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Ronondo Rico

Our Dive Boat Project

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Ronondo Rico

, June 10th, 2012 at 10:00 PM (559 Views)

We operate a small boutique resort located in southern Philippines on the Island of Negros oriental. Monarch Sands - Philippine Beach Resort | Dumaguete resorts | Philippines resort . We are not a "Dive Resort" so much as a family resort that offers diving to our guests. Our guides and dive staff, spend their time providing one on one personal services, from guiding, to gear cleaning and storage. They are very excited to show their home, The Philippines to visitors to our resort and their excitement is in everything that they do.

As in any business, the costs of operations rise and fall with the local economy. the Philippines is no exception. Trying to keep our prices reasonable to the guests and profitable to the company is a continuing challenge. The resort's dive boat is a huge chunk of both expenses and profits. With rental prices climbing through the roof. We have decided to purchase our own banca boat, convert it to meet our diving needs

This blog is a story of our efforts to purchase, refurbish and sail our own banca here in the Philippines. Our frustrations and our joys.

The banca dive boat is one of the great experience of the Philippines. from it's style, its material to it's crew. Each becomes a part of the divers vacation experience. Thus an important part of what we offer to our guests, I need to also tell everyone, that my wife, won't go on the small bancas. She did however, love the boat pictured above, "The Shana" . The Shana however, was sunk in the storm last December, 2012. It was a very comfortable dive banca. Able to carry 8 - 10 divers, +30 tanks and gear at a relative fast speed and with comfort. Personally I think she loved standing in the tip of the front as in the movie Titanic more then she cared about the comfort of the guests.

Let me start by saying. I HATE BOATS! They are a headache from the start to the end. However, I LOVE my guests and I LOVE my resort. What Follows is our story. Please feel free to post your comments as we can use ALL the help we can get. What you loved or hated about your last dive boat you were on. What made that boats special for you. All of that will help us make our a better boat.

So our goal becomes to create a dive banca that combines ease and comfort for our dive guests and excitement for my wife. Stay tuned ....