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My Philippine Diving Experience
My name is Laura, and I am a 20 years old girl from Norway. Approximately a year ago I decided I wanted to travel and do something completely different. As I had tried driving before and fallen in love with this beautiful activity I decided I wanted to spend some time becoming a dive master. I started thinking about where to go and decided on Asia, I had never been
there and wanted to see this continent with my own eyes. So then where in Asia? As I was travelling all on my own I wanted to go somewhere where the English level was good, and after hearing a Filipino friend of mine praising the country and the people, and having seen some photos I decided it was the place to go. I researched different locations on the net and ended on Cebu, as I am a city girl and thought it might be to big a culture shock to move to a tiny island (like Apo Island which has magnificent diving but houses a population of around 3-400). From the diving locations in Cebu I decided Scottys Dive Centre sounded like they had the best offer, and they had a reliable website as well as writing me polite e-mails back. So then it was all decided: It would be Scottys in Mactan, Cebu,Philippines.
I left home nervous and excited on May 1st not really knowing what to expect. At the airport Bernil the manager met me in his signature white beetle and took me out for a meal, Yohann my future room mate and now soon to be dive master also joined us. Settling in that night I listened to all the strange sounds around me and tried to relax and not worry so much about practical things like where I would live and so on. It turned out there was nothing to worry about at all, the staff took me in
as one of them, and treated almost like family. The hospitality that the Philippines is famous for is not overrated. Also the gang at Scottys had such a nice relaxed attitude towards life, they are always (ok not always, but mostly) smiling. From this I learned a lot and it helped me get the confidence to get through my internship.
Diving is about enjoying yourself not about winning a competition. Those months were completely different from anything I have ever experienced before. I have become more relaxed, confident and happier. Hopefully I will also pick up a thing or to about the hospitability they showed me.
Also, there is such a variety of things to see in the ocean there, I have learned a lot about fish now! When I first came I knew nothing at all, but now I know for example that to check which way the tide is going all you have to do is see what direction the fish is facing. (They face towards the current as it brings them food). This again has made me more environmentally aware. Underlining the importance of taking care of such an important part of the ecosystem; our reefs. Ruined reefs = less fish and less plankton, again affecting us. Without the reefs we don`t have enough oxygen to breathe. There are different reasons for why corals are ruined. Some may have heard of the massive coral bleaching which has now occurred in the Great Barrier Reef Australia, believed to be due to global warming.
In the Phillippies now they are working to make more marine sanctuaries.
Anyway enough hippie-talk from me. All in all I had an amazing time, made many new friends, and have not regretted my choice of undertaking this experience for a minute.
My thanks and best of wishes to all of the staff at Scottys Dive centre. |
| Scuba News |
| “Scotty's Dive Centre in Boracay ” |
Scotty's Dive Centre will be opening up a seasports center inside a 5-star resort on Boracay Island mid-next year (July 2008).
Positions available:
* Instructors (EFR and EANx specialty instructors)
* Assistant Instructors
* Sales counter staff
* Boat captain
* Boat crew
* Accounting staff
* Compressor staff
* Administrative staff
Requirements: Applicants must be able to converse and write in English. No long hair (for men), piercing and visible tattoos. Physical fitness and a tidy appearance is important. Computer literacy is an advantage.
Foreign applicants must provide their own employment VISA.
Send application letter, CV and picture to dive@divescotty.com. Do not send an e-mail with a size that's more than 250kb.
Subject: Job for Boracay |
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| "Richest Marine Park " |
| The Tubbataha Reefs in Sulu Sea, Philippines is considered as the world's richest bio-geographic area. Derived from two Samal words meaning, "long reef exposed at a low tide", Tubbataha was declared as the country's first national marine park in 1988. The marine park covers 33,200 hectares and contains what is believed to be the world's largest grouping of marine life, per unit area. Scientists claimed that more than 300 coral species, and at least 40 families and 379 species of fish were recorded in the area. Among the species identified in the area were manta rays, sea turtles, sharks, tuna, dolphins and jackfish. In 1993, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed Tubbataha Reefs as a world heritage site. |
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| Testimonial |
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| Isabella and Matthew Shum |
On 18th July, 2007, we joined Scotty's Action for two boat dives heading to Olango Islands. The services provided by Scotty's Action is great! While most dive shops would not set up the equipment for divers, they have prepared everything which saved our energy so we could just enjoy the diving!
The two dive site we went to are Hilutungan Sanctuary and Talima. It was simply amazing - the visiability is 14-16 meters which makes everything so clear and we could swim with bat fish, view sea stars and even the lovely clown fish. The corals are so beautiful and we would never forget such spectacular views in our life. We went diving in different sites before but It was the first time we had experienced such a dynamic marine life! :) The dive instructor - Alfredo, the dive master - Mark, as well as the captain - Rual, from the Scotty's Action are very professional and friendly. They always took care of us and made sure we're okay all the times. They even took photos for us when we didn't know so we could show our friends such memorable moments. At last, we must say thanks to Bernil from Scotty's Action for introducing us to dive in these two amazing dive sites! We certainly would come back to dive again very soon! |
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| Something’s Fishy |
| We Found Nemo! |
 The Clown Anemonefish can be recognised by its orange colour with three white bars (the middle bar usually has a rounded bulge anteriorly) and black markings on the fins.
This species grows to 8 cm in length and feeds on algae and zooplankton. It usually lives in the tentacles of two species of sea anemone. In sheltered inshore reefs it lives in Stichodactyla gigantea, and on outer reefs it usually lives in Heteractis magnifica.
The Clown Anemonefish is found in depths from 1 m to 12 m. It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Philippines. |
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| What’s New? |
 PADI eLearning - Dive courses on the internet.
PADI eLearning is an innovative new program designed to make training easier and more efficient. Designed with the busy diver in mind, eLearning provides interactive diver education on the Internet, accessibility anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, immediate feedback, virtual modelling simulations and video clips, all at a pace controlled by the diver.
Sign Up for the PADI Open Water Diver Course Online |
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| Kid's Corner |
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Tristan Kaito Livingston
Scotty's Youngest Staff
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| Scott's Mosaic |
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| Scotty's Family |
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