So what do we think of Philippine dive shops?

[h2odragon1]

I agree with Sugar, you could have asked for recommendations and you would have had a better time for all locations.
Puerto Galera; the White beach is known for it's beach for diving, Sabang, Little LaLaguna, or Big LaLaguna. Sabang is know for it's night life, and yes it can get seedy at times. Little and Big LaLaguna are quieter and all three have great dive shops. I dove with Action Divers in 2005 and they did check my cert card, and logbook.
Palglao Is. The equipment was good eqpt., not junk. Check out the shop first, look at the eqpt. The divemasters should be as good as the gear, (ie; up to date and cared for [skills])
In 2005 my wife and I did have a less than desirable experience in Dumagete. the shop had old gear and the girl behind the counter did not speak English, or Tagalog, (my wife speaks Tagalog). She was Korean, and did speak the local dialect. The divemaster took us to an island nearby in a very small banka and proceeded to drag my wife down. (she is slow to submerge), but he should not have pulled her. She did not like what happened, and did only one dive, and refused to pay the full fee for two dives that we intended to do.
My wife and I have had almost exclusively great experiences diving, and plan to go back as soon as possible. we most likely will dive with the shops we are now familiar with, but if we go to a new area, we will ask PPD for advise, that's how we found Action Divers, Baywatch divers, and ended up with Rosies in Dumagete,(we didn't ask for advise for Dumagete)
TRY AGAIN!! Ask for dive shop recomendations, and even dive site recomendations. The dive shops do have sites (cookie cutters), they take people to if the diver dosen't know better. You'll have a better time if you ask!

 

[Kupu]

Ha ha, maybe you guys are a bit too defensive? Some are saying PPD authorized recommendations are a necessary part of having a good experience while diving in the PI? I don't agree, it makes me defensive just reading "you should have/could have asked for recommendations". Cmon, Tranquillo amigos...It never hurts to research, but what about having fun and jumping into the unknown.

I regret the day when travelers have to have to know ahead of time what to expect when traveling to a new destination. Experience of the unknown is why we chose to travel...and if that involves good looking women and good diving, so much the better.

I have rented gear in Panglao, it was not nearly as good as my own kit. Yes, I also went the cheap route. I know there are other shops with better gear, I have used them. But when funds are tight and someone wants to get a couple dives in, it is not out of the ordinary to walk the beach and go with the shop that offers the best price. When I was a newbie, I could easily have had a similar experience to martian...although I kinda enjoy Sabang, even though I have a steady girl...

I don't really have a position whether martian is on the level or not, but his statement is worth listening to. One of the many, many reasons I enjoy diving the PI is the relaxed attitude of the majority of dive shops. For me that means extended bottom times and freedom to dive the way I want.
Which could also be a bit of a problem for less experienced divers who need additional oversight? It is important to talk about expectations from the dive op and DM's in order to have enjoyable dives most anywhere, maybe the OP did not clearly state their needs?

Bottom line, the OP would help future visitors by naming the dive ops he had bad experiences with. And a negative report does not necessarily mean the poster has an agenda.

 

[chip104]

I definitely agree with you, Kupu, it's easy for divers trained abroad to be taken back by the laidback attitude taken in the PI.

But I stand by my statement that his posts ring a few alarm bells. Personally, I chalk it down to relativeness. That's why I asked to at least name the dive shops so we can see where he's coming from.

 

[adamtodd]

Nice 3rd post man!!
I have done more dives in Thailand then I have in PI, and both are different - good diving, and good shops available to those who take the time to sort them out. I have rarely had to show my card in Thailand, I think this is just how it is at all the more poor shops you have encountered and by the sound of it will continue to encounter for some time.

I am not sure why on the Thailand forum you praised the diving in PI on you thread about doing your DM over there.

You will find the same over there. There is way more under-qualified DM's in Thailand. But also some very decent running shops.

Hopefully you will try and look around before you do a DM over there.
I am also curious if you think that people like yourself who don't have very many dives (as you have already discribed) who want to become a Professional help or hinder exactly what you are complaining about....? I have a funny feeling that if you in a month were guiding yourself today you'd have another complaint to spit out on the forums.....Good Luck!!

 

[martian2]

Hehe, thanks for the replies.

"I don't really have a position whether martian is on the level or not", I am, but there isnt much way for me to prove it I guess. The company that worried me in ALona Beach, Bohol, was Baywatch, where the equipent was not great. Now the DM I had I can't remember his name, but he semed to be a freelances down there, shame because I was very unhappy with his lax approach to safety.

In Malapascua I dived with Fun and Sun, and wont be doing so again.

The company on White Beach shall remain anonymous, simply because aside from not actually checkin my card, they were very professional and hepful, the equipment was good, and I had a good time. I know I will take stick for that. And I was under the impression that the White Beach operators would use the same dive sites as sabang ones, just travel a little further. My mistake.

Lots of people seem to think I had a terrible time, simly not true, I had some very nic e dives, and some great experiences in the Philippines, as I not acknowledged in my original post.

And adam, I take your point about my going to a DM whilst not being hugely experienced, and this is one of the biggest things in my mind when trying to make my decision of whetehr and where to go. But I dont think my post was about bad, inexperienced DMs, it was about very experienced DMs with a poor attitude to safety and standards, and other things like equipment. It was attitude not experience that was the problem. As someone who is considering doing my DM, I think that i is actually good to have seen this.

I am considering doing my DM for fun and educational reasons, rather than to work as a DM, but I do agree with you that there are many inexperienced DMs out there, but then that is a PADI proble, not my fault, they qualify you with 60 dives. And everybod has to start somewhere, right? So where should I do my DM adam?

Kupu put it well, you should be able to turn up and choose without sopending ages readin scuba board, thats why the organizations are there I believe. If I post in the future though I expect you all to give me great recommendations!!!

And the concept of control is hard to define, on that dive there were six divers and two DMs, divers ranging from 300+ staff instructor down to just finished OW. Of course let the experienced divers dive, but when you see divers are out of control and have drifted from the rest of the group at 15m up to 2m from the surface, before the end of the dive, get them down, dont go and help them take pictures of themselves. Also having the same guys, just past OW, in confined overhead spaces bumping their heads on the rocks is just irresponsible.

Anyway, some names named.

 

[Hammerhead]

Just curious, but did you do any diving out of Sabang?

Leaving the "seediness" of the bar scene aside, there are plenty of world-class dives within 15 mins of the beach, I ought to know, having put in over 900 dives (all fun dives, never paid for) in the area.

If you didn't then IMO you definitely missed out.

 

[martian2]

Yeah on the second day I did a couple fo dives most of the way round the way round the coast to Sabang and then third day I did a couple of dives basically at Sabang, and got dropped off with all of my stuff. I know there are a few I missed out on that are good, I was looking for easy dives as it had been a while. Next time.

 

[xariatay]

Martian, Thanks for sharing the information... Hope u will have more good dives anywhere!

 

[chip104]

haha, when you mentioned P1000/dive with equipment, I was thinking it was baywatch. As for the white beach op, there aren't that many there and they're all pretty laidback. I did an intro dive with Octopus and they're great. To me, whether you had a C card or not, it would have shown when they took you down (plus as their only diver you had their full attention). Don't know about fun and sun, but I do agree that it was unprofessional for the OW students to be led by a DM - seems like they were either too lazy or too overstretched to put an instructor with them.

Thanks for mentioning the names. I think you did a good job in choosing ops that were economic. As you said, this is a classic example of you get what you pay for. Don't give up on the PI yet. There are still +7,000 islands and hundreds of better dive shops to go! Hope you have better luck next time.

 

[CODMAN]

Poor dive operators are everywhere unfortunately... And I saw my share of bad practices in PG... I also saw some of the best I've seen! Here in canada, you'd think "Hey, they are a rich country... The dive ops must be great..." But no, even here there are dive operators who cut corners and you have to watch out!

I think that's the most important lesson you need to understand about diving! You get plenty of info on theory, technique etc... But the final objective is to make you a safe diver by giving you the skills to do it properly and the knowledge to make good safe decisions. And part of these decisions are choosing dive operators that are safe and competent! You have to be critical when choosing a dive OP... Cost is often a bad criteria for choice... And even when you really watch out and check em out, you can't see or know everything about them and can still make a poor choice. And this is the case in all countries...

Personally, I have a few extra steps to help avoid these kinds of problems. I own and travel with my own equipment. That way I'm never at a diveshops mercy for gear. It's also much more fun! Also, I never follow a DM blindly or do a dive I don't feel comfortable with... At any time I am willing to look at the DM and say "I'm calling the dive" if I'm not comfortable. And as suggested above (and I don,t thing they insinuated it was obligatory) I read up and ask questions about the places I'm going to visit! that avoids a lot of problems from the start! Information is power and helps you chooses more easily the better operations...

It's too bad you had so many poor dives... But believe me it's not because it's the Philippines! You are going to have to face this no matter where you go! And the better prepared you are (or experienced) the less it will happen!

Cheers!