Best Place to dive and stay in Boracay?

[scubaju]

i've been and back
went with Calypso in the end because of convenience.
they were ok if a little more expensive then the others

 

[jonix]

i've been and back
went with Calypso in the end because of convenience.
they were ok if a little more expensive then the others

how did you find your trip and dives with calypso?

 

[Ben_ca]

I was just there, but this message might find you too late. I recommend you dive with New Wave Divers, they are spectacular.

I dove with them last time there.... Had a great time.

 

[Strapongzh3]

Well, we are back, and here is my "Report":

We went with Victory Divers, since they were recommended by many people. Well, I personally will not go back to them.
Yes, they have new equipment and a nice bar/restaurant. And maybe they know what they are doing, but maybe not.
In the other thread, somebody mentioned something about "German Macho Divers"... Well, I felt like that (btw, I am a German myself). Not because of the customers, but because of the Instructors.
The day we went for the first dive (and we told the night before we were coming), we basically were ignored. 2 Instructors sat at the table and couldn’t be bothered to move, they just said "wait till your guide (Japanese Instructor) will help you". She was very busy with other customers and was stressed out.
The only thing we wanted was to get our equipment.

Safety: Maybe a good record, I do not know, but nobody enforced Buddy Checks.
One night I asked about Yapak II, and I was told maybe too difficult for me, they had to check me out first, how I dive. Well, I had done 2 dives before... and 2 days earlier they had taken a Japanese diver with 10 dives! there. The guy could not go down and the other divers had to re-surface to get another tank...
Diving with my girlfriend, her gauge didn’t work. Instead off to abort the dive (let me and her go up), the instructor decided to give her his Octopus and drag her along. Viz was bad, and he was using Nitrox (we didn’t).

Anyway, maybe we have just been unlucky, but we left after 3 days and went to Bohol/Alona Beach. We chose Genesis divers. What a difference! Great, very professional, friendly etc......

 

[Xizang]

Calypso is probably one of the oldest and more professional dive outfits there. No offense to anyone, but from my experiences with dive outfits, its the brits who usually are able to provide good service.

 

[clgsamson]

twas the same dive ops that gave us the cold shoulder and sez we need to check you out on the house reef before we go to them difficult sites. We left and proceeded to Calypso and they were ok to dive with. Yapak I, II and III.

To my co-pasaways, if you're good to dive in Anilao or Puerto, been through Anilao's and PG's strongest currents (down and up), take heart ,you're good to dive just about anywhere including Yapak.

 

[Hank49]

No offense to anyone, but from my experiences with dive outfits, its the brits who usually are able to provide good service.

Calypso's main owner/operator is Swiss, unless it's changed hands.

 

[Hank49]

To my co-pasaways, if you're good to dive in Anilao or Puerto, been through Anilao's and PG's strongest currents (down and up), take heart ,you're good to dive just about anywhere including Yapak.

the only difference between Yapak and other strong current dives I've done is the importance of hitting the site. If you're unfortunate enough to blow past the edge of the wall, be careful about trying to get back to it. It's really easy to over exert yourself and suck your tank down really quickly. Any stalling on the surface or getting down after the boat has dropped you on a new or full moon day, (or with in 2 either side) can result in missing the wall. This is why shops are a bit picky about making sure people are ready for the quick decent into the blue.

 

[clgsamson]

the only difference between Yapak and other strong current dives I've done is the importance of hitting the site. If you're unfortunate enough to blow past the edge of the wall, be careful about trying to get back to it. It's really easy to over exert yourself and suck your tank down really quickly. Any stalling on the surface or getting down after the boat has dropped you on a new or full moon day, (or with in 2 either side) can result in missing the wall. This is why shops are a bit picky about making sure people are ready for the quick decent into the blue.

Yes Hank, I agree, hitting the site is paramount.

 

[Strapongzh3]

Agree with Hank. And I have no issue to be checked out. It is actually a good thing. It is just that I had done 3 dives with them already and that they had taken a diver with 10 dives there, no questions asked, made me think.....