Dive Review of Asia Divers/El Galleon in
Philippines/Puerto Galera

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Asia Divers/El Galleon, Aug, 2010, by Jonathan Bank, AE, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 5669 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I really enjoyed El Galeon/Asia Divers. The dive shop is immaculate, well organized, and professionally run - you're assigned a spacious cubby area for your items, suits are hung on a clean, new hangar, and tanks are professionally filled after every dive. Nitrox fills are bang on 32 percent every time. The batangas take you to dive sites that are never more than ten minutes ride away. Dive briefings are excellent, illustrated with good maps. The dive masters take input from the various members of the dive group in terms of preference, ensuring that they're aware of the abilities, experience, and technical aspects (ie: who's diving air, who's diving Nitrox) of each member of the group. All dives were backrolls into near bath warm water. While there were few pelagics, the biodiversity of smaller fish and critters to include sea snakes, octopi, cuttlefish, etc., were on par or better than anthing else I have seen in the Pacific. The coral life was in pretty good shape - there were some areas of bleaching - but the overall ecosystem seemed in order. We did a number of rather enjoyable wreck dives - the Alma Jane is a particularly excellent wreck - lying in 100 feet at the bottom of a mooring line - large cutouts for easy penetration, a resident sea snake, some large boxfish, and excellent nudibranchs really made this an excellent dive. Significant assortment of anemones with a variety of clownfish as well as one with a pair of white ghost pipefish, small as spaghetti. The Canyons, Monkey Beach, and other non-wreck sites had currents that ranged from non-existent to somewhat sporty. Nothing required significant exertion to stay ahead of the currents/surges. As noted, the divemasters were generally excellent - they managed to keep track of the groups, although still allowed folks to wander a bit and dive their own profiles. Two in particular -- Josh and Eric -- really went the extra mile to ensure that every dive they led was unique. Most dives were 50-55 minutes with unhurried safety stops. From what I could tell, the instruction appeared to be top notch. Had I more time, I would have tried to take an intro tech course as this area appears to be a mecca for tech diving. The El Galeon resort was first rate. Rooms were small, spotless, and comfortable. My room lacked for hot water in the sink - not really a big deal. The a/c worked beautifully (my big issue), and the bar has tempting two for one happy hour drinks that compete (somewhat) with the excellent night diving. The food at El Galeon was excellent and well priced; excellent local fare as well as vacation staples were prepared, presented and served quickly. The waitstaff was friendly, attentive, and seemed keen to get to know the guests -- the exact opposite of the Habitat Curacao. Hard to imagine how I could dive in the Caribbean again.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Papua New Guinea, Cocos, Hawaii, Belize, Maldives, Red Sea, Malta
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	surge
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	25-40 Ft/ 8-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
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	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Asia Divers/El Galleon in Philippines/Puerto Galera

Asia Divers/El Galleon, Aug, 2010,

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):

Dive Review of Asia Divers/El Galleon in
Philippines/Puerto Galera