Like most of us divers, I always thought Boracay was not for diving. It may have
been voted as the world's most beautiful beach but that was not enough for me to
consider it a diving destination. To be a diving destination, there must be lush
coral reefs with a variety of tropical fish, an array of pelagics along walls and drop
offs, sharks, barracudas, jacks and tunas. Yet the few dives I have now made in
Boracay left me thinking, 'this is good diving'.
Boracay has dive spots for the discover SCUBA diving candidate, the beginner,
the advanced diver and the very experienced diver.
Boracay is only a relatively small Island, yet in one stretch of the long, white sand
beach you will find at least 9 dive shops (note: This artcile was written in 1995.
As of April 1999, there are 19 dive centres operating in Boracay). The dive shops
are all professionally run. Each one is owned and operated by a diving instructor
(one of them by a PADI Instructor Evaluator), working with a pool of diving
professionals. Their equipment is all in very good condition and are on a par with
international standards.
The dive shops in alphabetical order are as follows: Aqauarius, Beach Life Diving
Center, Boracay Diving School, Calypso, Far East Diving Institute, Inter-island
Divers, Lapu-Lapu Diving Center, Ocean Deep and Victory Divers (NOTE: this
article was published in 1995. There are now over 20 dive centers in Boracay -
Ed).
One advantage of some diving schools in Boracay is they offer multi-lingual
instruction. For example, Calypso Diving has an instructor who can conduct an
open water diving course in French, Swiss, German and Spanish.
Now I am convinced that Boracay is not only a diving destination in its own right
but a must for every Filipino diver to visit. One can stay in budget accomodation
up to 5-star luxury. You will never have to eat in the same place for every
restaurant on the beach has its own particular specialty, from Filipino cuisine to
Thai, Italian, French and British, to name a few. There are also water sports
activities for the whole family to enjoy, like boating around the island, windsurfing,
parasailing, jet-skiing. Or just sunbathing during your surface interval time. And
what better way to end the day's activities than to sit by that gorgeous beach
with a cool drink in your hand watching a beautiful sunset. You'll wish your
vacation will never end!
So what are you waiting for, plan your next dive trip to Boracay and you won't
regret it!
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