Dive Review of Adventure Scuba in
Philippines/El Nido

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Adventure Scuba, Nov, 2012, by Kate Dowden, UT, US ( 1 report). Report 6825.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	In El Nido Town on the island of Palawan there is a dive operation about every 100 yards. My husband and I were on our honeymoon and had completed our Open Water PADI cert about 4 days before we left for the Philippines so we could not be any more NEW to diving. We have nothing to compare this to (oh wait we did our open water cert in a 96(f) crater that was under 12inches of snow- there’s that to compare it to) so we went with our gut. We wanted to do our Advanced Open Water PADI to gain more experience diving and reinforce learning- so a large part of our decision on an outfit was the personality of the dive master as we would be spending a lot of time with him/her. The Outfit: We chose Adventure Scuba affiliated with the Art Cafe (which is a mecca for all things in El Nido) based on their dive master Tom. He was straightforward, sincere and told us the pros and cons of doing our certification with his outfit. Being linked with the Art Café is also very nice as they have a great bar, restaurant and shop. (Although don't miss La Salangane down the street for great food and house flavored rum) Equipment: We came with our own mask/snorkel/fins and rented reg/bcd/tanks/wetsuit. All were suitable and in good working order though slightly worn. Boat: The style of boat used is called a banca boat- expect a walk in waist high water at times. Surprisingly smooth ride even on choppy-ish seas. No frills except the dazzling scenery! Tom took us on a total of 13 dives so we hit nearly every dive site in Bacuit Bay which was awesome! Tom (a 3500+ dives type of guy from England- DARLING) took great care of us, he was very patient, thoughtful and an effective and thorough instructor. He really maximized our time in the water- and was fun to follow as he showed us A LOT of marine life. Every day on the boat Adventure Scuba made us lunch- which you can choose from fish, pork, chicken or veggie. We had a taste of each and enjoyed them all. Lunch includes rice, a small salad (which we ate and never had any gut issue) coffee, bottled water, cookies and bananas. While eating you were normally at some insanely incredible beach with sparkling blue surf and coconut trees. Mind numbingly beautiful archipelago. Going diving in Baicut Bay is THE best way to "Island Hop" which is the primary activity in El Nido. Creatures: The big names we saw were green and hawksbill turtles, black tip sharks, an amazing school of car sized bump-head parrot fish and TONS of small colorful fish. Seemingly endless varieties of small damsel and anemone fish everywhere. Overall we loved our experience! Notes on the town: We went in late November over Thanksgiving and had great weather- although a typhoon came through 3 days after we left. THERE ARE NO ATMs IN EL NIDO and few places take credit cards so bring a wad of cash. Power goes off (in the whole town) from 6am till 2pm- or whenever the town generator fails which was a few times while we were there- pack a headlamp. Also- Adventure Scuba will come pick you up at one of the fancy private island resorts and take you diving for half the price the resorts charge. If you really want your mind blown on a tropical luxury experience check out Miniloc Island Resort- but call Adventure Scuba for diving in the area. Experienced Divers: You'll have to ask Tom what it's like to dive here as an experienced diver but I had a great time- and no matter how many dives you have Bacuit Bay is absolutely breathtaking to look at and spend time in.
Websites	Adventure Scuba
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	0-25 dives
Where else diving	The Crater in Midway Utah- in the snow.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp	28-29°C / 82-84°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	12-20 M / 39-66 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Required PADI or SSI cert card. Not sure on the others because we're too new to break restrictions.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Again- we're so new. We have our one little GoPro Hero 2 with an underwater case and we got a lot of fun footage and photos. You could stick that camera in a shoe and it would be happy so I cannot speak to ease of use of fancy cameras.

Subscriber's Comments

By David Cutler in ID, US at Dec 07, 2012 15:00 EST

Good for you! The first few trips were very special for us (Partly because our Idaho eyes had not seen many tropical beaches.) Keep your enthusiasm and here's to many more trips. Gringo

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Dive Review of Adventure Scuba in Philippines/El Nido

Adventure Scuba, Nov, 2012,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Adventure Scuba in
Philippines/El Nido