Greetings From Asia

[mjrascoe]

Howdy Scuba Board!

Greetings from Japan!

I'm an American expat based between HK and Tokyo, working for a company in the Philippines. I went to Hawaii back in January for a work conference with a few of my coworkers and was unable to dive with them because I didn't have my OW cert. Most of the guys in my company have at least their AOW cert, and we have a divemaster too! Due to COVID/Visa issues we got "stuck" there for a few weeks and I decided to knock out my OW cert so I didn't have an excuse anymore. I had a blast doing the cert and now that I'm back in Japan will go diving at Hayama beach this upcoming weekend.

I have a work trip over to the Philippines later on this month and have signed up to do my AOW and Nitrox with Manila Dive Academy down at Arthur's Place Dive Resort in Anilao. Seeing as I will be getting over to The Philippines monthly now that COVID restrictions are over, I plan to make the most of it by spending my weekends diving and enjoying nature.

Looking forward to learning from the folks here and also finding some people to dive with around Asia, and around the world!

Cheers!

Michael

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Welcome, Michael.

You certainly are in the best place for some amazing diving. Beware the lure of certification cards / titles. The best thing you can do is just dive, dive, and dive some more.

Best of luck and kiss your disposable income goodbye.

 

[mjrascoe]

Thank you!

Great point on not falling into the certification trap. I signed up for the AOW course because I wanted to dive the shark scramble here in Japan, but the bottom is 24m at that site and the operator requires AOW. Apparently the current is quite strong and you have to follow a line along the bottom, so no option to stay shallow . I've heard pretty good things about the instructor I'm going with for the AOW and he has extended an invitation to tag along for fun diving the next weekend. He has been an instructor for several decades and used to work in marine conservation so I hope to learn a bunch from him.

There are 3 "specialties" that I am interested in as they open up more opportunities, Deep, Cavern and Wreck. With the pricing in the Philippines I figure I would be foolish to not knock them out while I have the opportunity to do it cheaply, however after AOW and nitrox I plan on just fun diving for a while. Also the pricing in SE Asia coupled with my requirement to be there for work anyway helps to minimize the cost. Now I just have to make sure I don't blow all my money on equipment

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Now I just have to make sure I don't blow all my money on equipment

You will. Embrace it.

 

[drrich2]

Welcome. Hope you post us some trip reports.