Atlantis Dive Resort Dumaguete

Dive resort · Philippines · Lipayo, Dauin, Negros Oriental · Official Website

A resort building among tropical greenery

Booking by Tour Leader Club

4 room types · More than 30 dive sites · house reef

Atlantis Dive Resort Dumaguete sits on the beach at Dauin — a municipality of its own, half an hour from the city of Dumaguete and the real centre of the local dive scene. Forty-four rooms are set around a dense tropical garden, and the restaurant opens straight onto the water.

Dauin means black volcanic sand and muck diving. It is called the frogfish capital of the Philippines: the gentle sandy slopes hold blue-ringed octopus, wunderpus, mimic octopus, Ambon scorpionfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, bobbit worms and nudibranchs in every colour. More than twenty coastal sites lie minutes away, nearly all of them marine sanctuaries where fishing and anchoring are banned outright.

The house reef starts right in front of the resort. It is a classic gentle muck slope, ideal for relaxed shore dives and night dives — and it also holds the resort’s coral nursery, the largest in Dauin, established in mid-2020. Guests are invited to the presentation and can join a dive to help clean the coral trees.

For contrast there is wide angle close by: Apo Island is a short boat ride away — one of the country’s first marine reserves, with fields of table coral and turtles; the walls of Siquijor; and snorkelling with whale sharks at Oslob.

The camera room here is among the most spacious at any dive resort anywhere: twenty-one cubbyholes, a work surface 80 cm deep and nearly fourteen metres long, five air guns, sixteen sets of sockets and a 42-inch screen so the day’s images can go up large in the evening.

No markup

You pay exactly the rate the resort publishes. On top of that, only the actual bank costs of currency conversion and the international transfer — no commission of ours.

We run the deal

Correspondence with the resort, holding the room, the contract, booking confirmation and all paperwork are on our side. There is nothing for you to arrange yourself.

Card payment

We accept payment by card through Stripe and issue an invoice. The transfer to the resort is our job — you do not have to find a way to pay abroad.

Support all the way

We help you choose the room and dates, work out the dive package, answer questions about flights and gear, and stay in touch until you are home.

The exact amount is confirmed when we hold your booking: it includes the resort's rate at the day's exchange rate plus the actual transfer costs. No hidden fees.

About the resort

Country: Philippines
Location: Lipayo, Dauin, Negros Oriental
Nearest airport: Dumaguete (DGT) — an hour's flight from Manila, 30 minutes by road to the resort
Transfer: Door-to-door on request, domestic flight included
House reef: Yes — the Atlantis House Reef right off the resort, with the coral nursery on it
Dive sites: More than 30
Dive centre: Its own, on the beach; SSI training from Try Diver to Dive Guide
Rooms: 44 rooms and suites
Languages: English, Filipino

At the resort

Freshwater pool over 100 m², non-chlorinated

A 1 m shallow end and a 3 m deep end

Toko's restaurant right on the beach

Spa with four treatment rooms, a sauna and a rain shower

Dive centre on the beach

Spacious climate-controlled camera room

Purpose-built training pool

Air-conditioned classroom seating six

Boutique beside the front desk

Free wifi across most of the resort and desktops in the lobby

Tropical garden with the plants labelled

Air conditioning and ceiling fan in every room

Safe and minibar in every room

Cable TV with free movie and sports channels

Solar-heated hot water

Diving

The Atlantis House Reef right in front of the resort

Up to five guided boat dives a day

Departures at 8:30, 10:30, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00

Night dives every day

More than twenty coastal sites minutes away

Groups of no more than six

You choose the site before every departure

Private dives on request

60 individual gear cubbies

Gear carried, washed and put away for you

Compressors for air, nitrox and trimix

Rebreathers and technical diving

Hot water shower in the dive shop

A fresh beach towel daily, snacks and drinking water

Training pool and air-conditioned classroom

SSI training from Try Diver to Dive Guide

Most SSI specialties, one-on-one instruction available

Critter presentations and underwater films

Day trips to Apo Island, Siquijor and Oslob

Blackwater and fluorescent dives

The resort map holds thirty-three sites: eighteen in Dauin including the house reef itself, eleven around Apo Island and four off Siquijor. The Dauin sanctuaries — Mainit, Luca, Dauin and Masaplod — allow neither fishing nor anchoring, and the marine life reflects it. Nearly every local site is a gentle slope of black volcanic sand, which is to say classic muck diving: you search slowly and with faultless buoyancy, or the silt you kick up ruins the dive for everyone. Residents include blue-ringed octopus, wunderpus, mimic octopus, Ambon scorpionfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, bobbit worms and nudibranchs. San Miguel has old tyres and ropes on the sand, completely overgrown with life; Punta, also called Secret Corner, is known for its octopus. Apo Island is the opposite — wide angle, hard and soft corals, fields of table coral, turtles and drop-offs.

Dining

Toko's restaurant right on the beach

Local produce, international standard

Lunch and dinner menus rewritten daily on a chalkboard

Full à la carte breakfast cooked to order

Fresh juice and a fruit plate every morning

A long list of cocktails and shakes

Coffee with a view of the water

Vegetarian and special diets on request

Toko's stands on the shore itself — the boats and the water are in view from the table. The lunch and dinner menus are deliberately never printed: they are chalked up fresh each day from whatever came back from the market. Special diets, gluten-free included, are cooked separately given notice.

Beyond diving

Apo Island day trip — three dives and a beach barbecue

Snorkelling with whale sharks at Oslob

Dumaguete city tour

Malatapay market on Wednesdays

The twin lakes of Balinsasayao and Danao

Bird watching, a full day with a guide

Kayaking on the lakes

Spa — massage, treatments, sauna and rain shower

A walk through the resort garden with the plants labelled

Boutique with local coconut-wood work

Apo Island is the most popular trip: three dives and a barbecue on the beach. After heavy reef damage in the seventies the island was set aside as one of the country's first reserves, and the islanders guarded it themselves for forty years; now there are fields of table coral and several species of turtle. Oslob is where people go to snorkel with whale sharks. Malatapay market, twenty minutes south, is the only open-air market on Negros, runs on Wednesdays and still trades goods for goods; people from Apo and the mountain villages bring livestock, fish and unfamiliar fruit. Two roads lead to the twin lakes and both need a 4×4; kayaks are available on the water. The resort garden is close to botanical — the plants carry labels, with eight species of heliconia, red ginger, gardenia, hibiscus and orchids along the path.

Rooms

Deluxe

View: Garden

Beds: A king bed convertible to two twins, or a queen bed

The base category, set in the garden. Some rooms have an adjoining room with two twin beds and the same fittings — usually taken by families.

A king bed convertible to two twins, or a queen bed Ensuite with shower Air conditioning and ceiling fan Cable TV In-room safe Minibar and refrigerator Solar-heated hot water An adjoining twin room in some of the rooms

Garden Suite

View: Garden

Beds: A king bed convertible to two twins, or two queen beds

Roomier than the Deluxe, with a large furnished balcony or patio. Adds a coffee and tea maker and a DVD player.

A king bed convertible to two twins, or two queen beds Large furnished balcony or patio Ensuite with shower Air conditioning and ceiling fan Cable TV and a DVD player Coffee and tea making facilities In-room safe Minibar and refrigerator

Ocean Front

View: Ocean

Beds: A king bed convertible to two twins

Rooms with a direct ocean view. A coffee and tea maker and a DVD player come as standard.

A king bed convertible to two twins Direct ocean view Ensuite with shower Air conditioning and ceiling fan Cable TV and a DVD player Coffee and tea making facilities In-room safe Minibar and refrigerator

Premier Garden Suite

View: Garden

Beds: A queen bed and a king bed convertible to two twins

A two-bedroom suite with a shared ensuite shower. Flat screen with cable and DVD, coffee and tea maker.

Two bedrooms — a queen bed and a king convertible to two twins Shared ensuite with shower Air conditioning and ceiling fan Flat screen with cable and DVD Coffee and tea making facilities In-room safe Minibar and refrigerator

When to go

Best time: November to June is calmer with better visibility; the critters are there year round

Diving in Dauin is considered good all year. November to June is the calmest stretch with the best visibility; some photographers prefer the off-season precisely because the sites are empty. Nearly every local site is a sandy slope and muck diving, and its residents do not depend on the season, so the octopus, cuttlefish and frogfish are there year round. Crossings to Apo Island and Siquijor depend on the weather.

Getting there

The resort is in Dauin, Negros Oriental, about thirty minutes by road from the city of Dumaguete.

The simplest route is a daily flight from Manila to Dumaguete, about an hour in the air with Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines. From Cebu you can take a van with the ferry crossing via Liloan, or a fast ferry straight into Dumaguete.

The resort arranges door-to-door transfers with meet-and-greet and can book the domestic flight. Flight and ferry times change often, so the current schedule comes with your booking; the same team can book a hotel in Manila if your connection lands overnight.