Pintuyan Dive Resort — Hotel in Panaon Island

If you care at all about marine animals, good dive practices, coral or reefs then DO NOT GO TO THIS RESORT.||||We were so appalled by their lack of care for the reef, that we felt we had to leave after our very first dive.||||In 45 minutes, we witnessed the following destruction:||||1. Divers being allowed to repeatedly damage coral with fins and hands, breaking off at least 50+ years of hard coral||2. Fish being prodded with sticks.||3. Sticks being used to lean on table coral.||4. Soft coral and anemone being flipped over with a stick to see a crab, BY THE DIVEMASTER!!!||5. Coral being touched.||6. Total lack of any buoyancy control, leading to further damage of coral.||7. Complete lack of guidance or control from Divemaster||||We reported all this to the resort owner, Ralf, who refused to do anything about it (one of the divers had been diving there for 7 years). He clearly cares more about making money than about the reef he claims to protect. This was confirmed by a number of residents in the area we spoke to after we left.||||In a time when reefs and coral are increasingly precious, we were astounded to see this utter lack of care.||||On top of this (but we would not have mentioned this had it not been for the above), we arrived and it was nearly 12 HOURS before we could speak to anyone that knew anything about the resort. Essentially forced communal dining is an interesting prospect when no one else speaks English.||||In terms of the resort itself, food is delicious, restaurant staff are as helpful as they can be (although they are afraid of the owner), bungalows are clean and the location is good. However, this is not enough to justify the destruction. I will never stay there, and hope that no one ever...

It’s a little tricky to get there, but you can book transportation from the ferry to get to the resort. It might be a little bit more pricy, but at least you don’t have to worry about anything. ||The place is spotless. Food is great and PLENTY! Often we would just eat breakfast and dinner, and maybe have a small snack. ||Ralf is straight forward, so of you are from the US or Canada you might have to get used to his direct ways, but he was super nice with us. He is a „what you see is what you get“ kinda type. No talking behind your back. Which we really appreciate. He is very nice too when someone is scared of anything. My husband was worried about diving but he had a great time with Ralf. ||Ralf also cares about the animals and the reef. He is 100% diver and loves the ocean. We were really lucky. We went out three times and saw whale sharks twice. He will also try to send you out when there are no other tourists.||We had a wonderful time. His crew is lovely, and so is his wife. We were lucky so at the time we were there they were only a few guests = it felt very exclusive. ||We want to thank you all for a great time. Especially sending my brand new Lycra shirt to Cebu (I was stupid enough to leave it in the room). ||We wish you all the best in these hard times for all travel related businesses!||Big hug from...

We had a very pleasant, although short, stay at Pintuyan Dive Resort. We are not divers, but wanted to try to see whale sharks in a more natural and ethical setting. After researching several other resorts, I chose here based on its proximity to where the whale sharks are often found, the ability to go on a whale shark watch any day of the week (was told by some other places it only possible on certain days), and due to the ability to go with just my husband and I if needed (some places required minimum number of people- or allowed for very large groups, which we also wanted to avoid), as well as the good reviews for the resort. They were responsive by email ahead of time to answer all of my questions.

We were very happy with the decision to stay here. It was such a beautiful area, and very quiet and peaceful. The room was spacious and had everything we needed. The food was very good, and there was a large menu of items to choose from. The owner, Ralf, was very friendly and welcoming, as was the rest of the staff. We were able to enjoy snorkeling right in front of the resort. And we were fortunate enough to get to swim with a whale shark on the watch we took, which was such an exciting start to our time in the Philippines. Even without, however, we would have enjoyed our stay here. ...