Hello New Diver from the Philippines

[Mel Calara]

Great to hear it. If you do come this way let me know and if you want we can meet up and do a dive together. My daughter has not found any dive buddies besides me. Children here do not seem to be as interested in diving as kids in other parts of the world. I am AOW going for my rescue soon and my daughter is OW going for JrAOW soon.

We also wish to dive in your area. We hear Batangas is great for diving. Maybe one day resort owners will realize that they can make money with dive packages longer than 1 night.

Thanks for the invite. Will sure to let you know when we are in Subic. My daugther will turn 15 this month, she will be Aow she dives withs adults too the youngest in our group is 18.
We only stay in Casa Bahia when we dive in Anilao, Batangas. The owners are like family to us and avid divers too. If you plan to go let me know. I will help you get in touch directly with Eric and Glenn. They are flexible. And also our instructor Pierre Valentin. Summer is here. We plan to have dives also in Verde Island passage.

 

[Mel Calara]

Thanks for the invite. Will sure to let you know when we are in Subic. My daugther will turn 15 this month, she will be Aow she dives withs adults too the youngest in our group is 18.
We only stay in Casa Bahia when we dive in Anilao, Batangas. The owners are like family to us and avid divers too. If you plan to go let me know. I will help you get in touch directly with Eric and Glenn. They are flexible. And also our instructor Pierre Valentin. Summer is here. We plan to have dives also in Verde Island passage.

Something i forgot about Anilao the most beautiful sights and marine life are the areas with strong currents. Let me know if you have plans to go. We can discuss what sites would be good to start with. I think it should be progressive like what Pierre did for my daugther, to keep them safe and more excited to learn and develop skills.

 

[Ed Baker]

Good to hear from you. We look forward to meeting you and having a dive. Have you guys dove wrecks before?? Subic has a few really good wreck dives most are in the 24 to 30 meter range so that should not be a problem. With your daughter being 15, not sure if your like me, I think Treasure Island would be a good place to stay. There are not really that many family oriented places to stay outside of SBMA. Resort owners here make there money with the ladies even though they have full deniability. TI Resort has ladies but they are in the back ground and not aggressive, though the ones in the area from other resorts are.

Seems you and your daughter are doing the same as what my daughter and I have planned, some travel diving. We plan on trying to get up to La Union, not sure if spelt right, to dive the Tanks that got dumped on the reef there. Apparently during a landing the LCU had to dump them to be able to get over the reef so there are a few laid out there. Thought it would make for some great pics sitting on top.

As for Batangas dive we are looking for a package deal basically like 4 days 3 nights type of deal. I have found that you can actually travel dive from Guam to here cheaper than we can dive from our homes to here. So sad. Also interested in diving there in Porta as well but hard to get to from here as Manila is in the way. Hopefully with a change in airport service and new flights now going out of Clark it will open up to us.

 

[Mel Calara]

Good to hear from you. We look forward to meeting you and having a dive. Have you guys dove wrecks before?? Subic has a few really good wreck dives most are in the 24 to 30 meter range so that should not be a problem. With your daughter being 15, not sure if your like me, I think Treasure Island would be a good place to stay. There are not really that many family oriented places to stay outside of SBMA. Resort owners here make there money with the ladies even though they have full deniability. TI Resort has ladies but they are in the back ground and not aggressive, though the ones in the area from other resorts are.

Seems you and your daughter are doing the same as what my daughter and I have planned, some travel diving. We plan on trying to get up to La Union, not sure if spelt right, to dive the Tanks that got dumped on the reef there. Apparently during a landing the LCU had to dump them to be able to get over the reef so there are a few laid out there. Thought it would make for some great pics sitting on top.

As for Batangas dive we are looking for a package deal basically like 4 days 3 nights type of deal. I have found that you can actually travel dive from Guam to here cheaper than we can dive from our homes to here. So sad. Also interested in diving there in Porta as well but hard to get to from here as Manila is in the way. Hopefully with a change in airport service and new flights now going out of Clark it will open up to us.

The bridge in Startoll is unpassable so it takes an extra 30 mins to go to Anilao.The rates are in Anilao are varied, in Casa Bahia we pay if ,Im correct, is 4250 per diver including 4 meals unlimited tanks and weights. The additional cost is the boat and the DM but shared among divers. The dive site infont is also one of my favorites.Some do shore entries but its rocky.
We havent dove in real wrecks.
Our instructor Pierre is ecouraging us to try wreck diving in Subic. We would do it this summer break.
You can check the FB page of Casa Bahia and Go Dive Ph if its a place you would want to stay. I can help you arrange it.

 

[Ed Baker]

We still working on our plans for the summer. I know we will be doing our next courses and will be diving as much as possible just not sure where yet. A lot always depends on the wife's school schedule.

Yea I have never figured out how they come up with over night rates. They always do per diver but yet the second diver, if family, doesn't need to pay for the room if staying in the same room. Most places in this type of case only charge for the meals and such and discount the price for the second diver. Oh well who knows...

Diving here in the bay is a bit different. Viz not always that good and even on a good day nothing like diving outside the bay. If you have problems with ear infections and such I would definitely recommend a hood to protect the ears. The bay still suffers from all the ash that was dropped on it many years ago but the reefs are recovering well and there is life. I do think you will love the wreck diving and the opportunity to penetrate if you like. I personally do not go inside but my daughter and many others that I dive with have. On the LCU you can actually dive all the way through it.

A lot of diver that come here like to go inside the New York. This wreck has poor viz and has claimed a few lives. I have never dove on this wreck. The DM at TI , also my wife's sisters husband brother, has dove it many times and saved a few lives there as well. He is by far the best DM here and the only DM who has risked his life to save the life of others, even ones not diving at the resort he works at. He pulled an inexperienced Filipino diver out of the New York just last year saving his life.

Look forward to diving with you guys