Navis 1 Liveaboard, Philippines

All in all, one of the better trips I’ve been on and good value for money.

The $150 Fuel Surcharge. Once on board, one of the first things we were asked to do was pay the park fees and fuel surcharge. Park fees, fine. But the very ‘rounded up’ figure of the fuel surcharge smacks of the owner just cashing-in on the ‘Middle East’ situation and, if you do the arithmetic, not justified. We could see the crew felt uncomfortable about it - enough said. The Boat. It’s a very good dive platform but a bit tired in places. There is plenty of room and, yes, a very positive and fun atmosphere promoted by the very hospitable, knowledgeable, helpful and professional crew. The food is very good too. My tip for improvement would be to invest in a serving hot plate to keep the food warm once it is brought out of the kitchen. The Accommodation. The rooms are good with ample storage space under the beds and good sized wc/toilet. Again, a bit tired but clean and tidy. The bed itself was made up of a bottom sheet and then a ‘throw’ type blanket on top. I’d have preferred a sheet on top as well. The aircon was fine and there was sufficient hot water etc. Above decks, the only sign of renovation we could see was that the cabins all had new windows. In our twin room, we could really have done with a bedside shelf and a reading light rather than just the main light. Relaxation Spaces. Great to have free WiFi. The upper deck lounge is a chill space which is great but needs some new bean bags, deck chairs and tables. We had an evening meal served up there and watched the sunset which was very nice and to spend time during the day. The dining space has lots of room and is well set out with everything in easy reach. Free soft drinks and beverages and a reasonable fee for a beer. Excursions. Both the excursions were worth doing, well organised and not overly long. The Diving. The conduct of the diving was excellent and felt safe at all times. We dived nitrox the entire time which I was glad about as there are a couple of days, particularly the wreck days, with deepish longer dives. The boat dive master, JJ, was excellent; each dive brief given in English at a pace which we could understand. Our dive guide, Randy, very quickly got to know each of the individuals in our group and lead us all appropriately with integrated safety stops (on shallow parts of the reef) at the end of the dive whenever he could rather than just putting the DSMB up. He was good at allowing time for everyone to see stuff and at keeping the group together but also being prepared to deviate if we saw something worth investigating. Day 1: Coron Island x 3. Good ‘shake out’ to check weight etc. Barracuda Lake was really fun and not to be missed (top tip - take a torch). The short ‘hike’ up and down some steep steps is an adventure in itself. The night dive was very good, we saw loads of stuff. Day 2: WWII Wreck Odyssey x 4. One of the stand-out days on the trip. The wrecks are great and the dives well guided with lots to see and exciting swim throughs and spaces to explore. Day 3: Black Island x 3. The Okikara Maru is a great dive with an unusual entry point and shallow enough deck to really explore. You could easily do 2 dives on this one. Day 4: Dugong Dreams x 3. Complete change of scenery with the Dugongs. We got to see one in open water which was great and also saw one in the bay. Lovely to see and appropriately done. Day 5: Apo Reef Immersion x 4. One of the main reasons we came. Good dives and saw some of what we’d hoped to see. Day 6: Apo Reef Farewell - 2 Dives Final Apo Reef dives. Appropriately named ‘Shark Airport’ - we saw quite a few sharks. The island visit was worth the effort and you can climb the tower to get some great photos. We also picked up a very cool t-shirt here. Bit of fun with some ‘gentle’ Karaoke in the evening with a nice meal to pass the time while we headed back to Coron. Day 7: Coron Homecoming. Plenty of time for kit to dry (all done by the crew), pack and the boat organised our airport transits for us. We also got

Recommended for

The itinerary. The crew. The fun.

18 May, 2026