Open Water Certification in Anilao

[boljakool]

You may take all the academic modules online. Then take all the water skills in Anilao. This will save you time and money as you'll only need to stay at least 2 nights in Anilao for the water skills.

 

[Matthew]

I probably should rephrase my question.. Where in Anilao, Batangas would you recommend for the open water diving course?

You should look for a good instructor first, it doesnt really matter which resort you stay in. As mentioned above, avoid crash courses or those with too many students in 1 class. Good luck.

 

[paolov]

@ MATTHEW

pssst kuha mo na DM # mo?

 

[blue steal]

I took my OW in anilao in 2008. In 2007 I tried the cheap method, not advised...............nearly died...............and......
So I went with an excellent instructor, Kiko at Makdiver in anialo/Mabini. You can choose either PADI or SSI. You can do the on-line ahead of time and do the exam and water stuff with them.
At the time I thought the price was high at 13K, but his instruction, equipments, shop, and scheduling was top notch. I was very satified and now intend to take AOW and Nitrox this April with his shop.
He uses any number of resorts for the pool work, we used Aquaventure at the time.
However if you wish to cut some costs you could stay at San Jose dive camp and do shore dives.
This resort is geared for the budget traveler.
Please listen to others and do not "scrimp" on your instruction. Finding a good instructor is the most important part.

 

[clgsamson]

12k is cheap. I did mine 3 years ago and it was 13k. Including the checkout it totaled about 18k+.

I wrote 12k up and it is cheap?

Lolo Matt, congrats!

 

[Matthew]

Lolo Matt, congrats!

Uy hindi pa

 

[Babydamulag]

If you complete the ONLINE OPEN WATER COURSE before showing up for your course you will have more time for other things. If you can complete the Knowledge Reviews, Quizzes, eRDP/eRDPml (or good ole RDP) training, and the video prior to showing up for the course you are going to have a great time!!

 

[shugar]

True that.. I'll probably take your advice on that.. My brother kasi wants to do it all in Anilao instead of confined pools here in Manila. Thanks Pao!

like paolo said, he does all the modules in batangas...

on the other hand, if you want to save a bit more then it's really better to at least get the academics out of the way in manila - a major advantage is that if there are things that you don't get or need a refresher on a succeeding day (like extra pool sessions or something) it's far easier to sked that in in manila rather than in the resort

Jag

 

[clgsamson]

a resort with a pool would be great.

 

[cim72lando]

You have to make sure the instructor represents a certifying agency that's recognized world-wide and not just a resort course that's only good for that resort. I favor formal classroom and pool sessions ending with 2 days of open water check-out dives. Having classmates broadens knowledge including hearing answers to questions you yourself would not think of asking. Plus you get to see why certain diving faults (when exhibited by your classmates) are not acceptable and what's the proper way of correcting them as demonstrated by the instructor. Soon after being certified, I think doing dives in a "non-challenging" environment (example- at daytime, shallow depths, no currents, etc.) to hone in your skills and gain confidence and experience is a must. You then take advance or specialty courses to further develop your skills and guide you in your particular field of interest in diving. Be aware that your starting dive course is just that- a start.