Category Archives: News and Events

Look at this cool shot taken by Phil Rudin. It’s a nifty little creature called a Pelagic Zoea which is the larval stage of an unidentified Crab, taken on a blackwater dive here last June. We’re already in planning stages for Phil to come back next June to conduct another photo workshop with us.  Dates are: June 15-22, 2020. This year’s photo workshop will include two blackwater dives! If you’re interested in bringing your underwater photography level up to the next step and getting lots of hands on experience  than this workshop will be great for you. Please contact us for all the details: instructors@asiadivers.com

A Spooktacular Halloween at The Point!

What a fantastic Halloween party we had at The Point this year. It was a great turn out, and so many people got into the spooky spirit and got dressed up in some very creative costumes….even Bailey!  Jamie created some ghoulishly delightful shots and made up a very cool meat and cheese platter as well. Thanks to everyone who came out to make this a super fun night!

DEMA 2019

Tommy, and Alli will be at the DEMA Show November 12-16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida. We’ll be with the Philippine Department of Tourism booth promoting Asia Divers/El Galleon. We’re Looking forward to catching up with our pervious guests, many friends, business associates, and our wonderful travel agents who have been supporting us. Please drop to hear about some great accommodation and dive packages if you’re attending.

What’s been happening

A fun week with this group of keen divers from Hong Kong group (Hau Chuen Wong, Ka Keung ( K.K ) Cheong, Ko Keung Yeu, Lap Ping ( Mark ) Lee, Man Wai ( Sting ) Lor, Ng Kwong Cheung, Sung Kit ( Iris ) Mak, Tsoi ( Frankie ) Shu Kan, Wai Chi Yim, Wai Tho ( Cindy ) Tsang).  Lots of laugh and great diving, hope to see them all again!

Lou Fernandes decided to do a refresher to get back into the swing of diving again. He loved the whole experience and is looking forward to doing more diving.

Big congratulations to Lyka and Mike for successfully completing their Advanced Open Water Diver course with Maria and George Vest coming along as a visiting Instructor to gain experience with us. Well done guys! Hope to see you again for more diving adventures

While Lyka was being kept busy on her AOW course Tim decided that he should give the DPV a go. What a buzz it was!

Join Phil Rudin
Take your photography to the next level

Puerto Galera Philippines, El Galleon / Asia Divers June 15-22 2020

PACKAGE INCLUDES:

• 7 night stay ~ double shared room
• Full board (all meals)
• all dives, including night dive offered every night or Blackwater dives (2 included in package) (w/tank, weight belt, boat and guide)
• FREE NITROX for those certified ~ recommended • One free boat trip to Verde Island
• Photo Workshop (6 days) PACKAGES:
• Seaview Double per person: $1,553 USD
• Seaview Single: $1,938 USD
• Companion non-diver (shared room, full board meals): $791 USD
• Poolside Double per person: $1,473 USD
• Poolside Single: $1, 777 USD
• Companion non-diver (shared room, full board meals): $711 USD

DETAILS/ITINERARY:

• Arrive at the Belmont Hotel near Manila airport www.belmonthotelmanila.com or hotel close by June 13th. To be arranged by yourself.
• Meet at Starbucks at 11:00 a.m. June 14th for two or three hours of Lightroom workshop
• Depart for El Galleon Resort from Belmont hotel June 15th 10:00 a.m.
• The transfer to the resort will take approximately 2 hours by van and 1 hour by boat
• You will be met by El Galleon/Asia Diver staff upon arrival and have time to unpack, settle-in and set up cameras in the camera room.
• If anyone wants to do a check dive that day they can do a dive at 16:00

June 16th to 21 schedule:

• 6:30 breakfast
• 8:00 dive 1
• 10:30 dive 2
• 12:00 lunch
• 13:30 dive 3
• 15:30 classroom lesson
• 18:00 night dive or
• 19:30 Blackwater dive

Dinner will either be after the night dive or before the blackwater dive

June 22

Group departure to Manila airport or hotel. Time TBA

OPTIONAL: 3 – NIGHT Add On

If you elect to add on additional nights at El Galleon, please add-on after the workshop!

3 night’s accommodation, with full board, up to 5 dives a day (4 day dives and 1 night dive) (w/tank, w-belt, boat, and guide)

Seaview Double: $ 597 USD per person
Seaview Single: $762 USD
Companion non-diver: $339 USD

Poolside Double: $563 USD per person
Poolside Single: $ 693 USD
Companion non-diver: $304 USD

EXCLUSIONS:

• Airfare to Manila
• Hotel in Manila (Belmont Hotel www.belmonthotelmanila.com)
• Private transfers: Belmont Hotel to El Galleon Beach Resort and return from El Galleon to hotel or airport.
• Drinks, alcohol, gratuities and incidentals Estimated round trip costs: Private transfer costs will be shared by group and will depend on how many are in the group travelling together. The van holds 6 people with luggage and cost is $80 USD. Boat is $210 USD and holds 22 people. Price determined how many passengers transfer each way.

It will be great night to shake off the cobwebs, and bring out your nastiest or silliest Halloween costume. Join us for some spooky fun at our Halloween party this Thursday October 31^st at The Point Bar. We’ll have face painting available for a small fee and there will also be prizes for the best costumes, plus lots of tricks and treats.

What’s been happening

The fun begins! Welcome to our new group from Hong Kong. We hope they enjoy their stay. Read next week’s thrilling installment.

You never get tired of the amazing views and awesome sunrises in Puerto Galera. Thank you @h2onomad for this reminder.

Maria found her diving equipment with new stickers this morning. Jamie just couldn’t wait to change her last name!! We’re all thinking that Jamie Gonzales has a nice ring to it though!

Welcome back to John Butler and Jenny Chang from Taiwan, two of Asia Divers dearest friends. John has been coming to our shores since at least 1994, his kids learned to dive with us and he’s been a regular guest ever since, Jenny did her first DSD with Allan Oman Malibiran and never looked back. More recently they’ve been on several Asia Divers live-aboard trips. We hope you keep coming for many more years!

Looking for a long weekend get-away?  We still have rooms available over the upcoming All Saints Day long weekend, and you can be here to join our Halloween party on October 31st. Contact admin@asiadivers.com  to make a reservation.

Clean up dive

It was a great day to “Splash for Trash”! Thanks to Shiyuan for organizing   and to everyone who participated in the Dive Against Debris. Asia Divers is committed to doing these at least once a month. If you would like to join one, just let us know.

Allan on Tour

Leaving Cusco on my way to Nazca one of the best rides I’ve done. Lost count of the number of times I dropped into valleys hundreds of meters below and then riding back up into the clouds again the across a massive plato before dropping way down into Nazca. Any rider would be amazed. Fantastic views impossible to capture too many changes awesome day.

Leaving Cusco on my way to Nazca one of the best rides I’ve done. Lost count of the number of times I dropped into valleys hundreds of meters below and then riding back up into the clouds again the across a massive plato before dropping way down into Nazca. Any rider would be amazed. Fantastic views impossible to capture too many changes awesome day.

Day off the bike to take a tour of Rainbow mountain or as the locals call it, colourful mountain. Cusco Peru. Great day at 5,036 meters.

Something new at El Galleon

Meena has been teaching yoga classes on the platform recently and people are loving it. A beautiful location with a wonderful instructor!  Meena is an ashtanga yoga teacher. She practices gratitude daily and believes that this is one of the most powerful tools to being happy. She fell in love with yoga about three years ago. Meena believes in teaching her students to celebrate their own unique light and beauty. She also believes that humor is an essential ingredient in yoga, and laughter is the best medicine and core exercise there is. If you’re interested to join a class with her just let us know.

Old News

Once Upon A Time…there was no Facebook, no email and Newsletters looked just like Newspapers. A twenty one Year old Asia Divers newsletter just resurfaced from one of our guests, James Sather, who brought it along with him from Canada. If anyone would like the full version just contact instructors@asiadivers.com

Thanks to Matt Hutchinson for this month’s Monday News cover photo.  Matt is keeping busy on his Instructor internship with us, but still has time to take his underwater camera out for a spin. He’s been getting some real nice photos, as usual. Check out Matt’s gallery on his website to see many more:  https://www.stingraydivers1.com/

If you would like to subscribe to our fun little weekly newsletter and keep up to date on what’s going on here, please see: https://asiadivers.com/ to subscribe.

Who’s been doing what

It’s been a very busy Chinese holiday in the resort this past week for our Chinese Instructor team. 14 Students with 5 Instructors, plus 1 Divemaster candidate keeping things running smooth and safely.

Lu Wang and Xueteng Zhang have had Elly all to themselves for most of their visit this past week. They requested her for a private guide and to teach them their PADI Advanced course. They had many great dives and a big highlight of going to Verde Island. Congratulations on earning your AOW!

Jamie surprised Alli and Arthur on Alma Jane with his favorite buddy! DPVs offer a thrilling way for scuba divers to see a lot of underwater territory in a short amount of time. They scoot you through the water allowing you to glide over reefs, buzz around a large wreck or weave through a kelp forest. Whether making a shore or boat dive, a DPV is a great way to see more and have fun doing it. Ask us about the PADI DPV course.

This course also includes a funky “Freddie’s Specialties” DPV polo shirt.

https://asiadivers.com/padi-diving-courses-philippines/specialty-scuba-diving-courses/

Michael Lee was here a couple years ago and did his PADI Open Water course so he thought it was about time to come back and do his PADI Advanced course.  Congrats Mike!

Gavin and Elly celebrated both their birthdays in one big birthday bash in the Point Bar.  It was a tremendous party with some yummy hors d’oeuvre prepared by our kitchen team and lots of beer to go along with them.

Rebecca and James had their first scuba diving experience and absolutely loved it! Thank you both and we hope to see you back here soon for more.

Maria was complaining her nose was too small. Jamie to the rescue!