Name: Crystal Blue Resort Batangas
Address: Bagalangit, Balagbag, Anilao, Mabini, Anilao, Mabini, Mabini, Mabini, 5203, Philippines
Rating: 9

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Crystal Blue Resort Batangas

Mabini

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with-view

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not-guaranteed

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If you want the top of the range service get there. Mike and his team are amazing. We had again a superb stay. This is a very professional team , very helpful. Food is buffet style of excellent quality. And the Diving is un believable. For the second time we have been again so satisfied with the resort.

BCR Anilao get there and enjoy it the way we did.

Fantastic resort designed around diving.  Stayed for a photography/videography workshop (Critterfest 2023).  The facilities were nice - room was comfortable, camera room was huge, and relaxing areas were nice.  Like others have in their reviews, if you have trouble with stairs, ask for a room closer to the bottom.  The food was very good.  Lots of different choices and no one went hungry.  Wifi was generally good - better in the mornings, but was able to connect to my company's VPN with no issues. The dive guides and boat men were fantastic.  We had a list of things we wanted to see and the dive guide found all but one after a day.  Dives routinely lasted over an hour (shortest one was 58 minutes, longest was 87 minutes, averaged about 72 minutes, for 33 dives).   The boat men were very good with cameras and know how to take care of them. Even though the edge of a typhoon came through when we were there, the staff made sure we did not miss any dives.  If we ever decide to dive in Anilao again, we will be sure to stay here.

Fantastic Dive Resort

This location is all about scuba diving. The diving services and the photo pro are great. As I diver, this is everything I need, a package with all diving and meals. I traveled by myself and stayed for around 2 weeks. In retrospect, I wish I stayed a little longer. I am retired, so I have the time. The local dive guides are exceptionally good. There is a lot to see underwater. If you are not a diver, then look for a resort that has more grounds and other activities.

Excellent service, reasonable prices, excellent scuba diving.

This is a great resort for underwater photographers!  They have a dedicated camera room.  The dive operation is wonderful.  Great guides.  The resort is very comfortable.  Wonderful food.  Like others say, there's a climb up to the rooms because it's built on a hill.  Look at the bright side, you have a wonderful view!  Would definitely come back!

Great scuba place for underwater photographers

Crystal Blue Resort is a great dive resort. My wife and I spent 18 days here in March 2023 attending two underwater  photography workshops. The resort layout is compact and vertical, with the rooms above the common area the equivalent of two to four or five flights of stairs. If you have trouble with stairs ask to be put in one of the Family Villas, as they are the lowest rooms in the resort. 
I can't decide if the top accolades go to the staff, the food, or the dive operation. All three being outstanding. This is a very well run operation. 
All the staff are friendly, professional and are quick to lend a hand without being asked. We were in room 206, which had two queen sized beds and plenty of floor space to easily move about the room. The water pressure in the shower was good, but the hot water could take a few minutes to arrive. WiFi has been upgraded and is reliable with good signal strength resort wide. We did not need the plug adapters we brought as all the plugs accommodated both US and European style. Note, however, the power supplied is 220/240 volts, twice what we have in the US. Certain items are not compatible with this higher voltage (hair dryers for example).  There is a small massage studio, staffed by off-resort therapists. We enjoyed two massages during our time here. 
The dining room is open air and very pleasant. Meals are served buffet style and there are plenty of choices for entrees (fish, beef/pork/chicken). The food is plentiful, delicious, and well prepared. Generally there were two additional sides, white rice, and salad at lunch and dinner. We do not eat seafood, and the kitchen prepared soups or pastas the same as on the buffet, but to meet our preferences.  
The camera room has 18 stations, each with power, light, plenty of workspace and storage. The dive operation is very well run. Your gear is set up for you on the boats (four guests/boat/guide). Transit time to sites two minutes to moor on the house reef to  up to 30 minutes for other sites. The reason to dive here is the rich marine environment and photographic opportunities. Mike Bartick is a world renowned photographer who willingly shares is help (tech support) and techniques so you can become a better photographer. If you are so inclined, participate in a few nights of blackwater diving, it's amazing.  
We will return. 

Crystal Blue Resort excellent dive/photography choice. 

If you have any interest whatsoever in underwater photography, this is the resort for you!

I have been shooting underwater for many years and was skeptical that I would learn much from the Critterfest classes, but was I ever wrong.  Mike Bartick, the resort GM and resident pro photographer, challenged us to try new things and open our creative apertures.  I came away with a completely new perspective on my underwater photography.  The real gift, though, is Mike did this irrespective of attendees' individual experience or complexity of their systems.  There was also valuable information for videographers, as well as on how to process photos in Lightroom Classic, from Mike's team of professionals.

The camera room is the best I have ever seen anywhere.  Mike has covered all the details, big and little.

The diving was spectacular.  Our guide Glenn was the best I've seen at managing a group and finding all types of cool subjects.  We never had more than 6 total divers on our boat so there were few issues with competing for subjects or space on the boat.  The boats are typical Philippine bangkas, nothing fancy but purpose built for short dive trips.  The boat crews worked extremely hard schlepping gear, changing tanks, and managing the boat and divers.  Wonderful.

The Anilao dive sites range from gorgeous coral gardens, to coral rubble, to muck dives.  The mix kept it interesting.  One caution: if you come in the winter months, I highly recommend at least a 5mm wetsuit and also a hood.  The water (at least for us from Guam) was cool and it was chilly on the boat rides back from night dive sites, but mercifully the longest trip was 30min, with most much shorter.  

Rooms are very nice.  Ours had twin queen beds and the bathroom was great.  Hot shower and lots of hot water, too.

Food was outstanding, with a different soup at lunch and dinner, local delicacies, and plenty of fresh fruit and veggies.

In sum, I will definitely be back, probably multiple times!

Best ever for underwater photographers!

Mike Bartick has developed the best diving resort, hands down!!
The most amazing boat crew, dive guides and staff in 15+ years of diving in the coral triangle. If that is not enough, Crystal Blue Resort has the most amazing executive chef and desert chef ever!

Best experience in 15 years of diving in the coral triangle for food and photography! From the arrival to the departure!

I spent a week a Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao. The resort and dive team run super efficiently. The team picked me up at the airport in Manila and transferred me the hotel. 

My room was extremely comfortable with good wifi. I was able to conduct a few business call via zoom without any issues.

The dive team was excellent at setting up dives and spotting interesting creatures.

I would definitely stay here again.

Excellent Dive Resort

After a 2 1/2 van ride from Manila, I arrived at the Crystal Blue Resort (CBR) in Anilao on June 24 for a 10 night stay. It was the beginning of the rainy season so I was virtually the only diver at the resort. Nevertheless, I enjoyed great service from reception, the restaurant, and especially the dive operation. 

The boat crew (Allan and Jojo) provided excellent help to/from the dive boat -- carrying and rinsing gear including my camera rig. Edgar is an exceptional dive guide with great knowledge of the dive sites and the marine critters. 

Although due to the onset of the rainy season, some marine species were not so prolific, Edgar was truly remarkable in his ability to spot U/W critters, e.g., rhinopias, many different nudibranch species (including melibe colmani), several different species of octopus, pygmy sea horse, several different species of crustaceans including mantis shrimp with eggs, frogfish, eels and lots of different reef fish. 

I enjoyed a large room with lots of storage space and a spacious bathroom. There is also a large, well-equipped camera room. The restaurant offered a variety of tasty food choices, which was remarkable since I was about the only person eating there. The resort is on a hillside so there are plenty of stairs from one's room to the dive center. 

I did a blackwater dive; nice experience. It was affected by a large school of sardines that apparently ate or ran off the smaller pelagics that are usually attracted to the U/W lights. 

The location is noted for the macro photography; not the most colorful reefs for the casual diver. 

Although my stay was not at the peak of the dive season, I has a wonderful experience with lots of individual service. Thank you, CBR!

Great Service; Excellent Macro Photography

This was our third trip to Chrystal Blue. As always the diving was the best. One of the best spots for macro and the guides were excellent. Always pointing out interesting critters and helping us to get the great shots. Blackwater dive program very good. Boat crew handled all the scuba gear and cameras. They helped us on with the gear and all we had to do was a back roll. The camera room is the best one I have used at any resort. The rooms have been modernized with plenty of hot water and good internet connections. Food was excellent, served buffet style with plenty of choices.

Crystal Blue Resort Batangas

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