Diving in the Philippines

[Eriksen]

Hi all Wisconsin Divers!

I wasn't sure if I should put this here or under Off Topic, so please forgive me if I did wrong, okay?

I'm a Norwegian citicen, but i have settled down with my family on Mactan-Island, Cebu, Philippines and I have been living here for almost a year now.  I will be 50 in March 2005, and I have a Philippine wife and 2 monkeys. (kids)

I took up diving after I came down here, and July 28, 2004 I took my PADI Open Water Diver license.  Later I have taken PADI Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Response, PADI Rescue Diver and Enriched Air Nitrox.  Next month I will take IANDT / PADT Gas blender and PADI Deep Diver, and then I will go into TecRec.  My deepest dive up untill today is a deco-dive 45 meter / 2 tanks / air, and I always plan my dives with the Decrompression Planner from GUE / Simon Tranmer regardless if it's a deco-dive or not.

I enjoy diving on the reefs here, and I have also been fortunate enough to see a whaleshark here.  That's really cool for an old Norwegian!  8)

I was kind of stumbeling over this forum when I was vacuumcleaning the Internet for info about dual-tank systems, and "hey", - THIS was very interesting for me.  I hope I can stay and exchange some opinions and information even though I live far away from you guys.  English is not my mother language, but I hope that you somehow can understand what i try to say.

To exchange opinions from one corner of the world to an other can sometimes be very useful, and who knows:  Maybe some of you even will come here one day, and we can dive on the coral reefs together!  :

I also have a small homepage, and I try to write a little about diving there.  The URL is , and with your permission I would just be happy to place a link to you there.  May I have feedback on that from one of the moderators maybe?

I am also by the way a member of the "Support Team" on since i was living in Norway.  I am not very active anymore, but I know how to behave in a forum!  ;D

Basically I have said what I want as an introduction, and I hope I can make some friends here!

Have a wonderful day!

-kjell-

[dfreeman]

Welcome to wiscuba and the mad divers of the cold white north.  I have heard good things about diving the Phillipines.  Hope that you can give us some insite into the diving and the country.

Feel free to ask questions, everyone has an opinion here and is not shy about telling it.

Doug

[alan]

Hi, I just posted this over in the Distant Locations topics and then found your post.  Maybe you could be of some help?  It may be possible to get together for some dives.  I have a couple of hundred dives since my certification in 1993 but never got additional certs on my PADI card, although I have been instructed in night, deep and AOW by a retired PADI Instructor.  I'll turn 50 next February.

My wife and I are going for an extended stay in Leyte, near Tacloban or Palompon.  A dive buddy is coming along for part of the trip.  I want to live like a bum in a bamboo hut with woven mat walls and thatched grass over a wood floor.  My wife snorkels but My buddy and I are interested in doing both shore and boat dives.  We are OK with  few guided dives but would prefer to do our own thing for the most part.

So, any ideas or suggestions.  Dives shops or resorts that are recommended?  What gear do we take?  Mask? BC?  Regulator?  Finns?  Computer?  Lights?

Anyone have any experiences diving in Cebu, Bohol, or Leyte?  I should add that my wife is from Leyte so I'm hoping we can blend in a little and not just be tourists.  Has anyone any firthand knowledge of a palce called Peter's Dive Resort?

You can e-mail me at: acbinnebose@tznet.com

alan

[inthetundra]

I dive the philippines every year, but I usually dive Subic Bay for the wrecks or we go over to Coponus Is., its open water in the South China Sea.
The vis is great at Coponus, as far as you can see it is so clear, and the coral is unbelievable. If you don't have your own gear most of your diving will be with some shop with their guide. Most places don't let people take the gear out of their area.
Water temp is nice around 80, and all you need is a 2mm and that is just in case of jellyfish.
Sharks, barracuda, rays...you name it, it's there.

[alan]

Hi, Thanks for the info. Do you know anything about southern Cebu, around the Moalshoal area?  It is fairly close to Leyte and that will give my wife a chance to visit her sister while my buddy and I dive.  We plan on taking mask, snorkel, fins, regulator, BC and misc. stuff like lights.  Will we be able to rent tanks and weight belts and go on our own?  I'm Nitrox certified and the Web says there are DSs there that provide it.  Maybe cheaper to buy a 2 mil suit or lycra there and the weights?

alan