Dive Master Requirements

[lars2923]

To visit the Phillipines?
I live in the SE of the US.. What season is a good season to visit the Phillipines? I mean weather and diving wise..?

Time to start planning on a dive trip. When I say dive trip, I mean maybe 10 days in the Phillipines with 7-8 days of diving.. as many dives a day...

Thanks,

[santelmo]

summer time! now is the time.... go dive here now! tubbataha season is still open.... PM diverep for more details. im still in the Palawan Islands...

[PinayDiver]

To visit the Phillipines?
I live in the SE of the US.. What season is a good season to visit the Phillipines? I mean weather and diving wise..?

Time to start planning on a dive trip. When I say dive trip, I mean maybe 10 days in the Phillipines with 7-8 days of diving.. as many dives a day...

Thanks,

Hi Lars,

Considering that you’re traveling a long way, I would recommend a liveaboard’s single-minded intent (dive, breakfast, dive, lunch, dive, dinner, night dive ) and Tubbataha of course gave me the best time. To give you a picture, this is how it went for me:

Day 1- fly from Manila to Puerto Princesa; all aboard!

Day 2- 10:22 a.m. J Beazley West (first sharks of the trip, close enough to make out the white on their tips); 2:50 p.m. J Beazley South (more sharks on active patrol, grey reef in there too); 4 p.m. J Beazley North (noticed pregnant sharks, bulging on their sides; fertile seas indeed); 7:49 p.m. night dive at J Beazley (let ‘er rip! I still remember that shark tail sticking out of the table coral flushed soon enough by our drifting group)

Day 3 - 7:52 a.m. Shark Airport of North Tubbataha (by now circling jacks were a more interesting sight than staple sharks); 10:33 a.m. North of North tip Tubbataha (giant napoleon wrasses; 6-foot teeth-baring tunas scared more than the mostly dozing sharks); 1:50 p.m. Sandy Area of Shark Airport (8-footer nurse shark); 4:43 p.m. Leopard Ledge of North Tubbataha (an impressive tower of circling chevron barracudas; at arm’s length at one point); 6:54 p.m. night dive at Shark Airport (8 turtles in one dive!)

Day 4 - 7:22 a.m. Black Rock, South Tubbataha (marble ray and another pregnant shark sharing one ledge); 10:30 a.m. Black Rock (watched octopus change colors and textures as it moved; more turtles, more sharks); 1:47 p.m. Sweet Lips City (oriental sweetlips that weren’t shy at all; green moray “harassed” by cleaner wrasses – why else would it slap its own cheek on the ledge?; 4:25 p.m. Black Rock (more tuna, more sharks); 6:47 p.m. night dive at Black Rock (moray undulated across sandy bottom; spiny lobsters; polyclad flat worms – by now, the tinier creatures fascinated us more)

Day 5: four dives at Delsan Wreck in search of a manta (7:20 a.m., 9:47 a.m., 1:48 p.m., 4:20 p.m.) that showed itself on the last dive—sealing it, in my mind, as a n officialTubbataha trip!

Day 6: “no fly” so billeted ourselves at a resort in Puerto Princesa to supposedly go hiking to some waterfalls but I was outvoted by the rest of the group members who opted to just get massages by the poolside, hmmm

Day 7: fly back to Manila (while other foreigners, having traveled all that way already anyway, opted to fly to Cebu for more diving in Malapascua)

The transfers from one site to another happened as we slept. I rather enjoyed the lulling and my dreams were still of diving along the drop-offs. I loved every minute of it!

We’re planning a return trip in the summer of 2008 (April to early May is the recommended window). Last weekend, there was even talk of chartering a boat. Feel free to email our DM-organizer (jaydiver1@yahoo.com) if you want. Say I said so . Let’s all go!

[lars2923]

I will begin researching your recommendations. Unfortunately, I will
not be available for the long distrance travel until around August
my time of the year. Your earlier post mentioned THIS is the time
to come. What't it like in August?

Thank you for your time and posts....

Sincerely,

[jeff98208]

all my certs have been thru padi. the dive shop i'll be going thru is smokey point dive center. although i don't know mel. but if i do end up meeting her down the line i will tell her you said hi. and one of these days i'll venture over to lk washington and dive it. i hear its a good dive site.

[lars2923]

Sweet.. PADI is a great organization... As you are well aware of.
When I lived there I never dove Lk Washington. I dove out of Lynnwood area.
There is a site just N of the ferries. You may know the site. Also across from
Downtown Seattle. The name escapes me. I left Seattle in 86.

Mel is with Silentscuba out of Seattle -or- is it Everett... Hmm..

Good luck on your DM.. I found it to be very rewarding... You'll learn a lot..
If I can help in anyway, just write.... I'm a PADI instructor.

Cheers,

[jeff98208]

deal! than-x lars. when i dive any where near lynnwood, i dive the edmonds underwater park and the edmonds oil dock. i'm still wondering where cove 2 is, i moved here to the everett area just over 3 years ago, and never been there yet.

[PinayDiver]

I will begin researching your recommendations. Unfortunately, I will
not be available for the long distrance travel until around August
my time of the year. Your earlier post mentioned THIS is the time
to come. What't it like in August?

Typhoon season but that doesn't mean there's no diving to be had in the Philippines. We simply fly to the Visayas. (I live and work in Manila, that's in Luzon.)

Last year, Sea Explorers Cebu head office (email cebu@sea-explorers.com) arranged for my group's 3-day dives in Malapascua (as well as the 3-hour van trip from Cebu International Airport to Maya wharf and then the half-hour boat transfer to the island upon our request).

We stayed at Cocobana but Sea Explorers Malapascua recommended Sunsplash and Hippocampus too.

For the dives, we entered the water at 6 a.m. to get settled on Monad Shoal for some waiting (lucked upon a 12-foot thresher shark). Back to the same site at 2 p.m. for the mantas (ours was a 20-footer, so close I could see the cleaner wrasses in its mouth).

At 6 p.m., backrolled at Lighthouse for the seahorses. (I remember that, halfway, we found ourselves really "swaying" underwater. Turns out a storm had hit the surface! Our poor kapitan, unwilling to pull out the anchor because we were still on our dive, had to contend with a broken outrigger. He somehow got us to shore. So, yes, I admire the crew.)

Also, if Sea Explorer decides the weather is right for it, they'll take you diving at Gato Island, famous for its black and white banded seasnakes and more sharks, and the microlife too.

As an alternative, since you're open to up to 8 days of diving, you may want to inquire about Sea Explorers' "island hopping," possible with their six dive centers. Their diveboat can take you from one center to the next, allowing you to dive the best sites en route. Check http://www.sea-explorers.com/hopping.html

Hope these help

[santelmo]

Typhoon season but that doesn't mean there's no diving to be had in the Philippines.

correct! here in Palawan it's always summer (well almost)

hey... hey.... be nice....