Blue Star Dive Resort

A Family-Run Dive Resort in Candabong, Not Panglao

Blue Star Dive Resort sits in Ipo, Barangay Candabong — a coastal barangay south of Anda’s main beach cluster, on the Bay of Anda along Bohol’s eastern peninsula. This is not Panglao Island: there’s no bridge, no international airport nearby, and no Alona Beach strip. Getting here from Tagbilaran and Bohol-Panglao International Airport takes roughly two-and-a-half to three hours by road, since Anda has no sea access at all — every arrival is overland, typically a bus to the Guindulman junction and then habal-habal or jeepney for the final leg, or a direct chartered van (about two hours, PHP 2,000–2,500 per vehicle).

The resort occupies 2.3 hectares and keeps just 10 rooms, split between Pool View and Ocean View Bungalows. Every bungalow has a private balcony or terrace, a mini bar, a coffee and tea maker, and hot-and-cold water; the deluxe category adds a widescreen LCD TV. It’s a small, low-density layout rather than a resort built to scale up.

The First PADI 5-Star Dive Resort on Mainland Bohol

Blue Star is the first, and on paper still the only, PADI 5-Star Dive Resort in Anda and on Bohol’s mainland — Panglao’s dive operators make up the island’s other PADI 5-Star cluster. The house dive team, led by a PADI Course Director working with certified Divemasters, runs boat departures three times a day — morning, after lunch, and near dusk — and can put a diver on up to four dives daily across roughly 30 named sites along the Anda–Guindulman coast. Most of the diving here favors wall dives, sandy slopes, and macro subjects over the big-animal drift diving associated with sites further north; it’s a program built around variety within a short boat ride rather than one signature dive.

Guest feedback repeats a specific reason for that variety holding up over time: the reef along this coast has stayed healthier than more heavily dived stretches of Bohol, largely because Anda sees far less boat traffic. Coral cover here has mostly avoided the pressure that comes with high dive-tourism volume — part of why a resort built entirely around diving settled on this stretch of coast rather than a location closer to the airport.

Restaurant, Pool, and the Beach Itself

Dining runs through a pool-and-cliffside restaurant serving both Filipino and international dishes — a broader menu than the strictly local-only kitchens more common at smaller Anda properties. Expect regional staples to show up alongside the international items too: kinilaw made from tanigue or bariles rather than tuna, and grilled squid cooked over coconut-husk charcoal. An outdoor pool and shuttle service round out the property; Wi-Fi is available, with the same rural bandwidth limits common across Anda.

One point worth stating directly: the beach in front of the resort is small and rocky, not the broad white-sand stretch found at Anda’s Talisay cluster or the public Quinale Beach in the poblacion. Reviewers expecting a beach-holiday base rather than a dive base have flagged this — it’s a diving and reef property first, and a beach-lounging property a distant second. Guests have generally described the staff, a family operation run by two professional divers, as attentive without being intrusive — greeting returning guests by name rather than running a scripted front-desk routine.

Ratings and What They Reflect

This listing carries a TripAdvisor score of 4.6 out of 5 from 173 reviews, current as of the July 2026 data pull — a substantial review count for a 10-room property, and one that reflects years of an established dive clientele rather than a newly opened business finding its feet. No price is listed here; check Stay22 or the resort’s own booking channel for current room rates, since dive packages, multi-night stays, and PADI course bundles typically move the effective nightly cost away from a simple room-only quote.

Economics of a Dive-First Fishing Coast

Candabong, like the rest of Anda, still runs substantially on a fishing economy, and dive tourism here has grown up alongside that rather than displacing it — boat crews, dive guides, and resort staff are drawn from the same barangay that also nets tanigue and bariles for the table. There’s no ATM anywhere along this coast; the closest is in Guindulman, about 30 kilometers back toward Tagbilaran, so cash for tips, incidental charges, and side excursions needs to be sourced before arrival.

For non-diving hours, Punta Cruz Watchtower and its still-functioning 1893 lighthouse sit within day-trip range, as does the Lamanoc Island cave and rock-art site near Barangay Badiang, where visitor numbers are capped by the local fisherfolk association that manages access.

Booking Notes and Timing

As a PADI 5-Star operation, Blue Star typically runs the full course ladder — Open Water through Divemaster-level training — rather than just guided fun dives, which is part of why multi-night, course-inclusive stays are common here instead of one-off overnight bookings. High season tracks Holy Week and the mid-December-through-early-January stretch, when domestic travelers from Cebu fill up Anda’s limited room stock generally; a 10-room dive resort with an established following can sell out in those windows well before a same-week booking attempt. Outside peak dates, the resort’s long TripAdvisor track record and steady review volume suggest availability is more forgiving. No listed price accompanies this entity — confirm current room and dive-package rates directly through Stay22 or the resort’s own channels before planning a trip around a specific budget.