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

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Asia Divers/El Galleon, Nov, 2009, by Rosemary Chengson, CA, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 5320 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	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Despite the fact that it's against the law in the Philippines, prostitution appears to be alive and well in Puerto Galera. Virtually every morning, very young teenage local girls were seen leaving the resort, often times dawdling to text message/phone their colleagues who had also spent the night at the resort so they could meet up. Four of the first six nights at the resort I was awoken by loud partying at the pool. At a minimum, large signs should be posted in each room and by the pool reminding guests to be quiet after 9 p.m. The diving was very nice, with primarily muck diving at the near by sites and great tropical reef diving at Verde Island. There is a surcharge (approx. $25/person) for the Verde Island trip for two morning dives. The speed boat makes it easy and fast to get there, but currents can be quite strong and is not recommended for inexperienced divers. There is also a surcharge for night dives which was not disclosed until we were presented with the bill. The travel agent we worked with said there were one hour plus time limits but once there we were asked to keep our bottom time to 50 minutes. After negotiating with the dive staff I was able to get them to grudgingly agree to a one hour bottom time limit. Given the abundance of sea life at some sites it was a shame to have such a restrictive bottom time when I consistently came up with over 1,000 pounds of air. Bottom line: The Philippines has some great diving and I'll skip the sex tourism of Puerto Galera to dive other areas of the Philippines.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia (Bali, Kamodo, Sulawesi); Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Bonaire; Sea of Cortez; Monterey, CA; Channel Islands, CA
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	81-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	15-60 Ft/ 5-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	While booking this trip we were told the bottom-time limit was 1 hour plus, the reality is that it depends on the dive guide, with stated times as short a 45 minutes. My longest dive was 63 minutes and the dive guide was annoyed.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Nowhere to set-up camera except in your room. Had to carry camera back to room between dives b/c there was no secure area. Boat crew had limited experience handling/receiving cameras. For example, several times the port was used to balance the camera on the side of the boat when transferring into/out of the water. Both wide angle and macro ports were scratched during this trip. Separate rinse tank was available for cameras. Initially chastised for not staying with group while taking photos and group swam away - after repeated discussions with dive guides prior to each dive buddy and I were able to dive our own profile and trail behind the group.

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, Nov, 2009,

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