Cabilao Sanctuary Beach & Dive Resort

Beautiful pool with lots of options for poolside seating/lounging. The dining room was bright and airy with floor to ceiling glass doors opened to the ocean and the pleasant breeze or ceiling fans were strategically placed and cooling/breezy as needed. Get the ocean front rooms if affordable as these rooms catch the ocean breeze. Beds were very comfortable and the rooms very clean and spacious. The window covering shades worked great and made for privacy/ darkness when needed. The staff were very accommodating to my gluten free dietary needs. The dive shop and services were clean and well organized with lots of room for gear storage. Future plans for a camera room will greatly improve the dive shop. The dive shop staff were very accommodating. My gf and I were the only guests during the four days we were there which was great as we were the only recipients of all the staff’s wonderful hospitality.

The menu needed descriptions as the staff were not always well versed in the components of the dish and the meals often took awhile to be served. The bathrooms some days had a strong smell of sewer which was unpleasant, but not overwhelming or necessitating of keeping the door closed. The rinse tanks for dive gear at the dive shop had just enough fresh water in them to rinse gear/soak my underwater camera related to the limited freshwater from rain water catchment storage as the island otherwise has no water source, but the resort does have a desalination system. All access from the ocean necessitates walking through the reef flats/ on the beach depending on the tide level as no pier is available so water shoes or dive booties are essential. Do not bother with renting a bicycle as the available bikes are more like racing bikes with uncomfortable seats when. Beach cruiser type bikes with a few gears would be more appropriate. There is really not much to see on the island inland and what roads there are are very poor, but the inhabitants are very friendly. My gf and I are scuba divers and did not do any snorkeling.

Great place for diving, loved the dive shop and Mati the instructor was amazing for me and my daughters open water training and certification. Do note that this place is probably best for divers, although my partner enjoyed as a snorkeler as well.

A heads up on the arrival would’ve been nice, but then the weather was unexpected. We had a good adventure taking the bikes from the boat to the resort in pouring rain :)

We were originally staying in a bungalow next door but after eating at the resort restaurant we moved in to this place - mainly to use the pool and loungers. The food is very good - the tempura shrimp and the fish curry were both brilliant. The staff are amazing and the room was exceptional by Philippines standards - very spacious, great aircon and a huge outdoor bathroom. Snorkelling the reef was easy and you may see turtles if you're lucky

The wifi was a bit weak in the room but fine in the main areas

Well equipped dive shop and use of speedboats for travelling to dive sites (rather than Filipino bangka boats). Ladies working in the restaurant area were lovely. Resort presentation is very neat.

This is not the peaceful sanctuary that we were hoping for. Unfortunately they allow groups of day visitors and whilst we were there a large and very loud family group took over the common areas of the resort during one day. Also relaxing in our villa was not possible as the non-beach end of the resort is a staff hangout area with singing and shouting. We were told we just have to wait until the staff go home at 5pm and then it will be quieter! Food was also an issue - one of the breakfasts I was served burnt (blacken) toast and also for a dinner they had visibly burnt my meal (it was black) but still served it to me.