Anyone used Rocksteady in Coron? how was the experience?

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Imelda Subora

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Hi. I am planning a trip to Coron and I have been contacting Rocksteady. I have no idea what to expect so if you could please tell me anything about them, diving with them.

Thank you and will greatly appreciate your responses.
 
Rocksteady is a good shop and comes highly recommended.

The shop itself is not part of any resort but can arrange accommodation for most budgets, it's best to stay in Coron town which is a walk away from the boat pick-up and local restaurants but a tricycle ride from the Rocksteady shop - you'll only need to go to the shop at the start and finish of the trip there normally - the shop will normally take care of all gear storage and cleaning etc.

Hope that helps,

Karl
 
Rocksteady is a good shop and comes highly recommended.

The shop itself is not part of any resort but can arrange accommodation for most budgets, it's best to stay in Coron town which is a walk away from the boat pick-up and local restaurants but a tricycle ride from the Rocksteady shop - you'll only need to go to the shop at the start and finish of the trip there normally - the shop will normally take care of all gear storage and cleaning etc.

Hope that helps,

Karl

HI Karl.

Thank you for your input. I must admit that I only read this today.

We were there last Friday til yesterday. We dove with Coron Divers. I'd like to share the experience here so whoever wants to go to Coron can get a little picture of what we did.

We took Zestair's 9:40am flight to Busuanga but our flight was delayed and we left at 11:05am. It was frustrating as we were all so excited to be in Coron,,, all first timers. Anyway, to ease the frustration, we went for a 30-45 minutes massage. It was soooo good.

We were fetched by Kuya Edmund from the airport and brought us to Islands View Inn. The resort was in town and was close to most of the dive centers. Sometimes it was faster to walk than to ride the tricycle as there might be a little traffic because of narrow roads. Anyway, you choose to get to the dive center is okay.

Coron Divers is run by Filipino owner, Arni with his DM Mike (his son) and Oliver. The dive shop is small and not fancy (almost the same as the rest of the dive shops around), they have 4 boats but one captain :D. They have a lot of gears but are old. If you'd ask my advice... bring your own gear. I checked my BCD as all the gears were prepared by them, and it was self inflating. Honestly I was not at ease with the gear I used for all the dives we did as I have to be alert in case it would have the same problem. Their regulators kept on stocking up and would free flow. Although it is fixable from time to time, it was not nice. The air is okay. They have 4 compressors in which I wasn't able to see. The lunch was great! Fresh fish, vegetables, prawns and pork bbq.

Diving side, the DMs know it all well but they don't check the divers from time to time. We were a big group and we had to be divided into 2 groups. I got used to checking on divers even if it is fun dive. We were all experienced divers but most of them was their first serious wreck dive. I was happy that everyone was calm. I think being with the instructor Igor Subora, they felt more relaxed. The visibility of all the wrecks were good and the experience was exhilarating. We also did Barracuda Lake and night dive over Twin Peaks. Lotsa different crabs, seahorses, mandarin fish, scorpion fish, crocodile fish, lion fish, nudis etc.

We had dinner at Centro Coron and the food was good although the preparation took quite a long time.

We spent half of Sunday at the Kayangan Lake... I was in awe. I am glad we went there!!! I just cannot tell you how it feels but make sure to include this in your itinerary! And please please please bring your mask and snorkel. The boat was P1500 divided amongst the passenger and the lake fee was P200 each.

I hope this was worth reading :D
 
I dove with Rocksteady recently, and was very pleased with my selection. I did two days of diving and four dives total. Day one was the Olympia Maru and the Morazan Maru, while day two featured the Irako and Akitsushima. The divemasters (Dino, the first day, and Ronaldo, the second) were excellent. On three of my four dives, I was alone with the divemaster; the fourth dive, I was with one other diver and the divemaster. Compared to Truk (a lofty barometer, I know), the visibility wasn't as good and the ships weren't still laden with the same sorts of cargo treasures, but it was good wreck diving nonetheless. Of the four dives, the Akitsushima was my favorite. Lunch both days, served on board, was good. A beer was offered both days on the return. The outrigger dive boat was spacious and clean, albeit slow. I dove nitrox both days, and opted for the larger 15 liter tanks. The shop itself is a little bit outside Coron Town proper, on the highway to the airport, but a motorized tricycle ride is only 8 pesos each way, or, you can make the walk in about 10 minutes.

I stayed at the Princess of Coron, which was a good choice, given that my room had an effective window AC unit, the shower had heated water (somewhat of a rarity on Coron), the location was within easy walking distance of everything in town proper, yet on a quiet street, and wi-fi was free and reasonably fast in the common areas.

I ate three times at Bistro Coron, and for $5-$12 per meal, thought the food was pretty good and a decent value.

The shuttle to and from the airport cost 150 pesos each way.

I was very happy with my choice of Cebu Pacific for the flights between Manila and Busuanga. The fares, all-in, were better than Airphil Express or Zest (the competitors on the route), and I was able to purchase a 30 kg checked-baggage allowance (very important for my dive gear) for 450 pesos each way.

Coincidentally, Karl_H was on the boat with me my second day of diving. Nice guy.
 
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