It's Christmas morning and I'm sitting in a pair or swim trunks by the beach. Hmm, not too bad.
There are many well-known diving destinations in SE Asia. So why does someone go to Boracay? In my case it's because my certified but rarely-diving wife and daughter make it clear that destinations such as Sipidan or Puerta Galera are pretty boring to non-divers. Boracay on the other hand has a great beach and a tremendous variety of bars, restaraunts, and shops.
So after selecting Boaracy and then much time spent on Tripadvisor looking at hotels, we made reservations at the "Boracay Beach Resort". It's close to the primary action area of the beach, but is not immediately adjacent to any bar or other big noisemaker so is relatively quiet. The staff is wonderful, the room (Suite#2) nice, clean and bright.
Upon arrival I went to a dive shop (that looked pretty basic) near the hotel to inquire about what they offerred. The young lady present was proud to confirm that they indeed do offer diving. However when asked if Nitrox was available and what blends her eyes glazed over so it was time for me to beat a hasty retreat. Going back to the hotel for a recommendation, they quickly said "go to Free Willy". I went there and talked to Marge, who knew what she was talking about and a dive trip was quickly scheduled for the next morning.
Boracay has maybe 15-20 named dive sites. On the windward side of the island are apparently a number of shallow reefs, but it was too windy during my visit to go there as the water was pretty rough and not good for small boat diving at the time. The leeward side of the island is where the main beach and hotel strip are located, and about ten sites are on that side and accessible by a 5-15 minutes ride in a small boat. Over the next 5 days I did 14 dives on that side, in a variey of locations and to maximum depth of 36M.
"Yapak 2" was the most interesting site and I went there several times. It's a bank that quickly drops off into the deep. I saw whitetip reef sharks and huge marble rays. Apparently other shark types show up occasionally as well. Two interesting features are at one point along the edge where you can hang on a reef hook and watch swirling schools of fish, and another where there is a crack across the top of the wall about half a meter wide where large sweetlips, grouper, blacktip sharks, and others would seek shelter along with cleaning services from local wrasse. It's a 30-35M dive so Nitrox is advisable to get decent bottom time.
Other sites were reefs, banks, and one sunken ship (the Camia) that after several years is beginning to show some good marine growth and fish life. Large fish are rare except at the deeper sites such as Yapak2, but all sites had a variety of fish life, along with some nudibranchs and other macro-photography opportunities. The coral is present but not the quality or variety of many other well-known other SE Asia diving destinations. However, given that Boracay was selected as our destination for reasons other than diving, I didn't go into the trip with high expectations and am very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the diving that they offer. Vis is 7-20+M depending upon site and tide.
There are a lot of dive shops on the island. My sense is that the majority build their business around assembly-line Discover Scuba Diving customers, operating with pretty low standards and are best avoided. "Free Willy" is a good operation, with very helpful office staff, good boat crews, and good divemasters. I did about half of my dives with Willy (the owner, nice guy); he is also an enthusiastic photographer. Ray was my DM for most of the other dives and was excellent. This operation clearly focuses on the more serious diver and I highly recommend them.
If one is only looking for hard core diving with wonderful reefs or lots of interesting wrecks, Boracay would not be at the top of the "got-to-do" list. However, it's a great location for a group that needs to balance the needs of divers and non-divers.
There are many well-known diving destinations in SE Asia. So why does someone go to Boracay? In my case it's because my certified but rarely-diving wife and daughter make it clear that destinations such as Sipidan or Puerta Galera are pretty boring to non-divers. Boracay on the other hand has a great beach and a tremendous variety of bars, restaraunts, and shops.
So after selecting Boaracy and then much time spent on Tripadvisor looking at hotels, we made reservations at the "Boracay Beach Resort". It's close to the primary action area of the beach, but is not immediately adjacent to any bar or other big noisemaker so is relatively quiet. The staff is wonderful, the room (Suite#2) nice, clean and bright.
Upon arrival I went to a dive shop (that looked pretty basic) near the hotel to inquire about what they offerred. The young lady present was proud to confirm that they indeed do offer diving. However when asked if Nitrox was available and what blends her eyes glazed over so it was time for me to beat a hasty retreat. Going back to the hotel for a recommendation, they quickly said "go to Free Willy". I went there and talked to Marge, who knew what she was talking about and a dive trip was quickly scheduled for the next morning.
Boracay has maybe 15-20 named dive sites. On the windward side of the island are apparently a number of shallow reefs, but it was too windy during my visit to go there as the water was pretty rough and not good for small boat diving at the time. The leeward side of the island is where the main beach and hotel strip are located, and about ten sites are on that side and accessible by a 5-15 minutes ride in a small boat. Over the next 5 days I did 14 dives on that side, in a variey of locations and to maximum depth of 36M.
"Yapak 2" was the most interesting site and I went there several times. It's a bank that quickly drops off into the deep. I saw whitetip reef sharks and huge marble rays. Apparently other shark types show up occasionally as well. Two interesting features are at one point along the edge where you can hang on a reef hook and watch swirling schools of fish, and another where there is a crack across the top of the wall about half a meter wide where large sweetlips, grouper, blacktip sharks, and others would seek shelter along with cleaning services from local wrasse. It's a 30-35M dive so Nitrox is advisable to get decent bottom time.
Other sites were reefs, banks, and one sunken ship (the Camia) that after several years is beginning to show some good marine growth and fish life. Large fish are rare except at the deeper sites such as Yapak2, but all sites had a variety of fish life, along with some nudibranchs and other macro-photography opportunities. The coral is present but not the quality or variety of many other well-known other SE Asia diving destinations. However, given that Boracay was selected as our destination for reasons other than diving, I didn't go into the trip with high expectations and am very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the diving that they offer. Vis is 7-20+M depending upon site and tide.
There are a lot of dive shops on the island. My sense is that the majority build their business around assembly-line Discover Scuba Diving customers, operating with pretty low standards and are best avoided. "Free Willy" is a good operation, with very helpful office staff, good boat crews, and good divemasters. I did about half of my dives with Willy (the owner, nice guy); he is also an enthusiastic photographer. Ray was my DM for most of the other dives and was excellent. This operation clearly focuses on the more serious diver and I highly recommend them.
If one is only looking for hard core diving with wonderful reefs or lots of interesting wrecks, Boracay would not be at the top of the "got-to-do" list. However, it's a great location for a group that needs to balance the needs of divers and non-divers.
