A chip off the old block!~

Congratulations to Jacques Collins for coming “home” to do his PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses with Ruben at Asia Divers this past week.
jul16b1Jacques dad, Terry Collins did his Divemaster course with us along with another DM candidate Chris Viers back in 1997 and they haven’t seen each other since, but after connecting on FB they agreed to meet up ASAP. So when Jacques decided to visit the Philippines to visit the province with his Mum, Terry and Chris set a date to meet up in PG. Jacques was named after Jacques Cousteau who sadly died a few months after Jacques born.jul16b2

He was destined to become an Asia Diver from birth! The last visit to PG was when he was only 2 years old. Check out these photos of us from 1997 and the other one which was recreated this trip after he passed his Advanced Open Water course. Same location, same pose! It was wonderful to see you all back here again and hope it won’t be another 18 years…

Air Juan flights to Puerto Galera

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This is another option to come down from Manila.  Gets you here very fast with a fantastic view of the area as well!

Guidelines:

Valid until September 31, 2016. 2.  Timings may change without prior notice. 3.   Bookings are first come first served. 4.   Minimum of 6 passengers per flight. 5.   Baggage allowance of 10 kilos per passenger applies. In excess, a fee of Php 200.00 per kilo applies. Sports and diving equipment maybe accepted subject to additional fees and weight and space capacity. Client must advise special baggage at the time of booking. 6.   Flights are non-rebookable and non-refundable. On exceptional cases, and subject to a USD50.00 fee per segment.  7.   Payment should be made 48 hours after booking. For booking made less than 24 hours before departure, payment is due immediately. No confirmation unless payment is made before flight date.

Project AWARE certifications and limited edition cards

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Congratulations to Beth and Steve  Watson, Damien and Rob Jacobs, Hanno Jansen, Amit Kakar, Matt Hubball, Felicity Lee and Ross McLeod who have all successfully completed their “Project AWARE – Dive Against Debris Diver” Specialty certification and earned themselves a fancy limited edition 50 years PADI – Project AWARE certification card…(see picture)

These folks are certainly not letting their dives go to waste – and are now able to organize and conduct the ‘Dive Against Debris’ survey so it counts towards future policy development and implementation, while being very conscious of their buoyancy and applying good judgment on what to collect underwater and what to leave. We had especially great discussions about the impacts of plastics in the food chain and how debris can be avoided in the first place. Students apparently even had fun during the knowledge reviews – here is an example Q&A: Question: “List and describe criteria you should use when deciding whether to remove objects from underwater.” Student’s answer: “Is it debris or something I can sell on eBay, like pirate treasure”… B) Great recycling thought !

Have a look at the video of their graduation dive…

https://www.facebook.com/1720696354808939/videos/1733266430218598/

July in Puerto Galera


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Just in from a wonderful day on Verde Island! Stunning dive conditions on the pinnacle, lots of sunshine, superb food, and a wee bit of beer and wine to wash it all down. Best of all…. the people: Adrienne, Long Long, Tom, Joanne, Mandy, Joe, Ida, Edison, Michael, Katie, Jim, Meiling, Daniel, Miranda, Tung, Connie, Kevin, Troy, Ichi, Ferdi, Alli, Allan, Paul, Kjell, Rhuby.

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Low season?! This was taken on Saturday just before the 8 a.m dive. Beautiful weather, great diving and lots of folks taking advantage of it all. Come on down!!