To set people's expectations correctly...
Johan's might be a PEDIGREE dive center in Subic but it's not even close compared to other dive shops like one operated out of Shangri-La on Mactan Island.
By "pedigree" I was referring to the operating quality of the dive center. Specifically, the high levels of safety, experienced dive staff and capability to support diving up to CCR Trimix... all of which are underpinned by Johan having some 27+ years of experience diving the wrecks of Subic.
No dock to get in and out of the boat easily, no dedicated shower areas, nice big tubS of water for BCD and expensive gear, no big boats with tank holds. etc.
All the dive centers in Subic operate the same way, with good reason. Firstly, they would not despoil the beach by building gross private jetties.. structures that would inevitably crumble after a few typhoon seasons. You walk 5m across the sandy beach and climb into a speedboat in knee deep water, only a tiny minority would consider that a 'hardship'. It would be utterly illogical to use 'big boats' - because the diving in Subic is 'a la carte' - short, fast, trips to nearby wrecks, done at the convenience of small parties, on demand. Big slow boats would be a moronic choice.
They are laid-back and good dive team catering to Europeans.
If you're not, might not be as comfortable.
They receive a high proportion of guests from HK, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea etc... As do the other dive centers in the Bay - all of whom operate with the same model - relaxed diving, on demand, from fast, small boats to nearby wrecks.
They have one, two tank dives per day.
The don't go out at specific times nor start early.
They dive upon demand - one, two or three trips per day.. whatever. None of the (recreational) sites is more than a 10 minute trip by speedboat, so there is little need for a formal schedule.
They don't start early for two reasons;
First and foremost, because the dive centers need permission to dive a specific site at a specific time. Subic is a working port and is controlled tightly by the Harbor authority. That authority demands a faxed dive schedule and confirmation phone call before granting permission to dive. That happens for each dive trip. The Harbor authority office, along with seaport operator, conservation department, harbor patrol etc (all of whom need to grant permission for every trip...really!) tend not to work early...or at least, don't answer their fax/phone early. If you can't dive until you get permission, but you can't get permission early... then you can't dive early.
Secondly, the majority of divers who come to the Bay prefer not having to arise before dawn. They are on holiday.. and the dive trips are run to their preferences, not for the sake of maximizing revenue and running the greatest amount of shortest dives for profitability.
I would say Subic bay is for older European males to go for girls, diving second.
I would say that was a racist generalization...
Just came back from Subic on exploratory trip and didn't get to dive with other shops like Devon.
The visibility is so poor I will try other places like Coron before diving here again.
Subic is obviously not the place to visit for spectacular visibility and pristine coral reefs. It is a brackish, river-fed bay, surrounded by mountains and jungle, deposited with meters of volcanic ash from Pinatubo, that is fortunately filled to the brim with historic, world-class, ship wrecks.
It is favored by European divers, because European divers tend to have an appreciation for wreck diving. It is, after all, the main diving activity we can do in Europe (coral reefs being scare in temperate waters...). It is also beloved by technical and advanced divers.. people who generally have little disposition towards aimless meandering about a reef with a state-of-the-art DSLR rig..
There is people with money in Subic.
So I am surprised I wasn't able to find a premium dive shop catering to the rich.
The diving in Subic is very small scale. Perhaps 1-2 dozen divers per day, max, spread across all of the dive centers. That simply does not reflect a market-demand to justify expensive, luxury, diving operations.
Now, if the Philippines could get serious about promoting tourism (by actions, not words) then things might change...
Generally, however, the Baloy/Barretto beach areas are primarily popular with westerners. SBMA is more popular with Filipinos and Koreans. Most westerners find SBMA to be very boring, the hotels there grossly over-priced for the quality of service and maintenance... and a lack of range with regard to restaurants (nearly all Filipino or Korean).
There are girls available everywhere, so it is unjust to say that they are the preserve of "Europeans". Yes, there are 'girl bars' in the primarily western areas. In the 'Filipino/Korean' popular areas there are no 'girl bars'... just lots of "waitress KTV" establishments. Same, same, but different... let's not fly a moral flag on that...it'd be hypocritical..
