Atlantis Azores Visayas Safari - July 5-12, 2025

The Atlantis Azores liveaboard is the perfect way to experience some of the most beautiful and bio-diverse regions in Asia. During our visit this time of year we will get to embark on the Visayas Safari departing from the Atlantis Dumaguete Resort which is where you will get to spend a week at relaxing upon ending your week on the Azores. The Azores is a 107 ft vessel that was built in 1989 and refitted in 2012/2015, and cruises at about 7-8 knots. There are 7 deluxe state rooms, which have a double and single bunk-style berths in 6 rooms and 1 room with one double berth. All cabins have their own air-conditioner, private restroom, with a shower, toilet, hairdryer, and some toiletries. Bath towels are provided in rooms and dive towels available on the dive deck. No wet clothes or dive equipment is allowed inside the living areas of the boat. Power on board is 110V. Transformers and a charging station are available. 

Just like the resorts the Azores prides themselves on serving "world class" cuisine made with fresh ingredients. The snack and drink bar is open all day featuring many choices to choose from. All drinks on board, including social servings of beer, wine, and local rum are complimentary. A wide range of of non-alcoholic beverages throughout the day are served and after diving during dinner enjoy social servings of beer, wine, and local rum. You can also bring your own beverages with no corkage fee. - NOT ALLOWED AT RESORTS!

Looking to sit back and relax between dives? Enjoy a wide selection of movies to choose from or check out the library for a good book or magazine to read. There is also an assortment of board games and cards to available as well! Each evening there is one of the following activities to check out; marine life presentations, a picture slideshow, or presentation on your next destination. Looking to catch some Sun? Then the partially covered sun deck is where you'll wanna hang out on a chaise lounge, enjoy the wetbar, or any of the sitting areas with plenty of tables and a large swim platform with warm freshwater showers. The Boutique onboard offers essential dive equipment such as signal tubes, whistles, flashlights, and limited souvenirs such as t-shirts, caps, etc. 

Diving from the Azores:

There is a spacious dive deck to allow divers to gear up comfortably along with a 3-tier camera table available for photographers with a charging station. Every diver has their own storage area for dive equipment as well as fresh, hot water showers on the back platform. A rinse tanks for gear. Majority of the dives are done from two zodiac boats with just a short ride to the dive site. Charters include 5 dives a day, including a night dive. As always due to area conditions. Cruises each evening that will take you from one amazing dive site to the next. 

The level of diving varies based on the sites and typically there are deeper dive sites in Visayas as there are multi-level wall dives. Moderate to strong currents are not unusual here either. The max dives you can do are 4 day dives and 1 night dive, totaling 5 dives a day! Enjoy up to 1-hour dives from depths ranging from 30ft to 100ft. The diver to guide ratio is no more than 8 divers for 1 guide. 32% Nitrox is available for an additional charge. Rentals must be arranged at Dumaguete Resort before boarding Azores. Both DIN and yoke tanks are available in either standard aluminum 80s or  100s. Gloves are NOT allowed. 

Diving the Visayas Safari

The Visayas are one of the 3 island groups in the Philippines, featuring incredible macro, stunning walls, whale sharks, and thresher sharks! Spend 7 incredible nights diving at a different site each day; from the spectacular walls of Cabilao, diving with whale sharks in Oslob, the amazing reefs of Sumilon Island. Malapascua's Gato Island, where its caverns are home of the protected sea crate and white tip sharks and a Malapascua favorite, Kimud Shoal, known for frequent sightings of thresher sharks. 

The Itinerary: 

Day 1: Board the Azores at 5pm from the Atlantis Dumaguete Resort, where we will spend a week with after our week at sea, and enjoy a welcome evening and overnight travel to the first destination.  

Day 2: Cabilao Island, Bahol - With its shallow topped reefs and nice drop-offs, this island offers an incredible number of critters in the shallows which are a simply a delight. However, its the pristine hard corals that steal the show here around the southern coast. Here you will find species such as scorpion fish, tunas, jackfish, barracudas, frogfish, and nudibranchs. 

Day 3: Gato Island, Malapascua - One of the pearls of Malapascua and the perfect spot to see both macro and big fish, and famous for the chance to spot whitetip and bamboo sharks resting under rocks or hiding along tunnels. Here will also be your chance to spot the pygmy seahorses hiding in the soft coral gardens, along with frogfish, a wide array of nudibranchs, and off the reef you can find bait balls and squid. 

Day 4: Kimud Shoal, Capitancillo Islet - A sunken island! The top rests at about 40-45ft and drops as deep as 650ft! Here you can spot thresher sharks, manta rays, devil rays, and turtles. The top of this sunken island is covered in hard corals with the sides covered in soft corals. While the east side of has some incredible rock formations and due to the drop off theres a chance for large fish such as tuna or dolphins here. 

Day 5: Balicasag Island - Starting with a shallow plateau starting at about 20ft to 60ft before dropping off to a wall, you'll experience hard and soft corals which home moray eels, parrotfish, and clownfish. Keep an eye out along the wall for schools of jacks swimming by.  

Day 6: Panglao Island and Optional Land Tour - Here you will find ALL kinds of marine life, from turtles, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, eagle rays, manta rays, schools of barracuda, frogfish, ghost pipefish, a second chance for pygmy seahorse, thorny seahorses, and MANY kinds of nudibranchs can also be found along the walls and reefs. 
Land Tour Options - Chocolate Hills or Loboc River Tour, and a visit to the tasiers, the worlds smallest primate, on both tours. 

Day 7: Oslob and Sumilon Island - Spend the last day diving with whale sharks at Oslob! The rest of the day will be spent diving around Sumilon Island, a tranquil island surrounded by crystal clear waters and pristine white sandy beaches. Be on the look out here for an exquisite coral garden and drop-offs. Here you might find manta rays, stingrays, barracudas, turtles, sea snakes, and occasionally a whale shark or hammerhead has been known to make an appearance. 

Day 8: Disembark the Azores at 8am straight to Atlantis Dumaguete Resort where you will spend another week diving, relaxing by the pool, and getting your land legs back!

This trip includes the following: 

• Roundtrip transfer from Manila to Dumaguete* 
• 7 Nights stay on Atlantis Azores Liveaboard July 5-12, 2025
• Complimentary local soft drinks, beer, & social servings of wine 
• All meals & Snacks 
• Use of lounge, deck, & TV areas 

*Door to door (or flight to flight) “Concierge Transfers” arrangements can be made through our friendly reservations staff. This includes ‘meet and greet’ and domestic flight reservations.

Not Included:

Flights, Nitrox, Marine Park Fees, Rental Equipment, & Land Tours. 

Dive insurance is MANDATORY. 

Internet Access & Phone Calls on Azores - On most Azores itineraries, we are close enough to land that we will have cellular and data (email) coverage. Limited Internet is available while the Azores is in port via personal cell phone coverage. The Azores is equipped with Starlink to provide internet at the more remote locations for sending and receiving emails. Please note streaming, media sites and sending of pictures or files will not be supported. In the event internet is not available we offer guests the ability to send and receive calls or texts using satellite communication. The satellite phone is available for guest use by arrangement with the Captain (guests are not allowed on the bridge without the Captain present). The cost is ₱250, approx $5 per minute or ₱150, approx $3 per text message up to 160 characters.

$750 pp. deposit reserves your space. Deposit is non-refundable and any other refund is dependent on being able to sell your space. Final balance due April 25, 2025.  Dive Accident Insurance is MANDATORY. We highly recommend Trip Cancellation Insurance (DAN). Please contact us for more details on how to obtain these types of insurances.

Inquire About Diver/Trip Insurance Here

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