6 Reasons to Do Your PADI Divemaster Course in the Philippines
Signing up to a PADI Divemaster Course is your first step to starting your professional dive career. A monumental and exciting step 🙂 but choosing where to do it can be a tough decision to make. There are so many options and things to consider, including: what country you should choose and how to find the most cost effective place to do it.
South East Asia is a world renowned region for scuba diving and the Philippines is no exception. Being located in some of the best marine areas of the Pacific ocean, it’s a diver’s paradise with spectacular marine biodiversity and varying reef topography. On land, the Philippines also offers great living standards for tourists and activities to keep you occupied on non-diving days. It’s a hidden gem of a place to do your scuba diving training for many reasons.
Here is a condensed list of 6 reasons why you should do your PADI Divemaster Course in Philippines:
1. Price
You may have looked into a few diving chat forums and discovered when searching “cheapest places to do diving courses” that the Philippines is a country that always appears. These are not wrong, in fact the Philippines is the cheapest place to learn how to scuba dive in the whole of South East Asia. The reason why it is, is because the cost of services in general is very low and there is little cost in the logistics of scuba diving here in comparison to other places around the world. On top of this, the cost of living in the Philippines is very affordable and can be as cheap as you make it.
Thanks to these favourable circumstances, at Dive Pro Career, Moalboal, Philippines we have been able to create affordable, tailored PADI Divemaster Courses at a highly competitive price to other places around South East Asia. For example, in comparison to the famous Koh Tao Island in Thailand, our courses are around 10% cheaper.
As well as this the cost of living in Moalboal is low and suitable for any budgets. Living standards are not compromised by price, since the town caters to many tourists from all around, each year and to their individual needs. This page outlines the average living costs for all budgets: Cost of Living in Moalboal, Philippines
2. Weather and sea temperature
The Philippines offer a beautiful tropical climate with warm weather all year round. Water temperatures in Moalboal reach no lower than 27°C / 81°F and up to 30°C / 86°F. No 5mm wetsuit needed here – the temperatures both on land and in the water are just excellent. This allows for lovely, easy and warm dive conditions which attract a large diversity of marine life. As well as this, Moalboal itself has a lovely mild tropical climate where the sun shines pretty much everyday of the year. The landscapes from where we are located at Panagsama beach are really one of a kind. Lush green rock formations in the distance, stunning tropical sceneries, abundance of coconut palm trees, clear blue seas and white sands – makes Moalboal an idyllic paradise.
3. The reefs
From Moalboal’s warm climate, the reefs are filled with tropical fish and corals, all in amazingly healthy condition and just beautiful to look at and be around. You may know that the Philippines is located within the “Coral Triangle”, the global center of marine biodiversity. It is known for having 75% of all coral species, over 2000 species of reef fish and six out of the seven species of sea turtles. In Moalboal, you are guaranteed to be able to find many species of tropical reef fish, small critters, molluscs, soft and hard corals, ideal for underwater photography if this is an interest of yours. You can dive alongside sea turtles daily and even spot a passing Whale shark or Thresher shark if you are lucky. It is a really special underwater place and full of surprises. Moalboal’s dive sites also offer a range of topography, from diving alongside slopes, to walls, to diving above the seafloor, providing you with a variety of diving experiences to broaden your dives skills in different underwater landscapes.
4. Easy dive logistics and conditions
All dive sites in Moalboal are incredibly safe, established for years and super accessible either by shore or boat. There’s nearly 20 dive sites to choose from, all offering easy dive conditions: warm waters, calm currents and clear water with excellent visibility, perfect for training and mastering your dive skills and gaining more underwater experience. From Dive Pro Career dive shop, all Moalboal dive sites are no more than 20 minutes away by boat and on top of this, we also have a beautiful house reef, accessible from shore right on our doorstep. Our boat, the “Smiling Star”, offers a lovely, spacious and comfortable journey to each dive site and operates 3 times daily. During your PADI Divemaster Course at Dive Pro Career, you have unlimited diving and are free to jump on the boat or enter the house reef as often as you want.
If you want to know more about the dive sites around Moalboal, you can find all the information here: Moalboal Dive Sites.
5. Lots of land activities
There is much to discover on land in the Philippines and Moalboal is no exception. This small dive town although primarily caters to its diving community, it also does have some great land activities on offer. When you do want to take a break from the water (as rare as that’ll be), in and around Moalboal you can find a number of attractions. The highlights include canyoneering at Kawasan Falls, a sunset hike up the tallest peak: Osmena Peak and sunbathing or snorkelling at “White beach”. As well as this, Moalboal has everyday activities like mini golf, archery, outdoor cinema showings etc. Also the nightlife is awesome here. There are an assortment of bars and clubs all offering great vibes, music, even karaoke but most importantly a guaranteed fun night out.
6. Opportunities to make new friends
The Philippines is increasingly becoming more popular with tourists, attracting holiday goers, backpackers and island seekers from all over the globe. It’s no doubt a wish list destination for diving enthusiasts everywhere and you don’t need to research much into why. Moalboal is one of the most popular diving destinations in the Philippines due to its infamous Sardine Run and therefore it is filled with scuba divers all year round. Making like-minded friends here just by being a scuba diver yourself is guaranteed and the social life you’ll have here will be exciting. It’s a humble dive town that is expanding and getting more and more popular year on year, where more international dive professionals have made the jump to settle their lives here. Working and living in Moalboal as a dive professional can give you a great work life balance, being a great hub for diving, cheap and great living standards and with many land activities to keep you busy.
Lastly here in Dive Pro Career, we offer tailored PADI Divemaster Courses, giving the best learning environment and curriculum for all our students to enhance their diving skills.
