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Turtle Bay Dive Resort

$750 USD / 7 nights

Nitrox $

WIFI Available

Star Rating

Turtle Bay Dive Resort is located in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines. The resort was built by a family of avid divers who share their love for diving and provide relaxation at this tropical paradise. The Mactan International Airport is one hundred kilometers from the resort and Cebu City is ninety kilometers away.

Turtle Bay Dive Resort WEATHER

The garden-view deluxe rooms are two rooms in a one-story villa and are in the middle of tropical gardens. The rooms have a four-poster queen bed or two twin beds. There are also the pool view deluxe rooms in a two-story building that overlook the nineteen meter swimming pool and gardens. The pool view rooms have one queen bed or twin beds and a private balcony. The seaview deluxe rooms are in a villa at the top of the cliff that provides views of the Tanon Straits and the villa has a private terrace. There are two deluxe rooms that overlook the beach at the foot of the cliff and three rooms are in the Bay View Villa that look out to the Moalboal Bay. There are four family deluxe rooms that are in one villa. One of the rooms has one Filipino style queen bed and one single bed. The rest have three single beds. They also have a terrace that is perfect for relaxing after a long day of diving. There are two King rooms that have the best location in the resort. They are in a villa with views of the bay and mountain range and each has a private covered terrace. They have one four-poster king bed as well. The superior family room is in a two-story building in front of the swimming pool and gardens. Each room has one Filipino-style queen bed and a single bed. The rooms have spacious covered balconies and have the option to add another single bed for a small charge. All rooms on the resort have air conditioning, WiFi that is available at reception and the restaurant, a ceiling fan, desk, mini bar, hot and cold shower, tea and coffee making facilities, linen and towels, cable-satellite TV, and a safety deposit box.

The dive center is located in front of the sea view twin rooms and the bay bar. There divers can rent gear for and request nitrox. The dive boats carry emergency oxygen and first aid kits on board. The dive center also has a supply of oxygen as a backup.

The house reef front of the resort offers guests easy access to snorkel and dive the reef and explore the amazing marine life. The location has been named Turtle Bay due to the green sea turtles that are often spotted nearby. There are also barracuda, fusiliers, leaf fish, and harlequin ghost pipefish. This site is a wall dive and has a depth of thirty meters. Sardine Run is a famous dive site in Panagsama where divers encounter thousands of sardines swimming in a bait ball. Divers will encounter Moorish idols, small parrotfish, pufferfish, and turtles. There are more than eighteen amazing dive sites near the Turtle Bay Dive Resort.

Dive Conditions

There are three seasons that affect the diving conditions in the Philippines. The northeast monsoon brings strong winds from December to March. The southwest monsoon affects the months of July through November which are wet but the ocean waters are warm. April through June are the dry months with very little winds.

November to May is the dry season in the Philippines, offering little to no rain and a nice hot and humid weather. This period of time is often considered as the best time to dive in the Philippines and is the most popular time to visit the country. Regardless, the diving season in the Philippines runs year-round, keeping in mind that some of the areas and certain marine life sightings are either seasonal or weather dependent, this includes Tubbataha which can only be dived around the months of March to June. During the wet season, typically runs from May to October, most of the dive sites remain great, the waters are warmer, and divers have the advantage of having uncrowded sites. Typhoons may occur during the wet season, particularly around July to September.

Tubbataha Reefs National Park – amazing biodiversity. Tubbataha is home to no less than 600 species of fish, 360 species of corals (about 50% of the coral species in the world), 11 species of sharks (including tiger sharks, whale sharks, and whitetips), 13 species of dolphins and whales, nesting hawksbill and green sea turtles. You can also see manta rays, schools of barracuda and tuna, and smaller marine life like nudibranchs, ornate ghost pipefish, seahorses, and frogfish.

Anilao, Batangas – best muck diving. The long list of small-scale sea life and critters that you can find in Anilao includes nudibranchs, frogfish, seahorses, cuttlefish, and pipefish. But don't leave your wide-angle lens at home. Beautiful coral reefs, turtles, huge schools of jacks, jellyfish, and the occasional reef sharks await in Anilao.

Dauin, Dumaguete – the luxury destination. The variety of marine life that you can find along the Dauin Coast include various types of frogfish, dragonets, pipefish, nudibranchs, blue-ring octopuses, bobtail squids, mandarin fish, seahorses, cardinalfish (with eggs), various shrimps and crabs. The main diving season in Dumaguete is October to early June, but the prolific marine life of Dauin can be found all year round, so there’s no worry of missing out.

Moaboal, Cebu – amazing sardine baitballs. Scuba diving in Moalboal is diverse and very vibrant. Think big schools of fish, beautiful walls, canyons and caves, and fascinating macro life. Pescador Island offers some of the best dives in the Philippines, featuring a dramatic wall with colorful soft corals teeming with anthias. Then there is a large cathedral on the west side of Pescador which makes a nice background for dramatic underwater shots. You can also see schools of barracuda, beautiful caves, reef sharks, and also smaller marine life like nudibranchs and frogfish

Puerto Galera, Mindoro – stunning white sand beaches and diverse dive sites. Canyons provide plenty of action with strong currents. For divers interested in wrecks, the three sunken boats of the Sabang Wrecks offer a fascinating dive trip. Don't forget to include a day trip to dive at Verde Island during your stay in Puerto Galera. Its passage is known to offer some of the highest biodiversity in the Philippines. Nudibranchs, reef octopuses, frogfish, and seahorses can be seen in abundance in Puerto Galera. There are also many stunning soft and hard corals to be found while exploring the reefs of this dream destination. Like most of the Philippines, Puerto Galera can be dived all-year-round.

Anda, Bohol – the hidden gem. There are 17 kilometers of coastline to explore in Anda, with a good mix of walls, slopes and sandy muck dive sites as well as coral gardens. The diverse underwater topography and critter population in Anda are really worth exploring. Divers can see pygmy seahorses, skeleton shrimps, anemone shrimps, dragon sea moths, mantis shrimps, Napoleon snake eels, nudibranchs, and mating mandarin fish. Turtles and beautiful reef fish can also be seen in the area. Anda can also be dived all-year-round.

Malapascua, Cebu – thresher sharks abound. Malapascua is known to be the best place in the world to see thresher sharks. This tiny oasis is the only place in the world where thresher sharks are consistently seen daily. Combine that with its pristine waters and milky-white beaches, and divers have a perfect destination for a dive vacation.

Coron Bay, Palawan – the destination for wreck dives. The historical World War II shipwrecks of Coron are unique. Coron Bay used to be the harbor for World War II Japanese warships. Eleven of these ships were sunk during an air attack in September 1944. Today the wrecks of serve as reef systems, supporting a number of marine critters. Some of the residents of these wrecks include scorpionfish, nudibranchs, cuttlefish, and octopuses. Divers see the occasional reef shark or stingray, hovering near the wrecks.