‘Diving with LLV in Puerto Galera has been my best dive experience’
LLV returning guest Kyle Smith, from Tulsa USA, says diving with LLV in Puerto Galera has been the best experience of his more than 400 dives all over the world.
“My experience here has been fantastic. You’ve got a great mix of muck and reef, which, some of the other areas I’ve been to have one or the other but not a good mix of both
“The staff is fantastic, everyone has treated me well. The thing that shocked me on my last trip here, and this time too, is the ratios of staff to guests.
“This last dive I went on, this afternoon, there was myself, one of your divemasters – Aiu – and two divemaster interns – where can you get better dive guiding numbers than that?! The diving has been just fantastic.
“The restaurant has been really good too. The pizza is great, and there’s a crispy chicken burger which is very tasty.
“I have an omelette every day for breakfast, which is delicious – you’ve got to have protein to fuel up for your diving!”
Above: some of Kyle’s photos taken in Puerto Galera
Kyle, who has been diving for seven years, says Montani – a shallow muck diving site in the channel between Sabang and San Antonio Island – is his favourite location.
“They’re all so good but if I had to pick, Montrani is one of my absolute favourites – because you can spend an hour, my last dive was close to 70 minutes and we could have stayed down another 15 or 20 minutes.
“My max depth on that dive was 25 feet, but we spent a long time doing what Jamie [LLV Staff Instructor Jamie Morten] calls ‘treasure hunting’
“We saw all sorts, flamboyant cuttlefish, and we saw a little dragonet, they’re so cool. So from a muck diving perspective that was fantastic.
“We didn’t find any seahorses this time, but last time, Ja [LLV Staff Instructor Ja Atienza] found probably 12, fifteen seahorses all on that one site – I call her the seahorse whisperer, she was finding them everywhere.
“I haven’t done Verde yet on this trip, but last time I was here we did Verde, that was fantastic.
Octopus, frogfish and shrimp captured on film on recent dives with LLV
Retired software consultant Kyle has over 400 dives, mainly in the Caribbean which is a short flight from his native Tulsa.
He regularly goes on trips organised by his local dive shop – they’re headed off for Indonesia in November and he has also enjoyed Dumaguette in the Philippines.
“Apo Island, off Dumaguette, was incredible, but the reef closer to shore was not as good as the reef here in Puerto,” he said.
“Honestly, of places I’ve been, I would say Puerto Galera is tied for the very top. As far as the mix, that’s the thing that gets me, is that I can do a mix of dives here.
“There’s nice things about other places too, shore diving is fantastic and there’s not as much of that here, but as far as boat diving goes, this is just amazing.
“And you can’t muck dive in the Caribbean, I like macro, I like treasure hunting, and for that, this place is just the very best.”
Kyle’s photos of an eel, a dragonet and a flamboyant cuttlefish taken at (his favourite) Montani dive site.
If you would like to see if you agree with Kyle that this is the best place in the world to dive, please send us an email, give us a call, or go straight to our accommodation page and book yourself in for a getaway at La Laguna Villas for an unforgettably enjoyable stay.
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All interviews featured on the LLV Blog are with paying guests who are not friends or family of LLV management or staff. No payment or discount is offered for interviews or comments.
