Philippine Fun Divers
DIVING WITH US
Top of the Line, Top of their Game You can’t Top it!
Office hours:
Our office hours are from 8a.m. (0800h) until 8p.m. (2000h) on Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs and Sat.
Our office hours are from 8a.m. (0800h) until 6p.m. (1800h) on Fri and Sun.
Dive center opening hour, early morning dives and meeting time:
At Philippine Fun Divers, we open our doors at 8a.m. (0800h). Sometimes divers request early morning dives and we are happy to open as early as 6a.m. (0600h).
We usually gather at the dive center in between 815a.m. (0815h) and 830a.m. (0830h).
Preparation for diving:
Starting at 8a.m. (0800h) our staff starts preparing or guests equipment and places them in front of the dive center. Divers just have to do a last visual check before it is carried to the boat. Newly arrived certified divers have enough time to fill out and sign up the necessary documents but we advise finishing it the day before.
These documents are:
1. Liability release and assumption of risk;
2. Philippine Fun Divers registration sheet; For certified divers to be able to dive with us, we need you to provide us with the following:
3. Certification card (C-card) from the certifying dive association (PADI, SSI, NAUI, CMAS, etc.);
4. Dive logbook;
5. If handy, a medical certificate reflecting acceptable health for scuba diving (only mandated for divers with health conditions).
The license card will stay with us until all dives are finished. This makes it also easier for the secretary to identify the divers. If a diver forgets to bring his or her license card, we can check the PADI website and trace the certification level. As for the other certifying agencies, we suggest having a certified true copy ready. Unfortunately, these certifying agencies do not provide online verification systems.
Equipment, selecting and storage:
After the paperwork is properly done, we will provide you with the equipment. All our equipment is basically new and regularly maintained. We immediately change used equipment to new items, as the need arises. All the equipment from the dive center is numbered and will be registered on the PFDB registration sheet. We have all sizes (from XXS until XXL) available for BCD’s, wetsuits, booties, and fins. We have a variety of lead weights ranging from 0.5 kg, 1kg, 1.5kgs and 2kgs. All the equipment and other items (except wetsuit) will then be placed in a crate (plastic box) with your name on it.
This crate will stay with you until all dives are finished. For those with multiple days of diving, your crate containing all your equipment, except the wetsuit which will be hung and stored inside the equipment room. The equipment room is locked at night and is covered by a centralized alarm system. Please do not leave your dive computer and/or digital camera inside the crate.
Tanks and compressor:
We can provide you with 8L, 12L and 15L scuba tanks. 2 compressors (Bauer Mariner and Coltri Sub) provide you with perfect air. The filters are changed every 50-60 tank refills. We have at the moment 130 tanks in use. The government air quality test results are to find in our website under the link ‘Air Quality’.
Do you need to purchase your own equipment?
We are also a retail facility and you can purchase or rent most needed items and equipment from us. As for the equipment, we carry mainly the Aqua Lung line of products. A catalog will be available for you with all items in our store for your convenience.
You have not gone diving for a long time?
No problem. If you haven’t gone diving for 12 months, we can do a checkup dive, which is basically a fun dive with a certified PADI divemaster or PADI instructor. We will focus more on equipment assembly/disassembly, proper weighting, buddy check and buoyancy control. Also the briefing will be more intensive in reviewing safety procedures especially with regards to the buddy system and PADI S.A.F.E. diving practices.
If you haven’t gone diving for more than a year, we suggest a more intensive checkup dive in order to give you back the confidence you need under water. This checkup dive is basically similar to the description above, but with additional skills. These skills are Mask clearing, Regulator recovery, Alternate air source procedure and Hovering. Most divers welcome a check-up dive since the additional cost for it is not substantial as against the cost of a fun dive.
If you haven’t gone diving for more than two years, it is imperative to take the PADI Scuba Review Program prior to the first dive. The program includes Knowledge review, Confined Water Skills and one optional Open Water Dive.
Preparation for 2 or more dives at the Islands or the dive sites farther away:
Once the equipment’s are checked by the divers, we will transfer them to the dive boats (either a traditional banca outrigger boat, or one of our two 10-seater speedboats). The banca boat cannot get ashore if the tide is low. If this is so, we will load all the crates, tanks and other equipment to our speedboat and transfer them to the dive boat, which will be moored about 300m away from the shore. After all the equipment is onboard the dive boat, the divers shall be transported next.
Once onboard the dive boat, do a last check of all your equipment! Equipment assembly will be done onboard before reaching the dive site or at the dive site in case the ocean is a bit wavy on the way. Our staff will ask the divers if they wish them to assemble their dive equipment for a more comfortable experience and as an added customer service. We encourage the divers to do these themselves for their own peace of mind, and our staff can gladly assist you.
Diving at the Islands and the dive sites farther away:
Under the ‘Bohol Dive Sites’ link in our website, you can find the exact descriptions of all dive spots including travel time. If diving at Balicasag, Doljo area, Momo area, Arco point area, Pamilacan or Cervera shoal area we do a minimum of 2 dives to optimize the trip due to its distance.
a) When diving at Balicasag or Pamilacan, we stay there for all the dives;
b) When diving at Doljo area, we dive at Doljo point and Puntod Island; or
c) When diving at Arco area, we dive at Arco point and BBC.
There are other possible dive site combinations. More dives are possible but our regular daily Banka boat trip is limited to a maximum of 3 dives. The Banca can only carry a maximum of 3 tanks per diver. If more than 3 dives are requested, the succeeding dives can be done at dive sites near the dive center.
Our guides will do the briefing on board as well as selecting the right buddy for you in case you don’t have a buddy with you. If you are alone or don’t have a buddy the guide can be your buddy. We require a buddy check.
If you are not sure about your proper weight, we encourage doing a weight check at the surface prior to descent on the first dive.
A minimum of 1 to 1.5 hours surface interval is required in between all dives for safety purposes. We suggest that you bring your own bottle of water and a snack. If we do 2 dives, we are back at the dive center between 2:30p.m. (1430h), after 3 dives at 4:00p.m (1530h).
Preparation for 1 dive to the dive sites close to the dive center: When we dive at the dive sites near the dive center (2 to 10 min away at the Panglao shoreline), we assemble the equipment at the dive center. Our staff will transfer them to the dive boat.
Diving at the dive sites closer to the dive center:
If diving at closer sites to the dive center, i.e. Crystal sanctuary which is 4 min away, we use our speed boat. The briefing will be done at the dive center as well as the selection of your buddy. If you are alone or don’t have a buddy the guide will be your buddy. The buddy check can be done on-board the speedboat. Some divers prefer a buddy check at the surface. We don’t recommend this method because of the possible presence of strong current. After the dive, we will proceed back to the dive center and a minimum surface interval of 1 to 1.5 hours is required, should you wish to do another dive.
Back at Philippine Fun Divers after diving:
After all your dives, our staff will carry your crates, equipment and tanks from the boat back to the dive center’s washing area. We suggest that you take care of your equipment by yourself.
We have 3 washing basins:
One for BCD, regulator, mask and snorkel; one for wetsuit, booties, fins, hood and weight belt and one for cameras. Our staff is there should you need assistance. Don’t forget to put back the dust cup before rinsing the regulator. After your equipment is washed, you can hang most of the stuff opposite the basins. The small items can be placed back into the crate right away. Once damp, we suggest for you to organize all hung equipment into your assigned crates and transferring them to the equipment room. Should you be unavailable to do this, please inform any of our staff so they can assist you. No equipment will be left outside the equipment room overnight.
Closing time and night dives:
Our closing time is 8p.m. (2000h).
Night dives end almost about this time. Preparations for night dives start at 5:30p.m. (1730h).
We get ready to board the speedboat at around 6p.m. (1800h).
The best night dive spots are just in front of the dive center. The reef has a width of approximately 280m and it takes 2min to reach the diving point.
General safety guidelines/practices:
Your safety is our utmost concern and here are the most important points:
1. Vessel staff: There are 3 staff on board, as required by the government regulatory agency MARINA: One licensed Captain, one licensed Marine Diesel Mechanic or Motorman and one boatman.
2. Inside the cabin we have two cabinets with the following safety equipment:
Cabinet # 1: – 100% Oxygen with nose supply and pocket mask – First Aid kid – Emergency signaling device – Hand held radio in order to communicate with the base in our dive center
Cabinet # 2: – Fire extinguisher – Axe – Rope Also on board are a life jackets for every passenger and the crew, 2 life rings (one life ring is attached with a 50 m line) and safety stop equipment.
3. We follow the PADI S.A.F.E. diving practices.
4. We require a buddy check prior to every dive.
5. Our maximum depth for experienced divers is 40m.
6. Our maximum depth for less experienced divers is 25m.
7. Our maximum depth for new divers (newly certified Open Water divers) is 18m.
8. After the dive (at the boats boarding ladder) our staff will lift up your equipment into the boat. We do not suggest climbing into the boat with your equipment still on your back and the weight belt on. Based on our research, this may lead to severe accidents such as falling backwards off the ladder, slipping on deck, injuring or breaking a joint, or the like. Worse case is when other divers get injured from your accident.
9. A briefing is mandatory prior to every dive.
10. We let divers dive without an assigned guide only if they know the area (orientation dives) with assigned buddy and when we are convinced of their safe diving and environmental friendly practices.
11. We are very environmental conscious and it is not allowed to touch anything under water except in case of emergency. Buoyancy control is of paramount importance and if we discover buoyancy problems we suggest a PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty course. Keeping away from corals is the best way of protecting them when diving.
12. We request divers not to use gloves except if there are special reasons. First of all, diving with gloves tends to hold on rocks or even corals especially when having buoyancy problems or during drift dives. We rather suggest a Peak Performance Buoyancy and/or Drift Dive Specialty course in order to perform better (if you need to brush up skills) instead of using gloves. There are also divers who continuously touch things under water or even bring stuff to the surface and most of the time, these are the divers using gloves.
13. Once a year, all tanks undergo visual inspections and cleaning.
14. Once every 5 years, all tanks undergo hydrostatic testing.
15. Our classroom holds a stretcher and a large Oxygen tank with 100% O2. Environmental user fees = EUF and Mooring fees: We need to pay PHP 500.00 mooring fee at Pamilacan Island to the municipality of Baclayon and PHP 300.00 at Balicasag Island to the municipality of Panglao. Also an environmental user’s fee of PHP 250.00 per diver per day will be collected by the Panglao municipal government for Balicasag Island and PHP100.00 per diver per day for all other dive sites.
The mooring fee is shared by all divers on board and the environmental user’s fee paid by the individual diver.
ARS = Advanced Reservation System An ARS is in place for Balicasag island. It is important to let us know about your dive plan and booking your dives with us as early as possible is imperative in order to secure slots. More on our price list.
The Management