Magic Oceans Dive resort was a great choice for the second half of our stay in the Philippines, at the beginning of October 2019. A bit of a pain to get to but once there the long travel time from the USA was worth it. The first half of our adventure was spent at Magic Island Dive resort. See our review of that resort for info on the trip getting to there. Part 1 of the adventure.
From Magic Islands resort we were greeted by our shuttle van driver for a 2 hour drive to the ferry terminal. Traffic was not as insane as the first part. Again half the population owns a motor bike. It was a relatively calm ride to the ferry terminal. Cars, truck, motor bike weaving in and out just inches from one another. One would have to be crazy to rent a car and drive any place, while there in the Philippines.
We checked our luggage in at the counter in the ferry terminal and waited. Then the announcement was made and what seemed like hundreds of people tried to get through the double doors that opened to the dock. Magic Resorts really have their stuff together. We had business class seating. POSH. We entered the hatchway on the boat and the attendant waved us up the stairway to our seats, which were very comfy. The seas were flat and the boat flew across water at a very high speed. It was so smooth that one could nap a bit.
Upon arrival at the ferry terminal on the island we were staying at, we picked up our luggage which was an experience in itself, no airport type carousel. Half the boat load of people trying to see, then grab their luggage as it was off loaded by hand by the crew.
Then off to find our next shuttle driver for the 2 hour trip to the resort. This trip was not quit as crazy as the first one was. Upon arrival we were greeted, checked in and ushered to our bungalow. The accommodations were nice. The room was clean and modest. No TV or phone. The bathroom was larger than at Magic Islands, two people could be in there at one time. The grounds were well manicured. The rock walls were works of art. Wish I could do that in our yards back home.
The staff was very friendly and by the second day had your name memorized and would address you by your first name. The restaurant was open air. The food was very good, plentiful and varied. They served more than you could eat.
We had come to do some scuba diving so we went to the dive center the first day of arrival, to introduce ourselves, sign the standard releases and drop off our dive gear. The next morning we got up went to breakfast, got into our dive suits and went to the dive center. The boats left at 8:30 each day. The boat rides to the dive sites were really short 15 - 20 minutes was the longest. The boats were a strange configuration that we had never seen in our travels around the world. A long narrow skiff with outriggers on both sides. They also had a head on them. The waters were flat on almost all our dives. The water temperature, at depth, was 84 – 86F. So toasty, that I did not ever wear any rubber the whole time there. I just wore a Lycra type suit for protection from accidentally brushing against things on the dives. Our dive master the whole time there was Roel. I learned later he had been there about three years. That didn’t hinder his ability to find and pointed out to us things that we would have never seen. He was good to say the least. The boat crew was good also. Fresh fruit, coffee, tea and water were served during our surface interval between dives. The boats also went out in the afternoons if you wanted to dive some more. The VIS on all our dives was very good at 75’ +. I rate VIS by what I can clearly see. Not, there is an object that is fuzzy and I’m guessing it’s a…… therefore VIS is…… .
The trip back to Cebu airport was about 6 hours. Two hours to the ferry terminal, two hours boat ride, two hours to the airport. Magic Resorts had everything dialed in for you, the trip back was well orchestrated. Everything went very smoothly.
In summary, if you can handle the journey getting there and back home it is an outstanding vacation/dive destination. Very relaxing. Magic Resorts has all the loose ends covered for you. A very good operation, 5 stars all the way.
