Caradonna did an excellent job in arranging our trip to Yap. My son and I had a sizable suite at Manta Ray Bay Resort that was beautifully furnished. Their on-site dive operation, Yap Divers, was also excellent as was the diving. I have never seen such healthy, pristine coral anywhere. The viz was spectacular and there was an abundance of marine life including sharks, mantas, and numerous reef fish. We were fortunate enough to visit the manta site three times during the week and had 5 or 6 swimming literally within ten feet of us.
-Vincent - 10/17/12
My wife and I chose the Abyss Philippines Visayas Dive Safari for our honeymoon because we wanted an adventure and were tired of trips where we dove from a single resort. The Philippine style boat is custom built for easy diving, is spacious, and comfortable. The dive masters are knowledgeable of the dive sites and able to find all the tiny things that make the Philippines unique. The boat crew makes diving easy; setup your gear once and from then on, they take care of everything else.
The resorts in the safari vary from the typical luxury resort to a virtually private island paradise (where there is no power or running water). The meals are typically served family style and are always outstanding! We highly recommend taking advantage of the (not included in package price) day trip while on Panglao Island to enjoy a river boat lunch and see the historic churches, chocolate hills, butterfly conservation center, Tarsier monkeys, and zip lining. Abyss gave us everything we wanted and made our honeymoon memorable.
-Tyler - 10/16/12
As promised I am getting in touch to tell you about our Bora Bora vacation.
all of the reservations and connections went off perfectly. Easy place to travel with no hassles. Very safe even on the waterfront at night in Papeete for dinner at the Roulottes.
I recommend Tahiti to anyone. It is visually stunning. Bora Bora is super friendly.
Mai Tai is run well and clean. A good value for Bora Bora. We had a beautiful view of the lagoon and a nice lanai to sit on in the evenings.
There is not much to do but enjoy and relax. There are plenty of activities to book but they are pricey.
We rented a scooter one day and toured the entire island. Another day we rented a small boat for ourselves ( you need a license) and went around the entire lagoon stopping at Motus and beaches. This is a four hour adventure without stopping with a 15 horse power engine. Hahhaha. Fun.
The other days we did our dives. Top Dive is one of the most professional operations I have come upon. They work hard to ensure everyone is safe and having fun. Great boats and top shelfdentire set up.
We had two young women for Dive Masters that were terrific. Nice to see.
The diving is easy drift dives mostly. Sadly parts of the reef are quite dead. Acres of perfect lettuce coral that must have died recently. Then other places are alive and beautiful. Despite the coral problems there are a lot of friendly marine animals. The biggest moray I have ever seen. Absolutely monstrous. Mantas, huge lemon sharks and a few turtles that are really tame. Some clown fish and many colorful giant clams. We were fortunate to hear the whales singing throughout a deep dive. We never saw them but they were so close the male's deep voice would vibrate in your chest. Amazing!
The meal plan is definitely the way to go.
Thank you for your help with our arrangements.
Mahalo and Maruuruu
-Anita - 8/30/2012
Palau was absolutely AWESOME!! Everyone had a great time. I've been there 4-5 times and it's always been great. Previously we have stayed at the Sunrise Villa (now changed names), Palau Pacific, and the Peter Hughes live-aboard. This was the first time at Sea Passions which I can say it was perfect! It’s clean, on the water, has lots of on-site amenities, and has great snorkeling! The Zero plane is really cool to snorkel right off the resort.
The rooms at Sea Passion were really nice. Some better than others. The key is to stay on the ocean side. The inland side rooms always smelled a little musty. No big deal though since we were out diving all day.
Sea Passions really brought the trip price down to reality for our market and was a true blessing. We will definitely book there in the future!!!
The diving in Palau has always been great. The reason Jolene & I like it so much is it's the only place we've been where you can dive and see pretty much everything. Wrecks, walls, coral gardens, shore dives, large animal encounters, macro critters, high adrenaline dives, drift dives, the list goes on so there's something for everyone.
The next time we go back we'd like to do a two week trip. One week stay at Sea Passions and another week in Kayangle Atoll where they told us there is a new hotel. We have never dove up in Kayangle Atoll and always wanted to do so.
The restaurants in Palau are great as well. Especially if you like Thai food and Sushi.
-Steve - 5/16/12
Just a quick note to thank you for suggesting and arranging our trip to Riding Rock. It was a great dive trip. The place was just our style, the staff friendly, food great and the diving was excellent. Well, it's time to start fantasizing about the next dive trip, right?
-Neil - 1/26/12