There are dive days you enjoy, and there are dive days that mean something. This one managed to be both.
To mark PADI Women’s Dive Day, every woman who joined us at LLV Divers dove for free — and the reefs of Puerto Galera turned on a show worth celebrating. But the day wasn’t only about the diving. Between dives, our divers rolled up their sleeves for a Dive Against Debris clean-up beneath the surface, followed by a beach clean-up along the shoreline, removing rubbish from both the water and the sand.
It was a reminder of something we believe deeply at Lalaguna Villas: the best divers don’t just visit the ocean, they look after it.
What is PADI Women’s Dive Day?
PADI Women’s Dive Day is a global celebration held each year to bring women in the diving community together — from first-time divers trying scuba for the first time to seasoned instructors with thousands of logged dives. Around the world, dive centres host events, courses and fun dives designed to welcome more women into the sport and to celebrate those already part of it.
Diving has never been a men’s-only pursuit, and days like this make that visible. For anyone who has ever wondered whether the underwater world is for them, the answer is simple: it absolutely is.
Diving against debris in the Verde Island Passage
The waters off Puerto Galera sit within the Verde Island Passage — often described as the centre of the centre of marine biodiversity, home to more species of shorefish per unit area than anywhere else on Earth. It is a genuinely special place to dive, and that is exactly why protecting it matters.
Dive Against Debris is PADI’s citizen-science programme that turns recreational divers into ocean protectors. Rather than simply picking up litter, divers record what they find — the type of debris, how much, and where — and submit it to a global database that scientists and policymakers use to understand and tackle marine pollution at its source.
In practice, it means a dive with a purpose. You explore a beautiful reef, and you leave it cleaner than you found it. Every bottle, wrapper and stray piece of fishing line removed is one less hazard for the turtles, nudibranchs and reef fish that make these waters so extraordinary.
Small actions, real impact
It is easy to feel that ocean conservation is too big a problem for one person to affect. A single clean-up dive quietly proves otherwise. Multiply one afternoon’s effort across a community of divers, across a diving season, across every dive centre running the same programme around the world, and the difference becomes very real.
That is the spirit behind everything we do at LLV Divers. As an ANAHAW-certified sustainable dive resort, marine stewardship isn’t a one-day event for us — it runs through how we operate year-round, from the way we brief divers to the conservation initiatives we support in Puerto Galera.
How you can join a conservation dive in Puerto Galera
You don’t need to be an expert, or to wait for a special occasion, to dive with purpose. Whether you’re a certified diver looking to give something back or someone considering learning to dive for the first time, there’s a place for you on the reef.
- Already certified? Ask us about joining a Dive Against Debris clean-up dive during your stay, or add the Dive Against Debris specialty to your logbook.
- New to diving? Start with a Discover Scuba Diving experience or a PADI Open Water course, and you’ll be reef-ready in a matter of days.
- Want to go further? Our range of PADI courses can take you all the way from your first breath underwater to dive professional.
To everyone who joined us for Women’s Dive Day — thank you. Your enthusiasm, teamwork and commitment to protecting our oceans are exactly what the day is about, and we’re already looking forward to celebrating with even more of you next year.
The ocean gives divers so much. Days like this are a chance to give a little back.
Ready to dive with purpose in Puerto Galera? Get in touch with the LLV Divers team to plan your next dive.