As Dad David de Marneffe and mom Lorna Avillanosa look on, they are happy to see their kids get their first experience to dive. Lorraine and Loureen Avillanosa can hardly wait to get into the ocean after completing their pool Bubblemaker session. Kids who get started at this age with the bubblemaker program are usually very keen to become Open Water divers with their parent’s encouragement. It makes for a great family holiday!
A very special congratulations to Steve Ford who recently did his 300th with us. Steve has been diving here since 1992 and has done most of those 300 dives with us. Thank you to Steve, for being such a great supporter of Asia Diver over the years!
With the summer weather now upon us, the whole Puerto Galera area is filling up with lots of people escaping the not-so-nice weather in China, Europe and North America. It’s been a busy week at El Gal with two groups in, plus of course all the other folks staying and diving with us. This is a shot of the “AAPSM” group booked through Reef and Rainforest in the U.S. It was a group of 22 very happy people. All enjoyed the whole experience here with us, and some lucky folks even got the double pleasure of seeing two thresher sharks towards the very end of their trip!
Tommi Kokkola and Tobias Pino celebrated the completion of their PADI Divemaster course in style. They both did an amazing job and now Tobias will be in the iDAP classroom on the next IDC. Congratulations from the whole Asia Divers team. Alli actually met Tobias at the doctor’s office in Makati last October. He noticed she had a dive computer on and so began the conversation that would eventually lead towards him choosing Asia Divers to do his training with. You just never know…
Welcome back to Brian Moh and to our new friend Andrey Erishev from Pacdome Travel in KL. Alli met Brian at the MIDE dive show in KL last and shortly after he came over to do his Rescue and Divemaster courses with us.
Brian is a professional photographer and got this great shot of the dive deck. He also became a PADI Digital Underwater Photo Instructor so he can now combine his job skills with his passion for diving. What a great combination!
Continuing for 2014, Andy Norman conducted a Cressi Sub service seminar at Asia Divers in Puerto Galera on 30th January for students just finishing IDAP courses or were previously qualified instructors through IDAP that wanted to know more knowledge and theory of regulators. Continue reading
Jikai approached his dive guide, Brad prior to the dive and told him he wanted to propose to his girlfriend Liu Na underwater. So Brad got a slate and Jikai wrote his proposal in it. Towards the end of the dive, Brad handed him the slate and then he showed it to Liu Na. Of course she was surprised, but happily for all she indicated a “YES” and he proceeded to pull out a ring and place it on her hand, all under the watch of Brad and Rob who was filming the whole thing!
Sacha Traboulsi had a very special wish for his eighth birthday. He wanted to do his bubblemaker…and he sure did! Congratulations to Sacha who took to the new aquatic environment effortlessly and despite the chilly temperature, he liked the whole thing enough to do a follow-up dive the next day. You can see how excited Sacha is and his little sister Erika already thinking about getting to do her bubblemaker in a few years
A big day of diving for the Boswell family! Harry Boswell and Kenneth Fiel completed their Open Water course with Troy and got to go out on a fun dive with dad, Geoff. Shannon and Corine Fitzpatrick also got in on the action doing a refresher dive to get back into the swing of things with Troy and our two Dive Master candidates, Jan Bjork and Tommi Kokkola.
What a way to spend a holiday!! Max Qiao from China has been keeping busy this week doing a “Divemaster Experience week”. This is a great opportunity for all you certified Divemasters to gain some “real life” experience helping out on the dives and courses with a group of very experienced instructors. You’ll learn heaps, and have lots of fun too. Just contact us if you would like some more information.