Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island Resort, Puerto Princesa

I liked Dos Palmas because of its scenic view of the pristine ocean waters, the facilities that are part of the Day Tour package (relatively cheap), and the graciousness of the resort staff. Special kudos to Bon/Von, our snorkeling guide, and to the guy who went out of his way to help us when we tried kayaking at lunchtime! That's service and concern for their guests. I can't ask for more. I liked everything about Dos Palmas, especially the snorkeling site. The colors of the corals are wonderful. Green, violet, pink, blue. Wow! And Nemo was there, too. The buffet lunch was also great. The entire place is what a tropical paradise probably looks like. One thing that I didn't like though was the clogged shower room. :-( But that's minor compared to the overall experience. I'd really like to go back there. How I wish! Simply unforgettable.

I paid for a water cottage and ended up in a beach cottage. They kept me sitting at reception for 4 hours while they tried to sort this out. In the end I had to pay even more money. Tours are cancelled. I was booked on a tour then they cancelled it but then told me if I paid a premium the tour could go ahead... blah blah blah. Its just a constant round of lies and more money grabs. Its such a shame, a beautiful spot maimed by corrupt management

we went to dos palmas holy week of 2008 (mar 20-23).. unfortunately, we were quite disappointed with their service. the itinerary that their manila office made for us was not prepared properly by the resort staff (scheduled time was totally different from what we were informed of), the reason they gave us was that there were too many guests coming in, and to make it even worse, instead of apologizing, their manila office was denying that they arranged such itinerary. personally, i think they were already overbooking the resort, and with this, they can't really handle the pressure. there was also one incident wherein we were using the videoke room then suddenly, one of their staff brought in other guests to join us.. we wouldn't have really bothered if the staff had asked our permission first. we felt really disrespected with what he did. we have been to el nido resort in palawan as well, and service was totally different from dos palmas'. Service there was more personalized and resort was more private, unlike in dos palmas wherein they accomodate too many guests and even day tour guests. My husband went to dos palmas a year before the abu sayaf incident, and service was really good, instead of improving, i think their standards really went below what they had offered before. In my opinion, for the amount being paid for to stay at these resorts, service de luxe is a must.. but sadly, we didn't really feel our stay at dos palmas was really worth our money.

Me and my wife went there on the week of Dec. 9, 2007 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Great and sincere hospitality makes Dos Palmas a very enjoyable experience. Kudos to the management for putting together a staff that actually enjoy what they are doing. Oh, not to mention that the island resort is great. The effect of low and high tides is facinating. Sand bars appear then disappears. Snorkeling is great, the water is crystal clear and the fish just swim around you. Someone mentioned the lack of a chapel ...there is one. However, there is only one holy mass and its on a Monday. They said its hard to get a priest out on the island on a Sunday because of the traveling time it would require. We're certainly going back again next year!

No one can say they've experienced the Philippines without staying at Dos Palmas. Our visit (11/25 to 11/27) was an arrival during a tail end of a typhoon. Stormy weather didn't stall our vacation one bit. The island was awesomely beautiful! The storm only revealed an extraordinary amazement of such conditions at the resort. Senses are heightened as we watched and listened to the sea, the wind and smell the scents of the island. The staff were sincere and outstanding in attending to our safety, activities, appetite and overall comfort from the point of landing through time of departure. Could have stayed a week if we only knew our stress relief time was going to be BEYOND OUR EXPECTATION. No more Boracay for us. This is what paradise should be! The resort was ideal to our whim for solitude or joining/meeting other guests for day or after dinner play time. We filled every possible hour with scuba diving, beach combing, kayaking completely around the island, live band, videokie and restfull sleep. Kudos to our guest advisors - Arnold and Jessica, along with our dive guides - Marvin and Richard, who gave us a most enjoyable and memorable stay (with pictures to prove it!). We'll return with more of our friends to Dos Palmas! Suggested improvements - more staff involvement in evening entertainment with singing or dancing (they are very talented and fun!). It would be nice to have a small chapel in a secluded area of the resort.

I brought three of my Japanese girl friends to paradise...and it wasn't just any ordinary cliche...Dos Palmas overwhelmed even the local in me. Was I WOWED by my own country's waters? INDEED. THIS place is definitely PARADISE. The staff were VERY warm and lovely, they were always of help whatever time of the day it is:)

September 3, we went to Dos Palmas just for the Day Tour package only, since we were going back to Manila the following morning. I Loved Everything about it!! The people, the place, the food (the BUFFET lunch served RATATOUILLE ;), and the best tasting shrimp dish I have ever had-BIG shrimps that burst in my mouth in every bite)! Every penny is well worth it here! You can just grab snorkeling equipments and ask a speed boat man to take you to the snorkeling site. You can just grab a kayak and tour the mangroves. You can just grab a bicycle and go around the island. All at your own pace. Unlike Boracay where there's so many resorts in one island, this island (Arreceffi Is.) has Dos Palmas only. I liked it so much I have already booked two return flights for later this year (Nov & Dec). I am learning Scuba here and I am staying a couple of days each!!

What I liked about Dos Palmas? Hmm. Almost everything. Good service from attendants. Great view of the sunset over pristine sands. If you're lucky and the place isn't hounded by lots of visitors/ guests, you can have the most memorable summer with your special someone. Good diving site too. And the villas are great! If you're lucky enough you'll get to see some "pawikans" too. What I disliked about it? Well, disliked may be too harsh but I do have a couple on my wish list. Do something about the drinks (bartending) and spice up the island with day to day activities. Overall, the place is grand. The visit although it'll take you a couple of transfers is more than worth it.

My husband, 2 kids and I booked into Dos Palmas for our annual vacation on April 24-26, 2007. We had a truly marvelous experience. The entire staff were welcoming, courteous and eager to please. We were given welcome drinks, a concoction of strawberry, grenadine and mango. we were also given mentholated towels upon arrival from a 1 hour boat ride from the wharf. The introductory dive was the best part of the package. My husband and 12 year old son are now seroiusly thinking of taking up diving! The divemasters are very accomodating. My seven year old daughter just loves funny bodybuilder Manny and Romar who went to the extent of finding 'Nemo" for her. Our room was spacious and clean.

Resort employees were so kind & hospitable. Service was par excellence! It's worth every penny. We love the picnic lunch at one of their secluded small white beach island. We also stayed at one of their bay cottages, what I love most is that underneath our cottage, there were large fishes swimming around. You can even feed this fishes.These fishes are not afraid of people bec fishing of any kind is prohibited w/in 600 meter radius of the island. One more thing that we love is snorkelling, you can also feed this fishes with bread and they'll come straight at you. We swam side by side with the coral fishes and it was a Great Experience, I just cant wait to go back to Dos Palmas again. Oh, did I also mention that the food is Excellent?