Balicasag Island Dive Resort

CONS: The whole "Resort" would need a lot of reconstruction, it seems very neglected. Almost like closing any minute... Advertised swimming pool was empty and filthy. Cocktail bar at the pool looked like closed several years by now -> the same about the "sunbeds" - dirty, damaged and only locals and dogs were lying there. No single one house cleaning during 3 nights stay. Bad smell & loud aircon. Half-broken toilet. PROS: Very nice suroundings, beautiful snorkeling, sea life, nature. Very quiet place, nice sunset. Make it close: Old and dirty resort with a big potential, unique sea marine life and nature. BUT need to repair and new management.

Great location, the food and view from restaurant is good, but the room is not so good, the air-conditioner is too noisy, and the service at front desk is very poor, you have to find a ship from alona beach of Bohol by yourself, it's better to ask them to pick you up again when you want to go back.

Need renovation! Had not water in toilet

We had booked three nights here but stayed only one night. The resort is really in bad shape. And they seem to have no ambitions to do something about it. The personal mostly sat around watching TV. The restaurant there is terrible, all food is microwaved. Our toilet wasn’t working even after they tried to fix it twice. The water pressure was non existing. There are no pools there even when they have said it exists, both of them was out of order. We also saw that half of the rooms had signs in the reception where it said “OUT OF ORDER”. I cannot recommend going here at all. The snorkeling is the only nice thing about this island, but even this is being destroyed because of hundreds of people coming here on day trips. There are so many other nice resorts and snorkeling/diving sites in this country that you should go to instead.

Balicasag Island dive resort has great potential but needs development oriented leadership and motivated staff/capacity building. There is a lot of work that needs to be done but most of the staff prefers watching TV. - Not possible to book pickup through email. Must be done by phone. - No guarantee that you will be able to dive. Diving must be booked in advance through email where no one answers. - The staff at the front desk knows little/nothing about snorkeling/diving. - The man I talked to at the dive center spoke poor English and didn’t show up the time we agreed (his friend arrived 15 min later and didn’t seem to know that I made a booking the day before). - No water in the swimming pools. - Water in my cabin didn’t work a lot of the time (not possible to flush the toilet etc). - Staff at the restaurant watch TV with loud volume and don’t bring menus to the guests (with a few exceptions). - No WiFi - No hot water in the shower. - Dirty sun beds that are used mostly by dogs (dogs also pee at the sun beds). - Forbidden to swim/snorkel in the marine sanctuary, but no land marks or signs that shows where the sanctuary is. - No cleaning of rooms during daytime unless you “give permission” (you basically have to say “I want you to clean my room” or nothing will happen. - Overpriced in relation to what you get. It feels a bit like the place is falling apart due to lack of maintenance and motivation. Very sad on a place that could be a great resort for snorklers and divers. About snorkeling on the island: Snorkeling on the island (in general) means that you pay 150-250 pesos to some guy with an over crowded canoe. For those money he will paddle/push you 100 yards or so in that canoe to an inferno of shouting snorkelers with GoPros and life jackets. Most snorkelers are kept in the same area, which is good because it limits the destruction of corals to one place. However, there are many other parts of the island that are great to snorkel. Don’t expect to much help

I love this hotel more than those located in Alona beach, even though the facilities in the hotels in Alona are better. The view is good because the resort is benefited from the whole beach, no other hotels. It is very quiet and relaxing. You can dive any time, take a boat go away from the beach for 15-20m, you can snorkeling or scuba diving easily. The food is delicious in the restaurant and the staffs there are helpful. Please do not complain the limited supply of drinking water because it is a small island! Remember to take some mosquito repelling spray when you stay there, it will make your trip happier.

It was about a 1.5hour boat ride to the island which was pleasant. Did see sea turtles and fish along the way but no dolphins which we were promised. The island itself is beautiful but if you were like me and needed internet and phone signal to carry out some work there is none unfortunately. Relaxing none the less

Everything you need for a relaxing stay on a beautiful small island. Great location for diving and water sports, or just lying on the beach. Very friendly people. Power and water is limited during day time, but not a problem at all as we spent all day on the beach or in the ocean.

Pros: underwaterworld exceptional, food ok, however same dish ordered comes different depending on day shift or night shift cook Cons: swimming pool empty except 1 ft foul water with fantastic mosquito breeding site, some hours a day no water, nightly brownouts, no resort dive boat and no resort shuttle boat available, both have to be hired from outsiders, no water heater in bathroom, appliances in bathroom lose, room service on request only

You are going to the island to chill and snorkel. The Resort is at a 3 star level. Really basic. Cold water showers and not much variety in the restaurant menu. The pools are empty and there are only three sun loungers. But the view is amazing and you are swimming in the ocean which is just 30 metres from your villa. No WiFI but this is a good thing to escape every day life.

This resort is a joke, and a bad one. When we first arrived to the island it was surprising that there are many many eateries on the beach. Turned out they cater for the day trippers. Unfortunately it also means the island has a high number of inhabitants who make the island dirty, and there is limited waste management. I was hoping that island is a lot more deserted and pristine, so much for that. The resort itself is so undermaintained that this word is not even enough to express it properly. Imagine a resort that was built 20 years ago, and since then they only cared for the garden. And the pool has been out of services for quite a while. The sad thing is that with some work this place could be so much better. It has amazing potential. I hope one day it will have a competent management. The restaurant is another peculiar thing here. During the 2 nights stay they probably had half of the meals on the menu available.

It was our third stay on the island and as before the beauty of the underwater life didn’t disappoint . The coral in front of the resort is amazing and there is lots of sealife around. On every visit we’ve encountered several turtles. The price of the rooms are good value but unfortunately this time the pool was out of order. The hard working staff takes very good care of the resort but the bungalows could use a refurbishment . Still a lovely place to spend a day or two. As soon as the tour boats have left after lunch, peace and quiet sets in and you have the whole island to explore!

If you wanna max ur dive, stay here for a couple of nights. Amazing amazing reef :)

Nice weather, kind staff were good. BUT there are too many bugs in the room. ( I cannot sleep well )

Nice place very relaxing

The resort is the only hotel on the island. Highly recommend to stay here to enjoy the crystal ocean water in the morning without many tourists. The room is a little bit dark, the service needs to be improved.

I had visited twice at the Balicasag island dive resort. It's still wonderful diving and snorkling spot. The squid fishing was nice at night. The electricity was not disconnected and water also good condition. I'd like to visit again there.

Best place to go for scuba diving in Tagbilaran Bohol area. Its would be best if you bring your own gear and be selfcontained in everything. Food, snacks, medicine Etc. Best and Excellent dive instructor and dive masters in Bohol is in this island.

We requested transport both van from accommodation and boat for crossing - all went to plan and found that we had paid less than other guests that had come across independently of this service offered by the resort. We are retired so scuba diving is much too energetic for us - but love to snorkel. The turtles were a bit disappointing but did catch a glimpse of a couple of them at a distance - the marine sanctuary was were all the beautiful fish are and just loved our time there especially viewing the drop off where there is a sudden drop in the ocean that looks like a cliff in the ocean with the most beautiful coral and colourful fish. Don't miss that - it is quite dramatic. There is a nice pool and pleasant surroundings. We enjoyed wandering through the village and meeting the children and there carers behind the resort. We saw interesting nippa type huts and cockerels with their feet tethered to ropes - cock fighting seems popular in the Philippines. Loved our stay here.

We found this island by coincident. My girl wanted to swim with big turtles and Balicasag just jumped out of the screen. She fell in love with the island right away, and it did not disappoint. The resort is very nice and really want to help you. There is one girl at the reception with an 'I'm to pretty to be workin' attitude, but it's more funny than it is anoying tho! The cottages are pretty nice and spacious. The island is about 400m in diameter so you walk around it in no time. At any point you can just walk into the water and snorkle. There is a turtle point where you can find the most and biggest turtles. They are very relaxed and will just swim around with you. Well, they did with me, not with my girlfriend who really wanted it, so that pretty much pissed her off to my entertainment. The next day we went to the turtle point again and we found a turtle who was willing to swim a lap or 2 with the wife, so all was good! The food at the bar is good! The juices are very nice! Try fresh mango juice if you have the chance! Would definitely recommend people to stay at least one night on Balicasag!