Wowin' Dauin: Discovering the Muck Diving Capital of the Philippines

The sweet smell of frangipani hits you smack in the nose as you exit your room. Fallen flowers adorn the perfectly-manicured lawn, each decorated with a single artistic dewdrop. The nights’ toads and geckos run for cover, their ribbets and chirps being replaced with the comforting sound of dive cylinders clanking together.

Dauin is located on Negros Island, a mountainous province that has the Sulu Sea to the west and Cebu to the east. Between Negros Oriental and the island of Cebu is a narrow channel and the deep Negros trench. This topography - and the currents that flow through it - is why the coastline has such incredible muck diving.

Atmosphere Resort & Spa’s dive centre runs like clockwork and looks logistically faultless. Yet it has a very laid-back feel. The jolly local guides share jokes with each other while your kit is being carefully prepped and carried to the boat. While my buddy and I wait for our dive briefing, I flick through some books to identify the multitude of birds flying around the palm trees above our heads: glossy starlings, brown shrikes, zebra doves and my favourites – the Philippine swiftlets. They cheekily zip over you on their way for a refreshing dip in one of the resort’s three pools.

Following an undignified entry over the rocky foreshore, we descended onto the Atmosphere house reef. A gentle swim out to the drop-off rewarded us with huge bommies of healthy Porites coral, ladders of giant table corals and sandy patches that hid jawfish and mantis shrimp. We drifted over seagrass beds that sheltered vibrant yellow - and the more subtle grey - common seahorses. Pipefish and painted frogfish camouflaged themselves among bright sponges and crinoids, while colourful soft corals swayed in the current. 

As we passed a group of beginners practising skills, I thought how wonderful it would have been to have learnt to dive here in this maze of colour and diversity. I also snorkelled the house reef on a day off and saw a multitude of turtles below feeding, sleeping and coming up for air.

Diving at Atmosphere is interspersed with coffee at the bar, a few pages of a book alongside one of the infinity pools, or sipping the milk of a whole coconut through an eco-friendly straw. Did I also mention the lovingly-prepared lunches and bar snacks? (the tempura prawns are to die for!). Don’t ever expect to need to hunt down a member of the Atmosphere food and beverage team. They have care radars that instinctively know when you feel thirsty or peckish! 

I was lucky enough to be in Dauin during octopus season, which runs from October to December. Boarding the fast-covered speedboat, we were excited to be heading to Secret Corner, where we were promised octopus soup! It didn’t disappoint. I was treated to some of the usual suspects I had seen previously, like blue ring, coconut octopus, mimic and wonderpus. Dive guide Ian became my best friend for finding the elusive algae octopus and at least three Mototi. 

Relatively newly-discovered in 1999, the Mototi octopus has fake eyes – known as ocelli – located halfway between the real eyes and the third tentacle. Like the blue ring octopus, this species has an iridescent blue ring inside a black circle. They can flash this ring brightly to warn off predators.

With a ratio of no more than four divers per guide, you will get the undivided attention from your eagle-eyed dive guide every day. Without him, I would never have witnessed a tiny flamboyant cuttlefish pop out of its egg casing and make its way out confidently out into the world alone. This was after what looked like a shake of the beak, as if it had just woken up from the world’s best nap!

Just as I thought the day could not improve, I was greeted by a hot face towel and cool, sweet pineapple on exiting the water. A refreshing glass of melon juice held aloft on a tray on the beach was quickly guzzled down, then I made my way back to the well-equipped camera room to re-charge my tech before tomorrow’s adventures. 

Our next location, the volcanic island of Apo Marine Sanctuary, is just 1.5 kilometres from north to south. "Apo" means "elder" in the Visayan language. It has 10 dive sites and takes around 40 minutes to reach via a large outrigger boat. The outriggers have a marine toilet, plenty of space to store your things and a sun deck. Lunch is ordered the night prior from an extensive menu and consisted of stir fries, curries and sweet brownies!

The most famous dive site at Apo Island is Cogon, where you may be lucky enough to see an impressive swirling wall of bigeye trevally. However, what struck me most about all the sites at Apo was the density of hard corals in the shallows. You could quite happily spend all your dives no deeper than 12 metres, while still enjoying a huge variety of anemone, scorpionfish, giant puffer, eel catfish and nudibranch (among others) that use these corals as shelter. The stunning colonies of coloured feather stars and lazy green sea turtles made for some nice wide angle shots, following the macro life at the local sites.

Apo days are a full-day excursion, with two or three dives on offer. The journey back shows the impressive Mount Talinis in all its glory - a volcano that towers around 1,900 metres above sea level.

While Atmosphere has diving at its core, you can also partake in wine tasting, relax under the delicate hands of the Sanctuary Spa team, get out on a mountain bike tour, or explore the area on one of the many local excursions. On my penultimate day, I enjoyed a trip to Pulangbato waterfalls and hot springs. A winding drive up through the Okoy valley highlands gave us spectacular views of Valencia, Dumaguete City and its surrounding countryside. You can see the steam from the inactive Cuernos de Negros volcano, which is part of the geothermal production field, powering all of Negros Oriental.

The stunning falls were followed by a dip in the healing hot springs, where the sulphurous water has turned the rocks a deep red. I also visited the bustling indoor market and sampled some tasty dishes in a local restaurant.

Atmosphere Resort and Spa’s beachfront location alongside the Philippine Sea is combined with the green tropical gardens of an old coconut plantation. This keeps you grounded in nature. However, the tasteful bungalows, exceptional service, extensive wine list and fine dining restaurants remind you that you are somewhere a little bit more special than your average dive resort. 

Atmosphere has found the perfect balance between luxury and boutique. The capital city, Dumaguete, is referred to as the “City of Gentle People,” so just relax and let the attentive, gentle people take very good care of you – you deserve it!

All images by Cath Bates

Find out more about all our diving holidays to Dumaguete & Dauin or contact our team to book.