in a small cafe before returning to the resort. We drove back via Anda beach to visit a "cave" which turned out to be a small underground pool open to the air so you could jump in if