8 best places to work in the Philippines as a PADI Divemaster
Situated in SE Asia between the warm South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7100 islands, some inhabited and unnamed but all boasting beautiful landscapes and surrounded by amazing clear waters. With main cultural influences from Spain and America, it has a rich diverse culture being the only catholic country in Asia and currently the 3rd largest English-speaking country in the world. Overall there’s much to offer in the Philippines, making it one of the top travellers destinations in SE Asia.
It is also a great location for diving professionals, Divemasters and Instructors worldwide to live and work in and a country you should consider moving to in your diving career. The Philippines has many diving possibilities to offer. With multiple dive locations spread over different islands, each has its own niche tropical underwater landscape and habitat, attracting a large biodiversity of fish and other marine wildlife. It is also one of the most budget-friendly countries to live in as a dive professional. Cost of living is low and diver wages are very decent especially during peak tourist seasons. Quality of teaching is not compromised as well due to large diving communities in particular areas generating competitive career progression and opportunities between numerous PADI and PADI 5 star dive shops, CDCs (Career Development Centres) and IDCs (Instructor Development Centres) alike, all offering teaching mainly in English but multiple other languages and on request.
So, interested in starting or progressing your PADI dive career as a Divemaster in the Philippines? Here a small guide on the 8 best diving locations in the Philippines, what there is to offer diving there, it’s PADI dive shops and additional information on generally living there including some recommendations
Moalboal, Cebu
Home of the infamous Sardine run, the small town of Moalboal is the main diving hub of the island of Cebu. Located on the west coast and an around 3 hour car journey/ 4 hour bus from Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Moalboal is a popular choice for tourists and divers worldwide, providing great underwater experiences and a lively and fun atmosphere. Unlike South Africa’s sardine run, diving with the sardines here is not a seasonal event and the spectacle can be seen in the same location everyday of the year. Peak times here are between December to April during the dry season, however there is rarely a dry month with customers as water temperatures are pleasant and consistent all year long reaching highs of 30 degrees. Great for work prospects for a PADI Divemaster and work-life balance.
Moalboal, although is an established location for diving in the Philippines, is developing rapidly and with the number of PADI dive shops/resorts totalling 11 as of August 2024, with 2 being PADI 5 star IDCs and 1 being a PADI 5 star CDC.
Malapascua Island
A tiny island in the north of Cebu, this small but mighty island is renowned worldwide for the one and only place guaranteed for you to get up close with the Thresher shark. Between December to April, you can see these beauties literally every morning chilling in their cleaning station of Monad Shoal. As well as this, the island provides lovely marco life and other very potential shark sightings, a few to name being white tips, black tips and even a tiger shark.
Malapascua is predominantly a diving island and has 7 dive shops/resorts. Out of these, 3 are PADI 5 star IDCs and 2 are PADI 5 star CDCs.
Click the following for: Malapascua’s PADI dive centres
Siquijor Island
The smallest province of Central Visayas, this is widely known as the most spiritual place of the Philippines for its witchcraft and healing. Though, it is quickly becoming an up and coming diving hotspot especially for muck diving due to the biodiversity found here.
On the PADI website, there are 5 dive shops/resorts in Siquijor. None yet are IDCs or CDCs.
Click the following for: Siquijor’s PADI dive centres
Bohol Island
Being the tenth largest island of the Philippines, the coast of this island is lined with superb coral reefs and is actually the best place to see Whitetip Reef Sharks in the whole of the country. Brilliant muck diving spots are also available here.
On the PADI website, there are 6 dive shops/resorts all mainly situated in Panglao, Bohol, 4 of which are PADI 5 star IDCs.
Click the following for: Bohol’s PADI dive centres
El Nido, Palawan
A popular backpacker destination, El Nido consists of incredible limestone cliffs and crystal-clear waters and is a great place for easy diving with beautiful coral reefs and great underwater life including macro life, schools of fish and even the odd sea turtle.
On the PADI website, there are 6 dive shops/resorts here, 1 being a PADI 5 star IDC.
Click the following for: El Nido’s PADI dive centres
Coron, Palawan
Another popular backpacker destination, Coron is most known worldwide for its awesome wreck diving, with eleven WW2 wrecks on offer all with varying depths. Also, Barracuda lake offers a very unique diving experience due to its mixture of warm volcanic salt waters and colder freshwater.
A highly recommended diving spot to note just outside, though accessible from Coron, is the stunning Apo Reef.
On the PADI website, there are 5 dive shops in Coron. 1 being a PADI 5 star IDC.
Click the following for: Coron’s PADI dive centres
Puerto Galera, Mindoro
Lap up in luxury in this diving town within the island of Mindoro. Puerto Galera is famous for being a natural harbour with a wide variety of diving terrain: reef, muck you name it. The Verde Islands are accessible from here and are known to have some of the richest biodiversity of marine life in the whole of the Philippines.
On the PADI website, there are 14 dive shops/resorts here. 3 are PADI 5 star IDC and 1 is a PADI 5 star CDC.
Click the following for: Puerto Galera’s PADI dive centres
Dauin, Negros
A muck diving lover’s paradise. Dauin is the place to go the wide selection of macro life the Philippines really has to offer and hand in hand great for macro photographers. A small town concentrating only on diving, this place is mainly known for its highest quality diving schools in the Philippines.
On the PADI website, there are 5 dive shops/resorts here. With 1 PADI 5 star IDC and 3 PADI 5 star CDCs.
Click the following for: Dauin’s PADI dive centres