Splash for trash

Thanks to the whole gang who took part in today’s International Coastal Clean-up dive.  Matt, Snake, Alli, Brian, Brad and Sue came back with rice sacks full of nasty and gnarly stuff from Dalaruan / San Antonio. The main items seem to be paint cans and boat repair items such as plastic cords, tins and jars. There was also lots of old clothing and diapers.

We keep doing these clean-ups year after year in hopes that it will teach everyone in the area the importance about not throwing the rubbish in the ocean. It’s still a long way to go…but every little bit helps!

Island Dreams Travel visits El Galleon

A big welcome to Susan Young from Island Dreams Travel. We’re thrilled that you were able to stop in for a few days and see the treasures of Puerto Galera. Susan works with an amazing group of folks back in the U.S. who do their best to send us lots of divers. We appreciate all your support!

A big welcome to Susan Young from Island Dreams Travel. We’re thrilled that you were able to stop in for a few days and see the treasures of Puerto Galera. Susan works with an amazing group of folks back in the U.S. who do their best to send us lots of divers. We appreciate all your support!

The boys are back in town

Older but wiser?! It’s been an exciting time over the past week with most of the animals prowling about. There have been several birthdays and some random boisterous nights, but all in all the animals were quite docile this year. Great to see you guys again!

Getting together for the whole gang’s last night here were Chris Taylor, Eric Masters, Bob Robb, David de Wolf, Magnus Sandstrom, John Tucker, Allan Nash, Mark Bluestone, Terry Llewelyen, Wayne Davis and Peter Bordeaux

Glad that John Tucker could be here to ring in another birthday with us!

Something to keep the kids busy while mom and dad go diving

The Bubblemaker course is a fantastic way for kids to try a closely supervised scuba diving experience in the swimming pool for their first try. They get to try out the equipment, swim around and play games. The very cool thing about this experience is that it’s also possible for them to do follow-up dives in the ocean to a maximum depth of 2 meters. They will go out with an instructor and get to “find Nemo” for real! This opportunity offers kids a great introduction to diving and most KIDS LOVE IT!

Miumiu’s nephew Sean Woo loved his Bubblemaker experience with Andy

Animals on the beach…

Christopher Dillon put all the pieces together and finished off his Puerto Galera experience with a leisurely dive to hole in the wall, and who better to do this with than Ben Tuff, John Tucker, Eric Masters, David de Wolf, and Mark BluestoneChris did his Open water course with Alli while the boys kept themselves entertained with some great diving this week. It’s been a big “Animals” week around here with several birthday celebrations mixed in with the usual drunken debauchery, but despite the late nights the gang has been hitting those 8 a.m. dives….well at least some of them!

Flying manta?

Our manta ray on the Sports bar has been a wonderful piece of art and a superb conversation piece for several years now. It fit right it perfectly…but everything has its price so it’s time to bid fare-well  and hope that it gets packed up good and cushy for the journey to the U.S. Many people over the years have wanted to take it home with them but it’s always been the problem of how to get it somewhere. It’s super heavy and very fragile. It was love at first sight for Carolyn Macola, and with Tom Artz having a shipping company packing him up for a move back to the U.S. the pieces fell into place and the manta was sold. The manta got it’s U.S visa!!

Goodbye to Jos and Tom

This is a bit of a tough one for me to write as I almost can’t believe that Jos Van de Giesen is leaving! Jos has been diving with Asia Divers for over eight years and has done many courses and 565 dives with us! I have great memories of finding the Rhinopias and Hairy frog fish on a couple of very special dives that we did together. We’ve often had some good luck dives! We will all miss you lots and wish you all the best in Norway. Better get a dry suit!!

Jos and Jamie thinking about hairy frog fish perhaps Continue reading