The Philippines has some of the best wreck
diving in the world. Find out more about Philippine wreck diving
destinations and wreck training
.
In January we conducted two Advanced Wreck
courses for five of our regular divers
 The
first course saw Noel Magor, Josh Magor and Brad Pole start
their training with twin tank work in Puerto Galera. We started with line work on land, to the amusement of
people in the restaurant. Line work involves tying off and penetration
line and laying it as simply and safely as possible into the
wreck. Once the line was in place, we then practiced finding our
way back along the line blind. Never as easy as it appears,
everyone did very well.
Training continued in Subic bay with 6 wreck dies. Diving
started on the the wreck of the freighter 'El
Capitan'. A 100 meter long freighter, it sits in 18 meters of
water in Triboa bay. It has a great out for simple wreck
training. The average depth of the dive was just 15 meters -
with Nitrox 36 it allowed 75 minute dive time without going into
deco. We continued with blind line work and emergency drills.
 Day
two and three we continued with penetration work on El Capitan
and then shifted to the wreck of a Tank Landing Ship (LST) in
the center of the bay. The LST has some excellent corridors and
at a depth of 32 meters is not too deep.
 The
second course saw us diving with David Drake and Tellurium Chung
on the USS Rochester.
Here we made some of the trickier penetrations. By far the best route is through the engine room. Huge
steam pipes and valves dominate, but it is not route for
the faint hearted and is well beyond the limit of a recreational
wreck course. Rick almost managed to get stuck going through a
narrow doorway and David and Tellurium were treated to the low
viz route through the 'tunnel of love'. However, our intrepid advanced wreck students took
it in their stride and completed several runs through the engine
room.
 Thanks
to George at Boardwalk for making our stay so comfortable. Boats
were on time, Jason was an excellent guide and our tanks were
pumped and blended to perfection. Back again in February!
2008 Schedule
Our next course dates for Subic Bay are February 29~ March 3
(1 place remaining)
 Subic
Bay
Subic is located just 3 hours north of Manila. It was
once the largest US naval base outside of America. Now it is
home to 8 great wreck dives, with more wrecks being found every
year. Highlights include the USS New York, a World War One
battle cruiser; El Capitan, a freighter lying on it's side in
just 18 meters of water; an LST, upright in 36m of water with
some great penetration dives and the Seian Maru, a large
freighter located just a few hundred meters from the waterfront.
Dive sites are close in Subic. Usually within about 20
minutes of the center of the base. Visibility does vary - there
are many rivers feeding the bay and silt from Pinatubo volcano
can still be a problem in the rainy season. However, the wrecks
are great to dive and the poor visibility does not extend inside
the wreck.
 We
visit Subic four or five times during the year and it is our
favourite place to complete Wreck Diver training (more below)
Our next tour will be February 4 to 9 (7 places
remaining)
For more information visit our wreck diving page
below: TDI Advanced Wreck Class Subic
Bay April 2007
About an hour south of Manila by air, is Coron Bay.
Coron is home to the largest collection of WW2 wrecks in the
Philippines. Highlights include the Akitsushima, an imperial
Japanese Navy Flying boat tender and the Irako, an impressive
10,000 ton Imperial Japanese Navy provision supply ship.
There are at least 10 large wrecks to dive. The best time to
visit is in the dry season (October to June). Trips to the
wrecks take longer than Subic, usually at least an hour from
town. The visibility is generally much better and there are more
wrecks to chose from.
Coron is one of the best wreck diving destinations in Asia, so
is best made a longer 6 or 7 day trip.
For more information visit our wreck diving page
 The
need for training
Wreck Diving is perhaps the most exciting type of
diving. But, for the untrained, it can also be the most risky.
Dangers include getting lost inside the wreck, light failure and
running out of air. However, with training it is safe the most
exciting form of diving.
There are two levels of training. A
Basic Wreck diver course
(either TDI or PADI) takes about two days to complete and
includes 4 dives. We usually train divers in Puerto Galera using
the Alma Jane Wreck. As many wreck dives are deeper, we highly
recommend taking nitrox and/or deep diver training. The
TDI Advanced Wreck Diver course
offers greater scope for exploration. A prerequisite is TDI
Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures (or equivalent).
Run over 4~5 days it includes 8 dives. We can complete all
academics and skills dives in Puerto Galera, which leaves 6
penetration dives to be done in Subic Bay.
Contact us if you would like more information
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