It is that time of year again for the annual Back to School Pencil Drive. The start of the school year can be an expensive time for parents. Springboard Foundation helps families from poor backgrounds by providing school supplies. Last year we helped over 3000 students from struggling families across the Philippines and this year we are aiming to help 5000! To donate to this very worthy cause please use this link: http://springboard-foundation.org/back-to-school-pencil-drive-2017/
It’s been very nice to get to know Ron Lucas who’s been here with us for a few days after he completed a photo workshop in Anilao. I think Ron is our first visitor from Bermuda!
“I came to Anilao to participate in a Macro Photography workshop at Crystal Blue and then came over to PG and EG to have 4 days of general diving with an emphasis on Coral Reefs. I particularly like the Verde Island and reef dive sites. I did 38 dives over 14 days. This is my third trip to Philippines and I really enjoy the diving and the people here. I think the boat crews and instructors/ divemasters are great and when I had equipment issues including a broken mask these were quickly sorted out with the minimum of fuss.
I have been married to Lorraine a Born Bermudian for almost 48 years, have 2 children and 5 grandchildren and am myself an adopted Bermudian. We have lived continuously in Bermuda since 1980 although we also spend a little time in Toronto Canada.
I have been privileged to contribute photographs to marine experts for educational, research and related projects and have had a silver commemorative turtle coin produced based on one of my photos to celebrate 40 years of the Bermuda Turtle Conservation Project as well as having a first day cover (stamps) produced featuring 6 of my Bermuda Fish Images
I have a photo website at www.ronlucasphoto.smugmug.com and have produced many underwater photo books for various destinations available at cost from Blurb.com. You may also download free ebooks for the Philippines and Indonesia for the iPad from this site.
I have realized that in addition to having had a fantastic life I have also been extremely privileged to travel and photograph in wonderful exotic destinations worldwide and I hope to continue doing this as long as my health holds up. Underwater Photography is my passion and a way of sharing the wonders of our coral reefs with others. “
We said goodbye to a wonderful group from Klein Scuba. A great week was had by all and we hope to see them back are way again…along with Alan Struble, George Hoehn, Jacqueline Michael, James Tischer, Janis Hoehn, Jessica Kramer, John Waring, Judith Jaggard, Judith Struble, Karen Tischer, Kathleen Cordes, Kathryn Hartung-Kramer, Kelly Hoehn, Kenneth Sedemak, Kirk Baumann, Marcia Klein, Paulette Linder, Philip Klein, Rebecca Bartow, Robert Linder, Sandi Waring, Thomas Bartow, Timothy Federwitz, Cinthia Federwitz, Timothy Kramer
It’s us great pleasure to have Jamie Morton as a new member of El Galleon’s kitchen. Jamie has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience with him and has worked and lectured in some amazing places and for some amazing people.
From his recent job in PNG working at the Royal Papua Yacht Club and being a celebrity chef for TV shows and catered for many events not only in PNG but also Australia and New Zealand where he worked and lectured in the NZ of culinary arts, celebrity chef and participated in five “Battle of Chefs” New Zealand TV episodes. In total there were around 50 of the best chefs in NZ who participated and Jamie came 2nd place. Involved in various restaurant consultancy including “Taste by Design Catering” an outside catering company who catered for weddings and top clients such as Mick Jagger & Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks, UB40, Justin Timberlake and their crews.
We are very excited to have Jamie and we know you will too… his food is fun and it tastes only how you would expect from a top chef who is passionate about his cooking. As Jamie is a very keen diver, you’ll see a lot of him around the dive shop when he’s not in the kitchen.
On the 2nd May, 2017 Allways Dive Expeditions in conjunction with the Philippines Department of Tourism held their “1,701 Islands & Counting…”’ Philippines Function at Crown Melbourne with drinks, canapes, specials, presentations and AMAZING prizes. It was a fantastic night and Allan was there to represent us
Allan is about to choose the winner of our diving and accommodation package. Looking forward to seeing Nadine Jones who won our prize here soon!
We’re in the midst of our amazing summer weather … Calm seas, warm clear water and lots of great fish action going on. The whole resort is a busy, happening place this week with a wonderful group of 24 folks from Wisconsin U.S.A., from Klein Scuba who booked through Caradonna Adventures.
Klein Scuba was founded by Phil Klein. Phil’s interest in diving began in the mid 70’s and was sparked by his older brother, who was already a diver. Phil loved diving and in order to get more involved, he decided to help the only local instructor with his classes. That continued for five years until that instructor decided to move to Florida. At that time, there were no other scuba instructors within several counties. So, Phil went to PADI College in San Diego and achieved his instructor certification. Have a look at their website to learn more about them: http://www.kleinscuba.com/ . Thank you to Philip and Marcia Klein for coming back to El Galleon/Asia Divers!
Chris Doyal and his wife Julie were here with us recently and he took some amazing photos that we wanted to share with you.
Chris became interested in underwater photography after becoming certified to dive in 2001. He has been diving and taking photos all around the world, winning awards in several photography contests and has been published in numerous publications.
Chris also teaches several classes at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan and elsewhere. They include underwater photography, land photography, and computer skills classes. He’s am also certified to teach the Nautical Archaeology Society’s Level III Underwater and Artifact Photography course. To read more about Chris and view photos from his recent trip to Puerto Galera please visit his website:
http://www.chrisdoyal.com/puerto-galera-2017/4593830292?preview=Y
Congratulations to Gabbi for getting a 500 dive club t-shirt, with many of those dives done with us. Klaus was hoping to get his 600th on this trip, but it looks like that one will happen next time….
It was great to have Larry Bird here with his daughters, Rhiannon and Seren this past week. Both girls have been to PG many times over the years so we are happy to see they have turned into mermaids!
Meanwhile, Larry is snacking at El Galleon…
It was a great week spent with Discovery Divers Tokyo. We not only had awesome dives together, but also had fun in point bar ringing the bell. Such a cool group of people and we would love to see them back again! Yu decided to take the DPV course and flied underwater together with Ad. She quickly mastered it and fell in love with scooter dives–Ad not only got a scooter buddy but also a Fiancé! Yes, you read it correctly: big congratulations to Ad & Yu’s engagement on this trip! A very special thanks to Ad Timmering for organizing this great week along with such a awesome team: Aleksandr Lopashev, Alexander Jaspers, Aya Hanada, Charles Han, Daphne Wesseling, Fumio Arai, Hager Bassyouni, Hiroaki Yoshida, Ilya Nekhay, Jan Brezina, John Kawase, Kelly Clodagh, Laurens Schaberg, Nekhay Ruzana, Pascal Kuyten, Pilar Camila Zarate Ortiz, Thomas Wasser, Yu Matsuzaki, Yuko Murakami, Yumi Tahata
