Costabella Tropical Beach Hotel

Costabella is a 151-room beachfront resort in Mactan, with a private white-sand beach, tropical gardens and a distinctly relaxed holiday rhythm. It has been welcoming guests since 1981, and its style combines contemporary Filipino and Spanish influences with local materials.

You can make this a straightforward base for diving, but it also works for a couple who wants sea, food and a massage without turning every afternoon into an excursion. Families are well catered for too, with two pools, a children's pool, a kids' club and indoor and outdoor play areas. The atmosphere is resort-like rather than minimalist: there is room for a proper day off, which is useful when your legs have had enough of fins.

The address is Buyong, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines, directly on the coast. The resort has its own private white-sand beach, so the sea is not something you reach by road after breakfast. Beach chairs and umbrellas are available for the slow part of the day.

Mactan-Cebu International Airport is about 3 miles away. The setting is convenient for an arrival or departure day, while Cebu City's historic sights sit roughly 6 to 7 miles away: Fort San Pedro, Museo Sugbo, the Cebu Heritage Monument, Magellan's Cross and Colon Street are all within that wider urban area.

You can also reach a few places to eat beyond the resort. Luna Tapas + Bar is about 50 feet away, while Cafe de Buyong is around half a mile away and Western Steak House roughly 0.6 miles away. Tambuli Beach is about 0.4 miles away, although the resort already has its own beach on the doorstep.

The choice is mainly about how much space and sea access you want. A compact Deluxe room works for one or two people travelling light, while a poolside room with a single and double bed can take up to three. For a couple who would rather not negotiate every fin bag and wet towel around the furniture, the larger Premiere Deluxe Poolside option gives you more breathing room.

The Seaview Junior Suite and Seafront Junior Suite suit two people who want the coast to play a visible part in the stay. For families or groups, the two-bedroom seafront suite and Three-Bedroom Family Casita are the practical choices, with separate sleeping space rather than everyone being arranged around one heroic double bed.

Room basics are sensible for a diving holiday: air conditioning for the return from a hot, salty day, a private bathroom with hot and cold shower, a refrigerator, minibar, kettle and tea or coffee facilities. There is also a safe, wardrobe space, a desk and a seating area. Daily housekeeping, free WiFi and a flat-screen television cover the less glamorous but useful parts of being somewhere for more than a weekend.

Breakfast is a buffet served from 6:30am, early enough to be useful when the day's boat has no interest in your preferred lie-in. The spread covers Continental, Asian and American choices, and breakfast to go is also available. La Marina handles breakfast, lunch and dinner in a casual setting, with local and international cooking that draws on Malay, Chinese, Spanish and Continental influences.

Brisa puts lunch and dinner beside the beach, with a pan-Asian menu and a setting that suits the transition from daylight to evening. It stays open until 9:00pm. La Marina offers à la carte service until 11:00pm, so a late return does not automatically mean dinner is over, although the last order is a matter for the restaurant rather than a diver's wishful thinking.

There is one named bar, Luna, with Spanish tapas, cocktails and premium spirits. Its quieter music and Philippine design make it the obvious place for a drink and something small after the water. For a group of at least eight, Go Kinamot offers a Filipino kamayan meal: shared dishes, unlimited rice and iced tea, eaten by hand. Less cutlery, more conversation.

Two outdoor pools give you a choice between lengths and lounging. The L-shaped Pool has a dedicated children's area, while the Freeform Pool includes a water slide. Sun loungers, beach chairs and umbrellas are available around the resort, and the private beach offers the simplest plan of all: find a place, sit down and stop checking the time.

LEMA Filipino Spa covers massage, facial, body, foot and nail treatments. In-room service is available daily from noon to 11:00pm, which is the sort of timing that understands a diver's afternoon better than a sunrise yoga schedule. Couples' massage, full-body massage and more focused back, neck, head or foot treatments are also available.

For a little movement, the gym has cardio machines, free weights and a stretching area, and opens daily from 6:00am to 8:00pm. Cycling, table tennis, billiards, darts, board games and sightseeing in Mactan provide alternatives to another horizontal hour. On the water, kayaking, jet skiing, parasailing, banana boat rides, wakeboarding, crystal kayaking and boat rental are available. The children's programme, Kiddie Korner, runs daily from 10:00am to 5:00pm for children aged 4 to 10, with arts, crafts, stories and games.

Check-in runs from 3:00pm to midnight, with check-out by 11:00am. The minimum age for check-in is 18, and payment is by cash. A refundable cash damage deposit is collected on arrival and returned at check-out after the property has been inspected.

Airport transfers are available through the hotel, and vehicle rental can also be arranged. The concierge, tour desk, currency exchange, on-site ATM, luggage storage and 24-hour front desk are useful when an arrival does not run to the minute. Free private parking is available on site, with no reservation required.

The resort is non-smoking throughout, including the rooms and balconies, and pets are not allowed. Laundry is available as a chargeable service. Three ground-floor PWD rooms are designed for guests with reduced mobility. Free WiFi is available, and the resort also has four meeting rooms for anyone combining a diving trip with work or an event.

The resort sits on 1.7 hectares of beachfront gardens and keeps the beach, pools and leisure facilities within the property. Its approach here is primarily about the setting itself: private white sand, tropical planting and direct access to the sea. No named environmental certification or specific sustainability programme is attached to the stay.