PADI · Try diving, no experience needed
Try scuba diving in Dauin: PADI Discover Scuba Diving
Your first breath underwater, in the gentlest place we know to take it: a pool first, then a beach where you can stand on the sand and walk slowly out to the reef. About three to four hours with a PADI Instructor, from age 10, near Dumaguete. PHP 3,500 with all equipment.
At a glance
Discover Scuba Diving in Dauin at a glance
- Time: about three to four hours. We run try dives through the day; the last start is normally 2 PM. A short online introduction with PADI beforehand, no exams.
- Price: PHP 3,500 per person, including all equipment, the pool session, your PADI Instructor and one dive on our house reef.
- Where: our pool at the dive centre, then Dauin North, the house reef, entered from the sandy beach about 50 metres away.
- Depth: PADI limits a try dive to 12 metres; most first dives here stay well above that, on the gentle slope between the beach and the reef.
- Group: one or two guests per PADI Instructor, beside you in the water from the pool to the reef.
- Age: from 10. No certification, licence or experience needed.
- Swimming: there is no swim test; you need to be comfortable in the water. If you are nervous, tell us, and we take it slower.
- Counts towards certification: if you go on to the PADI Open Water course, the skills and dive you did can be credited to it.
- Languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Filipino.
- When: most days of the year, arranged around your dates. Tell us when you are in Dauin.
Why Dauin
A first dive should start where you can stand up
Most try dives in the Philippines happen from a boat: a backward roll into open water, a descent on a line, and a lot to take in before you have taken your first calm breath. Dauin is different, and it is the reason we think this coast is one of the best places in the country to try diving for the first time.
Our house reef, Dauin North, is a protected marine sanctuary that begins at a sandy beach fifty metres from the dive centre. The volcanic sand slopes away gently, so you walk in, stand waist-deep, put your face in the water and breathe from the regulator with your feet on the bottom. When that feels normal, and only then, you kneel, then float, then follow your instructor slowly down the slope towards the reef, which starts in a few metres of water. At any point you can stand up or surface. There is no boat, no ladder, no drop-off and, on most days, very little movement in the water.
That matters more than anything else about a first dive. A first time that is rushed, rough or frightening can put someone off diving for life; a first time that is calm and unhurried is usually the start of a long love affair with the sea. We will not compromise it. If you need longer in the pool, you get longer in the pool. If the sea is not right on the day, we wait for a better moment rather than make do.
And the reef itself is worth the walk: Dauin North has recorded more than 560 fish species. On a typical first dive you meet clownfish in their anemones, shoals of small reef fish, nudibranchs, and often a frogfish or an octopus that your instructor finds for you. Turtles are never promised, but they do pass through.
What about Apo Island?
Apo Island is a world-class reef, and people often ask to do their try dive there. Our honest answer: about nine in ten people get far more out of their first dive in Dauin. The conditions are simply better, you see the same fish, and there is a good chance of turtles on the house reef too. We never run a first Discover Scuba dive at Apo, even though we could charge a good deal more for it.
Here is what tends to happen otherwise. A first-timer books Apo, an instructor spends the whole day with them, and they have to jump in from the boat into open sea, with waves, current and the boat moving under them. Many feel panic before they have even gone under, call the dive off, and go home having spent a lot of money on a bad memory. We would much rather you have a good first dive; it matters to us. So start on the sand in Dauin, and if you feel good and comfortable there, we will happily take you to Apo for your second, third or fourth dive when the forecast allows.
Your morning
How a try dive goes
- Before you come: register for Discover Scuba Diving with PADI at learning.padi.com/dsd (that link is for our centre): a short online introduction to how diving works, the PADI forms and the diver medical questionnaire. Answer the medical questions honestly: a yes to any of them means a doctor has to sign the form before you can dive, which is easy to arrange at home and hard on the morning itself, so do it a few days ahead.
- Briefing, about 30 minutes: your instructor explains how the equipment works, how breathing underwater feels, how to equalise your ears, and the few hand signals you need. No test.
- Pool session: you get used to breathing from the regulator with your face in the water, clearing a little water from your mask, finding your regulator if it slips out, and floating under control. You repeat anything you like until it feels easy.
- The dive: a short walk to the beach, into the water from the sand, and a slow descent down the slope to the reef with your instructor within arm’s reach. A first dive usually lasts 20 to 30 minutes, at a depth your instructor chooses for you, never deeper than 12 metres.
- Afterwards: rinse off, a coffee on our terrace, and a chat about what you saw and what comes next, if you want more.
Nervous? Say so. Most people are, and the slow start on the sand is designed for exactly that. You decide the pace, and you can stop at any point.
Price
PHP 3,500 per person, everything included
- Included: your PADI Instructor, the briefing and pool session, all scuba equipment including a wetsuit, and one dive on the Dauin house reef with its sanctuary fee.
- Not included: a second Discover Scuba dive in Dauin the same day (PHP 2,500), transport to Dauin if you are staying elsewhere (a private car from Dumaguete is PHP 1,200 each way), and meals.
- Paying: cash in pesos, Wise, GCash, or PayPal and Maya with about 5% added for their fees. Bank transfer on request.
- Booking: register with PADI (the second button below takes you to our centre’s page), tell us your dates and we confirm your slot by email. No deposit. Try dives run most days, with starts through the day; the last start is normally 2 PM.
Register from your phone
Scan to open Discover Scuba Diving for Bongo Bongo Divers in the PADI app (it offers the app if you do not have it yet). On any other device, use the Register with PADI button above or go to learning.padi.com/dsd. It covers the short online introduction, the PADI forms and the medical questionnaire, so there is nothing to fill in on the morning.
If you love it
From a try dive to a certified diver
Discover Scuba Diving is an experience, not a certification: you dive with an instructor and you cannot dive on your own afterwards. If it clicks, the natural next step is the PADI Open Water Diver course, your first full certification, taught here from the same beach over three to four days for PHP 22,500. The pool skills and the dive you did today can be credited towards it, so nothing is repeated for the sake of it.
Many people who try diving with us on day one of their holiday are certified by the end of the week. If that might be you, tell us when you book and we will keep the days free rather than guess.
Who looks after you
A PADI Instructor, in the water with you
Every try dive is led by one of our PADI Instructors, in the water beside you from the pool to the reef. Bongo Bongo Divers is a PADI 5 Star Career Development Center, the rating PADI gives to centres that train instructors, and our team includes a PADI Course Director and Master Instructors who have been teaching here since 2012. We are also one of the few PADI Eco Centers in the Philippines and a Green Fins member, which shapes how we behave on the reef and what we ask of you: fins off the coral, hands to yourself, and a slow pace that lets the animals carry on with their day.
Oxygen and a first-aid kit are kept at the dive centre, a few steps from the beach, and Dauin has its own hyperbaric chamber. Read more about how we keep you safe.
Before you book
Who can try diving
- Age: 10 and over. Children aged 10 to 11 dive to a maximum of 12 metres; in practice a first dive here is shallower than that for everyone.
- Health: everyone completes the PADI diver medical questionnaire when registering online. Answer it honestly: if any answer is yes, a doctor needs to sign the form before you can dive, so do it before you travel rather than on the day.
- In the water: no swim test, but you should be comfortable in water over your head. Tell us if you are not a strong swimmer and we plan the dive accordingly.
- Flying: leave at least 12 hours between your dive and a flight, and 18 to 24 hours if you dive more than once.
- Bring: swimwear, a towel and reef-safe sunscreen, with your PADI registration done online. We provide everything else, including the wetsuit.
Questions
Try-dive questions, answered
Do I need to know how to swim to try scuba diving?
There is no swim test for Discover Scuba Diving, but you need to be comfortable in water deeper than you can stand in. The dive starts on sand you can stand on, with your instructor next to you, and you only move deeper when you are ready.
How deep do you go on a first dive?
PADI sets a maximum of 12 metres for a try dive. Most first dives in Dauin stay much shallower, on the slope between the beach and the reef, where there is plenty to see.
What if I panic underwater?
That is exactly why we start on the sand and not from a boat. In the shallows you can stand up; deeper, your instructor is within arm’s reach and you can signal to go up at any time. Almost everyone who feels nervous at the start is relaxed within a few minutes of calm breathing.
Can children try diving?
Yes, from age 10, with the same pool session and a shallow dive. A parent is welcome to try at the same time. Tell us the ages when you book so we plan the group around them.
Can I do a second dive the same day?
Often, yes, if time and conditions allow. A second Discover Scuba dive in Dauin is PHP 2,500. Tell us when you book and we plan the day around it.
Can I try diving at Apo Island?
Not as a first dive, and our honest advice is to do your try dive in Dauin: nine in ten people get more out of it, with the same fish and a good chance of turtles in calmer water. First-timers who go straight to Apo often panic when they jump from the boat into waves and current, call the dive off, and lose the day and the money. Once you have shown you are comfortable in Dauin, we are glad to take you to Apo for your second, third or fourth dive when the forecast is right.
Do I get a certificate?
Discover Scuba Diving is an experience rather than a certification, so you cannot dive on your own afterwards. PADI records your participation, and the skills and dive can be credited towards the Open Water course if you continue.
Where exactly is it, and how do I get there from Dumaguete?
At our dive centre in Dauin, on the coast about 45 minutes south of Dumaguete Airport. We can book a private car for PHP 1,200 each way, or see getting to Dauin for the other options. Staying with us? Our rooms are a short walk from the beach.
How do I book a try dive?
Send us your dates through the trip planner or by email, register for Discover Scuba Diving on PADI’s page for our centre (the short online introduction, forms and medical questionnaire), and we confirm your slot. No deposit is needed. Try dives start through the day, normally no later than 2 PM. See how booking works.