Options for Divemaster training - April - May 2010

[SCUBAWalkabout]

I am currently diving my way across south east asia (Thailand, Indonesia, maybe the Phillippines and/or Malayasia) and keeping my eye open for the best place (great diving, low cost, fun nightlife - least important of the three for me) to do my Divemaster training.

Key consderations:
I love sharks/big stuff
I'd like a place that is not tourist central
I am looking to train and dive - not work as free labour for a diveshop

I'd love to hear from people who are, or have, done their Divemaster training in the Phillipines. Where do/did you train? What was your experience?

Any information/suggestions on accomodations and budgeting would also be greatly appreicated (I plan to spend 6-9 weeks).

Thank you!

 

[adamtodd]

I did my DM at Dive Dojo in Sabang (Puerto Galera). I actaully was recommend by another member here, and it was a great expirence. I ended up staying in Sabang about 3 months, continuing learning, and of coarse diving every day.

The diving variety in PG, I have never seen elsewhere with wrecks, drift dives, deep dives, macro, and bigger stuff.
As far as costs go the Philippines are comparable to elsewhere in SE Asia.
It is a bit touristy in the center, but I have always prefered to stay outside of the party zone where it is quite chill.

Anyways, you will for sure learn loads diving PG. They offer great diving from 5 Meter Photography to the endless possibilities of Technical Diving.
Since completing my PADI DM, I have returned to the Dive Dojo in PG and completed my Extended Range, Tech Coarse. It was the best, and most rewarding expirence diving.

 

[Mr Bad Example]

One company worth a look at in the Philippines is Sea Explorers. They have a main office in Cebu and 6 or 7 dive centres across the country. I haven't personally trained with them (My girlfriend did though), however I can vouch for them being a very professional outfit.
The diving at all the places I visited (5 I think) was excellent, some of the best I have done. One of the great advantages of diving or training with them though is that if you do find yourself unhappy with one of the locations you visit, you can quite easily move on to another. Dumaguette was my favourite, though I did thoroughly enjoy them all.

A greatly overlooked place in SE Asia is Vietnam. If cost is a major consideration, then Vietnam is probably the cheapest place to both live and train. I have to say though, the diving is not as good as you might find in other areas of SEA. Still very good, but leaning more towards macro and diverse coral gardens than any big stuff.
One place I can highly recommend is Rainbow divers. They have an excellent set up. I actually did my DMT with them and shall be doing my IDC with them in the New Year. (I actually live in Vietnam now). Like Sea explorers, they have several dive centres around the country, so it's easy to move on to somewhere different if you like, whilst still continuing your training.

One final piece of advice I will offer, where ever you end up doing your DMT, be sure that you make it clear exactly what you want from the course and your trip. It's very easy to get suckered into, as you said, "Cheap Labour".

I can't post links yet, but both companies come up easily with a google search.

Best of luck.
SJ.

 

[Babydamulag]

.....and the DIVE DOJO continues to deliver

Oh, and by the way, Ethei did my DM training many years ago. And Paul still thinks the wedding gift picture is of me and my wife.....LOLOLOL

 

[sonar]

[x] Dive Dojo DM as well

Sabang got what u need except for big fish. They are there but not too often. But if u stay somewhere for a few months its more important to have diversity. In sabang u got like 20 sites at 10 minutes distance.

I didnt like the nightlife too much though (too many prostitutes). I stayed there 8 weeks and never got fed up of diving. You can negotiate a deal for approx. 10usd for a nice room and pbb 8$ for a crappy one. Food depends in prices; at local places it's like 1$-2$ but at the better restaurants like captain greggs u will spend easily 10$. Beer is cheap, local liquor is too cheap (believe me)

Dive Dojo is many peoples favorite because:
- high level instructors
- great gear
- the shop is like a living room with an espresso machine, big screen macs and free wifi
- You will end up bbq-ing on the deck often, getting drunk with the instructors and customers

If u do ur DM with them you will found out they are dead serious about diving and give A-class training. If you just wanna drink all day and dive when you feel like it you might get some irritations. They also do a lot of tech diving; I got a free tech dive as a present when i passed. Got free nitrox all the time as well

In Sabang you can generally say, i think, that there are high end dive stores that serve the people who visit resorts. Then there are tech schools that serve serious divers with lots of returning customers and there are cheaper operations that only dive once in a while when some customers showed up. Most operations are specialized in either Korean/ Japanese/ Hong Kong divers and operations that have mainly USA/ Europe based customers.

I would, of course, recommend Dive Dojo but Captn Greggs and some other operations are very good as well

email ethei or trendy for more info

have fun

 

[CODMAN]

Another Divedojo DM trainee here. And what Adam and Sonar said is dead on. I also had the time of my life there. PG has some of the most diverse training/diving possibilities. And if you're willing to eat local food and stay farther away from the centre of Sabang, living there can be cheap. Divedojo is a class act operation and cann teach you as much as you can absorb while there! I did my DM training with Ethei while there, which I'm informed no longer works there (he does freelance for them occasionally I believe). But I am told that Ian is a great instructor (never got to meet him) and I know that Trendy is an excellent instructor! She is one of the best teacher/ divers I've had the pleasure to dive/ drink with. So I'm sure the level of instruction there is still up to par, even with Ethei gone. And the Divedojo instalation is just great for learning... Drinking... As well as some diving...

You can give them a shout (DIVE DOJO NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON or contact Ethei Robrigado (I believe he is working out of Captain Gregs presently) for this kind of training. Both will teach you so much, your head will be spinning!

There are other options (where there are sharks, or cheaper). But PG is a good balance of it all. And to get a good DM training, you do need a certain amount of diver/client traffic, which PG has no problem delivering... OH, and at Dive dojo you'll definetly not be slave labor...

 

[tboxcar]

I did my DM in Sabang, many places to choose from, alot of good shops, great diving and you can 'chill out' in the hills. Go for it!

 

[Mucksavage]

Lots of good suggestions already. My tuppence worth is first try Malapascua - its got everything from big Threshers to tiny Pygmys and of course wrecks. Evolution Diving will be fully operational by then and they are also excellent tech specialists too.

One tip is bear in mind that in The Phils people often go to businesses that match their nationality. So if you train with Sea Ex, expect only German speaking customers, Sea Quest is mainly Korean etc etc.

 

[Mucksavage]

I would also add that a lot of people bristle at the idea of 'cheap labour' - well a proper DM knows how to fill tanks etc. You can be shown how to fill a tank once. Fine. Or you can spend three or four evenings filling them yourself - that way you'll really know what its about. Equally you can 'guide' an off duty instructor or other DMs and 'know' what its like to guide or you can (under supervision) guide real customers, day in and day out and really know all the things that can and do go wrong over a given period. Roll your neoprene sleeves up and get stuck in.

 

[sonar]

agree

pumping tanks is part of the training. Just like setting up gear for fundivers, practicing skills, holding down discovery divery divers, answering questions and so on. On the other hand you are not supposed be doing that from day 1 till you finished, every day. Just being shown and do it once is not enough either

If you are into tech you should def. go to PG. Read in a magazine that PG is considered tech- capital of the world. Never seen so many rebreathers, twin tanks and wingsuits in one place. Lot of guys go 120 metres+