diving from manila

[regman]

hi Bsting,
well, it's summer in these parts nowadays so diving is excellent. waters are warm, the viz great, the people friendly and the fish, friendlier. if anyone is interested in some photos of diving in the philippines, here's an address to a few taken by a buddy:

http://scubadiving.com/photo/gallery/sy.shtml

enjoy.

 

[DivingGal]

thanks for the warm welcome. makes me feel like i'm wearing 5mm: nice and cozy.

5mm might just be warm enough for a dive around here right now, but I wouldn't count on it. Here? Ottawa, Canada. Most of my pals who are diving now, will only dive dry. I'm not actually sure what the water temp is, but air temp is warming up to a lovely 10C! (about 50F).

Welcome, to the fun, you'll love it here

 

[regman]

DivingGal, 10c? lovely indeed. the closest i get to that kind of water is the ice in my martini shaker. and that gets me warmer faster than a 5mm or a drysuit. then again, i like my martini's dry.

btw, i like it here already.

 

[Ben_ca]

Welcome Regman,
Greetings from Northern California. I did my certification with Scubaworld in Greenhills in Jan 01 and my checkouts at Balai. So who do you dive with? Who do you dive with? I liked Balai alot since it was locally owned and managed by a group of young professionals who were looking for a local place. I'll be coming home in Jan 03 for about a month for a family vacation.
If you come over to the SF area shoot me an email and maybe we can buddy up and dive Monterey ( I dive with a 7 mil semi dry and 24lbs)

Ben
:thinkof:
:blfish:

 

[regman]

hi ben.
nice to hear from the northcal area. are you filipino? we have a small dive group here and, yes, i have gone to balai and know the people there. it is such a homey resort and everyone makes you feel welcome.

i just came from a dive last week to malapascua island. it's off the northernmost tip of cebu. it's a blue water dive with a specific attraction: THRESHER SHARKS AND MANTAS!

we saw an 11 ft. thresher and he was awesome. came about 15 ft. from us and smiled and whipped that long fin around. we also came across 3 pairs of mantas who put on a show. other sightings were schooling squid, white tips, cuttlefish, and devil rays. all the dive sites were about 20 mins by boat from the resort. got a bonus too, two mornings in a row we saw dolphins playing in the water while we were on our way to the dive sites.

water was comfy at 80degF.

drop me a line next year when you come, i'll buddy up with you.


safe diving,
regman

 

[Ben_ca]

Yup 100% Pinoy, moved to the US in 1990. I try to come home though every other year at least. I usually stay in Cavite and Las Pinas. Where did you do you certs? Scubaworld in BF is the nearest LDS right? I might do my AOW there if I can't find the time before Christmas. SIge inggat

Ben

:thinkof:
:blfish:

 

[regman]

hey ben,

yes, scubaworld in bf is the nearest. but i got my certs from aquaventure under DI madz. am thinking of getting the advanced and rescue sometime soon. good to hear from a fellow pinoy.

don't forget to tell me when you come home, para dive naman tayo.

take it easy, buddy.

regman

 

[Gypsydiver]

Hi welcome to the board. I'm pretty new to the board myself. (100% filipino pinay posting from NYC). My family is from Tarlac (tho can't imagine any diving around there). I'm hoping to fly back to the Philippines now that I'm certified. Last time I was there I was shuttled from relative to relative & unfortunately was not able to see very much. I think the secret to my next visit is not to tell anyone until after my dive fix! lol!

 

[Ben_ca]

Gypsydivier,
I feel your pain. I usually don't have that problem since My family figures I'm with my inlaws and vice versa. But I usually reserve weekends for relatives and try to do my diving during the week. If you were staying in Manila, Anilao is very convinient since you can make a day trip out of it (traffic permitting).
Good luck

Ben

 

[neve]

welcome to the board, regman...

my regular buddy is pinay but I have yet to make my way to the Philippines. she has made me green with envy with her stories of Bohol