Magic Island Dive Resort

Great little resort with super friendly and accommodating staff. Rooms were comfortable and the food was delicious. Peaceful surroundings as away from the main town but just a short 10 minute ride into it. Diving was great, especially the sunset dives on the house reef to see the mandarin fish mating. Equipment is well kept and the staff are professional and accommodating also.

Band of Bubbles 2024 Philippines Dive Trip! This was the most SPLENDID vacation we've ever had! The Magic Resorts pair of Magic Island and Magic Oceans is just astonishingly great! The trip is long and grueling from the US, but it's worth every moment spent getting there! We spent one week at Magic Island and then transferred to Magic Oceans on Bohol. All of the transfers went without a hitch. What an AWESOME job they did at orchestrating all of that. Once we settled into Magic Island we had the most amazing week ever! The diving was awe-inspiring and the staff made our group feel like family. The pure joy and happiness was 24/7 during our stay. Not only was the diving incredible, but the food was seemingly endless and delicious! You won't go hungry here!!

We were at this same resort 10 years ago. Many majority of the staff are still there and make this resort a truly special place. Wonderful service and the staff is just great to interact with. The accommodations are soon to undergo a face-lift: 4 cabins being rebuilt and all getting bigger bathrooms with more counter space. We saw what the new bathrooms will look like come September 2024 and that will make these accommodations even better. Food was wonderful and you can pick from what's on the board for lunch and dinner, served family style, or order off the extensive menu is you choose. The grounds are lovely and the intimate nature of the resort (only 10 cabins) makes it and you feel special. The diving is good but still recovering from the typhoon of December 2021. You can see new life growing and there is still lots of beautiful soft coral. Lots of critters and the sardine experience is unique. All in all, the staff and the grounds make the resort excellent and the diving will continue to improve as growth happens.

It was a long journey to get to the resort, but it was worth all the time it took. Small resort but most friendly staff. The rooms are good, bathroom a little small, but they are planning to extend them. The food was excellent and the diving was well organized.

Having stayed at Magic Oceans we had expectations for the sister resort. On arrival we were told " you just came from Magic Oceans so everything here is just the same". But it wasn't. Sometimes the water bottles were refilled, but not always and housekeeping never replenished the coffee packets in the cabin. We were expected to put our dive gear together (not really a problem) but also dismantle and clean everything at the end if the day's diving. Unusual, actually. The boats are cramped with no toilet and no room to move during the surface interval. 3+ hours can be a long haul without a toilet. Off loading the dive equipment from the boat consists of inflating the BC and tossing it overboard. Might be why we lost a weight pocket. There is a lovely cabana for massage (just make sure the curtains are closed before stripping down as it's right in front of the bar. Most disconcerting were the pedicures done in the bar! Snipping toenails next to people enjoying a cocktail is frankly rather gross. It's fair to say that we were disappointed. Here's hoping it was an "off week" and this is not the norm.

Magic Island in Moalboal is a wonderful experience. It just takes a long time to get there! Be prepared for a lengthy transfer from the airport in Cebu City. That notwithstanding, the rewards of great service and excellent diving adventures are abundant. The cabins are clean and comfy. The dive team is helpful and supportive. Cheers!

This beautiful resort is a haven in amongst the chaos of Moalboal. The first two days we were staying at the resort the coast guard had declared a gail warning so we weren't allowed to go out on the boat. The resort organised a jeepney to take us to other shore dives in the area, this was great fun and allowed us to really see the mayhem that we were avoiding by staying at Magic Island! I normally find it hard to relax when on holidays but it is so peaceful here I was completely relaxed by day two. It is also very sheltered from the weather, even when the gail warning was in place the house reef was super calm. There were lots of bugs around - possibly due to flooding further inland at the time we were there - the huts have flywire over the windows but definitely bring some good repellant for dawn and dusk - the bar and meals area are all open air. The food was great and they catered to a variety of dietary requirements - however it would be best to let them know ahead of time if you will need gluten free bread or alternative milks etc. so they can make sure they have them in the kitchen. The bar is reasonably priced and they offer a variety of cocktails and mixed drinks plus standard wines and beers. I recommend the mango margarita! The meals were delicious - breakfast and lunch are ordered off a menu (you order your lunch at breakfast, to be served once you get back after the morning dives), dinner is a set menu with shared dishes but obviously variable to account for dietary requirements/preferences. I highly recommend the sweet and sour pork or fish, the sauce is incredible. The resort is gated and there is a 24/7 security guard which seems to be the norm here. Jamie, Manuel, Dennis and everyone in the dive shop were wonderful and helpful. We were surprised that on the first dive the guides were not asking how we were going on air - normally especially on the first dive the guides are sussing out air consumption. Luckily we are all pretty good on our air and the standard dive time of 60-65mins wasn't an issue. I hired gear; the BCD and regs I was given were brand new, the wetsuit was a small men's 2.5mm which was much too big in the torso so I was getting pretty chilly on the dives - luckily I had a warm sharkskin vest to wear underneath. They didn't have a huge range of wetsuits to hire so it would probably be best to bring your own - the water temp seemed to be around 26 degrees while we were there in February. Diving starts at a very civilised 8.30am (they will stagger the start times if there are multiple groups) so you can get up, enjoy the sunrise, have a coffee, enjoy your breakfast and lazily make your way down to the dive shop. Double dive in the morning, single dive in the afternoon and optional night dives including the Mandarin fish dive which was an amazing experience. I saw the largest sea turtles I have ever seen just snorkelling out the back of the resort and diving along the house reef. The dives here are all wall d

If you want a great vacation for diving you can't beat Magic Island. Great resort and dive experience. It is a small intimate experience. I have been diving since 1979 and haven't had a better experience. There were 12 of us traveling and diving together. I would highly recommend this experience.