Aiyanar Beach and Dive Resort

We booked Aiyanar resort as they were the most responsive in email correspondence. Joyce, the manager, responded to all our emails right away and clarified and arranged everything perfectly before the trip. Arrangement for transportation was very easy. It takes 2~2.5 hours depending on the traffic from the airport to the resort, and they make sure you arrive back at the airport in plenty of time, since check in and immigration can take over an hour. The rooms are equipped with all kinds of amenities (hair dryer, kettle, reading lamps, safe, etc.) and are very comfortable both for working and relaxing in. The bathroom was very spacious and clean, with good hot water that does not run out -- which is important when coming back from dives. There is also a very nice desk to work on computer, and it is amply equipped with electrical outlets on both ends (flat 2 pin style, as is often used in the Philippines; the camera room has many universal outlets that you can also use). Joyce always asks all the guests whether they need anything. All the staff was a great team. The resort is big and very quiet, with no noise or loud music coming in from elsewhere, as it does at many Anilao resorts. It is also fun to watch their resident giant tortoise, Birdie! The dining here is excellent! Great quality food and amazing variety of dishes, all excellent! The restaurant staff were all super friendly and accommodating, and especially Randy, who oversees it, is so professional! The style of serving (buffet, family style shared plate, individual plate) changes depending on the number of the guests. But even for a small occupancy of 1 or 2 people, the variety was never less, and the portions were always more than generous, and come with a soup and salad, 3-4 main dishes, and a homemade dessert at both lunch and dinner. Vanessa's homemade ice creams were delicious! This is easily one of the best kitchens in any dive resorts we have stayed, and by far the best in the Philippines! And most important to us (and to many): The diving experience was FANTASTIC, as our dive master Dadz is so kind, fun, competent and professional with great eyes for spotting macro life. The boatmen were also kind and helpful, and the dive instructor Joe fixed my dive watch! The temperature was rather cool (water temperature 25~26 celcius), but the boatmen gave us hot towels and coffee when we came up for our surface intervals. They also offer black water photography, which we did not try, but can assume was done as carefully and professionally as everything else there. They have also open-water licence class, and we will recommend all our friends who are interested in getting a diving license to go to Aiyanar, as it has nice classroom, kind instructor, and deep pool. If you want to just relax, they have a beautiful infinity pool and can also arrange massage service. The masseuses all seem to be professionally trained. (One tip: Nearest ATM is far, so bring enough cash to tip the masseuses,

Aiyanar is a top notch dive resort with a fantastic hospitality staff and dive program. There were lots of octopus (mimic, wanderlust, coconut), frog fish, macro crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and sea horses. What is particularly nice about Aiyanar's location is the close proximity to world class muck diving AND beautiful coral reefs -- no need to choose between the two when planning a dive vacation here! The camera room has more than enough outlets with universal plugs and air sprayers at every station -- this dive resort caters well to underwater photographers. To round off the dive experience in luxury fashion, the food at Aiyanar is excellent thanks to Randy and the kitchen team. Breakfast is made to order. Every lunch and dinner were 4 courses starting with homemade soup, then green salad with homemade dressing, then the main course with a sampling of 4 different dishes, then homemade desert. Even the ice cream is homemade and delicious. Entirely unexpectedly, the resort supervisor, Joyce, let my husband and friends know that Aiyanar would be preparing Thanksgiving Dinner for us to help us celebrate Thanksgiving. I have attached a picture of the delicious dishes that were prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner. And, yes, the apple pie was homemade! This resort provides a wonderful diving and dining experience!

My cousin Marissa and I had lunch here yesterday. Since she’s from Manila, she was craving for authentic Batangas food so we ordered bulalo, which server Hannah said was good for 5 pax. What we loved about it was it wasn’t as fatty as expected, given the bone marrow, the serving was just right for two pax and it was delicious and piping hot. Best of all, they didn’t use vetsin coz according to the very accommodating Joyce, who is the general manager of this resort, says they’re after serving healthier options. The mango shake I ordered had the right amount of ice, which is to say not too much, and the sweetness was just right. And although the dining area wasn’t air conditioned, I didn’t find it as hot, unlike my cousin, who is used to dining in an air conditioned room.

The resort has a great design, the staff was extremely pleasant and helpful, the room was adequate, and the house reef provided for a pleasant dive. There's variety in the meals served at the restaurant, and the quality was mostly very good. However, considering the high price point of the resort, it's disappointing that their "high speed internet" was 20% slow and 80% non-existent. And it's surprising that despite paying rates equal to those of top premium resorts in the country, we spent an entire day of our vacation without any electricity. I'd have expected them to have a backup generator available for such power interruptions. There are other vacation options that provide better value at the same price point in the area.

There were lots to choose from in this area. There were no recent review do to COVID. So we went on advice of a friend. The room was very clean and spacious. The dive and resort staff was outstanding. The food was good and they offered a variety for each meal. The diving was fantastic. Not much to do if you don't dive.

I've stayed in a few resorts on the Anilao peninsula and so far I'd rate this the best. Without exception all the staff are really friendly and go out of their way to be helpful and engaging. The food they serve is very good but actually too much. We had to ask them to cut back a few times. The layout of the resort is good and the main restaurant nice a airy. The photos on their website are what attracted me to the resort but the rooms are probably not as attractive as the pictures show. They're slightly tired but that said, still better than the other places I've stayed in the area. If I had one criticism it would be that they never serviced the room while I was there. I'm not worried about changing the towels or sheets but it would have been nice to have had the bed tidied up and the water replenished. That said, I'm sure if I'd have asked they would have gladly done it. Their dive operation is well run and to a high standard. The team are very helpful. And one other thing - no steep walk up and down the hillside to get from the car park to the resort. Will definitely be back.

The resort grounds are nice and spacious, rooms are clean, pool are is nice, dinning room is ok. But... Food was meh. Don't get me wrong: set menu is included and Generous portions with repeats, but nothing to write home about. You could order from the menu for extra cost, but choice was limited. I'd say 95% in set menu and à la carte is typical Filipino food, which is delicious, but if it's not what you relish, you're out of luck. Bar seemed to be closed. The dive shop was ok, nothing more. Half working showers, not a lot of space. The real annoyance was the dogs. At the restaurant. At least 3 people had dogs. All of them barking all the time. At all meals. We found this disrespectful and insulting. The hotel staff neither said nor did anything. Not sure if they are trying to be pet friendly but this was plain rude. Finally, we found it quite expensive, compared to other places that are much nicer, with amazing food and incredible diving facilities - just a few resorts down the road.

Room without wifi, no hot water in the shower (even after asking to fix it and they said it was fixed), no daily room cleaning (even after asking to clean the room), safe initially malfunctioning (and small, laptops don't fit, so they can be subject to theft), no menus (they tell you what's available at the moment, without even showing the price or writing it down on a board), limited meal times (and after 9pm, impossible to get any food), oftentimes there's no one at the lobby (in case you need help), and we even saw an unmanned dog roaming around, rundown lines. All this with the price of a 5-star hotel.

We enjoyed our stay in Aiyanar. Excellent service, beautiful resort, super relaxing stay, not crowded, clean rooms, great food and we love the overall experience. The staff members were also very accommodating. We will definitely go back ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️