Chindonan Dive and Beach Resort

What a wonderful place! We stayed for 10 days at Chindonan and we could have stayed so much longer! Staff is amazing and kind, the diving is beautiful, the facilities are up to expectations and in sync with the environment! Whether you want to dive, snorkel, kayak, island hopping, white beach visits or just simply enjoy the view and read a book, this place has it! From the kitchen staff that made us wonderful breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, the boat captains that drove us around for island tours and/or dive sites to the Dive master/instructor Jeff & Matt they where all incredibly kind and helpful! Would recommend this place for all ages and interests to completely disconnect and really appreciate holidays :) Thank you Chindonan crew!

From the start, Matt (manager and dive instructor) went above and beyond. He is fast to answer email and inquiries and his transfer from the airport to the resort was flawless. Everything was set up and as expected. The staff is super nice and accommodating. Jeff djs great music in the afternoons The rooms are spacious and very clean. Very safe resort to stay at. |Totally worth spending the extra $$ on this resort. Aside from great accommodations and staff, the resort is smack in the middle of the wrecks so when the coast guard shut down Coron town dive operations, we were able to dive because of the protected area we were in and the close dive sites. Another reason it is worth the extra $$ is that it includes breakfast and dinner. These 2 meals were full meals and made to order. Delicious and tasty!|Massages were right on the property and the gals did great pressure massages.|I don’t know what laundry additive they use, but it is fantastic !|Water is all filtered so no concerns about that issue. |Matt did an outstanding job leading and coordinating the daily trips. He kept track of individual divers to ensure the we would dive all the wrecks in the area rather than repeating.

We stayed at Chindonan Dive & Beach Resort 5 nights, and loved it. The facilities were very comfortable, the setting was beautiful and relaxing, and the staff were absolutely great. My partner hadn’t dove in a number of years, but Matt gave him a refresher and he got to do half a dozen incredible wreck dives. For non divers, the snorkeling right off the dock is great too - lots of cool corals and brightly colored fish.

I was torn between giving 4 or 5 stars, but overall, it was a good experience, and I can recommend this resort. Here’s a breakdown: Staff The staff were incredibly kind, welcoming, and always had a smile. Their warmth made our stay enjoyable. Service While the staff were attentive when asked, the room service was disappointing. Essential items like toiletries, toilet paper, and water were not refilled a single time. Towels were only replaced if I brought them down, and bedsheets were changed randomly after the first night, which didn’t make much sense. On the other hand, the laundry service was reliable, fast, and very affordable. Room The room was basic and showed signs of wear. There was no mosquito net over the bed, which was fine most nights. The sink drained very slowly, and while the shower had warm water, it was just okay. I appreciated the bathroom’s separation between the shower area and the rest—a rarity in the Philippines. The air conditioning and fan worked well, and the view from the room was stunning. Nights were calm and peaceful, though there was no hair dryer provided. Facilities The resort’s facilities were limited. There’s a pool table that’s functional but not in great condition—suitable for amateurs. Darts were unavailable, and while there were a few books in different languages, there wasn’t much else to do. If you’re staying here, plan some activities to avoid boredom. Tours We took the Coron Islands Day Tour for 9,000 pesos (2 pax), which included a speedboat, captain, and guide for the entire day (entrance fees not included—make sure to bring cash). A special thanks to Junbert Fernandez and Albert Manzan for making this day unforgettable! Other tours and activities were available, but I don’t recall the details. Diving As two advanced open water divers, we had a great experience. Matt, the dive instructor with over 12,000 dives, knows the wrecks inside out and ensured our dives were excellent. We completed the Nitrox specialty course, which was fine. Other guests doing the open water course seemed to enjoy themselves. Food Breakfast and dinner were included in our stay. While the prices for lunch and extra items were a bit high, they were still affordable. The food quality was okay but not exceptional. Transportation The pick-up/drop-off service from the public pier to Chindonan Island cost 1,200 pesos per person per ride. Electricity was available between 4:30 pm and 7:00 am. Wifi only at the bar / pool table are. We appreciated the transparency in pricing and that credit card payments were accepted without additional fees. Thank you for the enjoyable stay and for the warm hospitality.

This review should not reflect poorly on the staff or diving instruction, which was excellent. This a review on the management. Despite making our checkout time, and being ready by the time told to us by the hotel, we missed our flight due to a 30 minute delay caused by the resort not having their wire details ready. ||First, there should be more than a 30 minute buffer between guest arrival to the airport and last call to boarding. Secondly, if you aren't going to give that buffer, the management should take responsibility for the missed flight. Insultingly, they offered us a 15% discount on our next stay as compensation. Why would I want to stay at a remote resort that I can't count on to get me to my flight on time? I would be happy to amend this review if this is resolved, because otherwise I had a great experience. However, this interaction with management has soured it.

While visiting family in the Philippines I wanted to get some diving in. I like diving wrecks and found Chindonan and the Japanese WWII wrecks it offers to dive on YouTube while researching places to dive. Man am I glad I picked this place! Matt, the owner, Erica and Nick were great guides. The resort is very laid back. Next to diving, my favorite time was watching the sunrise on the point having coffee with Ceasar, the resort German Shepard mascot. The rooms offer plenty of space, but they do turn off the electricity from 7am to 4pm for conservation purposes. Since most everyone is doing daily activities, that's not a big deal. While there are plenty of dive shops in the area of Coron that offer diving on these Japanese WWII wrecks, they are not near as close to the wrecks and do not afford the 10-to-20-minute boat ride that Chinondan does. They are the closest, and probably the most laid back of the resorts. It is the ONLY resort on this small island and all of the staff live on the small community on the island. The kitchen staff always had fresh food and authentic Pilipino cuisine that was excellent!

Stayed 4 nights at Chindonan Dive Resort. Pickup at airport and connections organized by resort made it easy to get there. Staff carried bags to bungalows which was nice as they are perched on a hill and sand paths- too hard for me. Breakfast and dinner included and lunch pay as you go. Food good and reasonably priced. The resort is isolated so carry in carry out is expensive. Great shakes, smily faces, lots of laughs. This resort focuses on the WW2 wrecks just in front of the resort. It is the only resort that can dive these wrecks in bad weather. I would not penetrate these wrecks with any other DM than Naomi and Jeff as they know them well. Felt comfortable with them both throughout the experience which was my PH highlight. Caesar the dog was adorable and enjoyed him being around.

Perfect location, friendly service, nice surrounding and landscape, for a very affordable price. Still in the wild, intimate (quite familial), neat and tidy, perfectly located : We used the resort as a base camp between several boat trips around Coron, from Coron and after a return from El Nido. We stayed there three times several days from November till mid December. It is especially a perfect place for divers, close to most of the dive sites on wrecks, not subjected to the sailing restrictions often enforced by coast guards in Coron for even slightly bad weather. Then you might often be alone on the wrecks with the resort instructor, without crowded waters and, as a result, without muddy waters. It is also a semi remote location with easy transfers from and to Coron harbor. We could even arrange with them a direct pick up from our boat, as we were passing several miles off the coast of the resort on the return of one of our several days boat trips. Last but not least, if you're not diver or cannot temporary dive, there is a very beautiful and interesting coral garden just less than 100 meters in front of the resort. It is more than 2 Km long and it is possible to snorkle all along, during hours as it is long with various areas, with no current. May be the most well known coral gardens are slightly more spectacular, but this domestic one holds very well its rank and worth it a lot, we could explore the reef more than two hours every day. Food is good, dinner buffet and breakfast are included. If you're French, you'll eventually find it a bit simple, but it's quite acceptable even for such difficult customers as we can be. The place such reached our expectations that we are already planing to come back next year...