Intro dive for beginnersPescador scuba day
Two dives, from Cebu
- Youngest age
- 10
- Dives
- Pescador and the sardines
- Price
- from $160
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Guide · Learning to dive
From a first try dive to divemaster in Moalboal
You can breathe underwater at Moalboal without any card, or start a course that ends years later as a dive professional. Here is what each step asks of you, how deep it lets you go and which trips accept beginners.
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Editorial team, moalboal-diving.comUpdated October 22, 20266 minutes to read25 sources
The short version
- 03Beginners on a listing
- One Moalboal listing offers a guided introductory dive, from age 10.
- 04This site's tour
- Its listing states no certification rule, so ask before you book.
Three ways to take your first breath underwater
At Moalboal the first decision is not where but how: a single guided try dive, a short rating that lets you dive with a professional, or a full course that leaves you with a card you can use anywhere. Each step suits a different traveler, and nothing stops you from starting small and carrying on later.
A try dive under PADI's name is called Discover Scuba Diving. It introduces the basics of scuba without certifying you as a diver, and you must be at least 10 years old.21 It is the right choice if you have one free day and simply want to know how it feels to float beside a reef wall with a tank on your back.
The full first certificate is the Open Water Diver course. You enroll from age 10 if you can swim and are in good physical health, and you finish it in three parts: knowledge development, confined water dives and open water dives.38 In between sits the PADI Scuba Diver rating, a shorter step that lets you dive only under the direct supervision of a PADI professional, to 12 m at most.9
The diver's ladder
From first breath to dive professional
-
Age 10 and up
Try dive
Discover Scuba Diving introduces scuba without certifying you.21
-
Short rating
PADI Scuba Diver
You dive only with a PADI professional, to 12 m.9
-
First card
Open Water Diver
Pool skills, then four open water dives over about two days.4
-
Next trip
Advanced Open Water
Five dives, two of them deep diving and navigation.10
-
For others
Rescue Diver
Needs Advanced Open Water or Adventure Diver plus first-aid training.11
-
Age 18
Divemaster
What a try dive at Moalboal involves
A try dive begins on land with a briefing on the equipment, the hand signals and how to clear water from your mask. Then you practice in shallow water before you go anywhere near the reef. PADI sets a limit of 6 m for the first session in a pool and 12 m if you add the optional open water dive, and adds that you never have to go that deep.12 On a good day your guide keeps you shallow, where the colors are brightest anyway.
Other agencies run their own version. SSI Try Scuba starts at age 8, with one academic session and one pool or confined water session and a maximum training depth of 5 m.13 For younger children PADI has Bubblemaker, from age 8, in water shallower than 2 m and under the direct supervision of a PADI professional.14 Neither is a sea dive with the sardines, but both are a gentle first meeting with the equipment.
Among the Moalboal day trips on GetYourGuide, one says plainly that guests without a diving license can try scuba through a guided introductory dive with a professional instructor, and that the minimum age for diving is 10. Another says it is open to first-time and licensed divers. This site's own tour lists a diving instructor and the diving equipment as included but states no certification rule, so write to the operator before you book if you have never dived.
Side by side
The first levels compared
| Level | Youngest age | Deepest | Certifies you |
|---|---|---|---|
| PADI try dive | 10 | 12 m | No |
| SSI Try Scuba | 8 | 5 m | No |
| PADI Scuba Diver | 10 | 12 m, supervised | Yes |
| Open Water Diver | 10 | 18 m | Yes |
| Advanced Open Water | 12 | 30 m | Yes |
| Divemaster | 18 | Set by earlier cards | Yes, professional |
Youngest ages and adult depth limits as PADI and SSI publish them; junior divers have lower limits.11213935156
Three ways to begin
Trips that take a first-time diver
Intro dive for beginners
First-timers welcomeScuba and turtle snorkel
A day trip from Cebu
- Open to
- New and licensed divers
- Hours
- 11
- Price
- from $126
Leave with a cardPADI Open Water course
On Mactan Island
- Course length
- 2 to 3 days
- Youngest age
- 10
- Price
- from $421
Decision helper
Which first step fits your trip?
Start from the time and the goal you have
Accredited dive establishment are required to take all dive tours (single or multiple divers) on their first dive an orientation dive in a quiet, shallow and safe area to familiarize the diver/s with the dive site, dive master as well as the emergency procedures.
The Open Water course, step by step
Before any course you fill in a short medical questionnaire. If any condition on it applies to you, a doctor must assess it and sign a form confirming you are fit to dive.17 Do this at home if you can: a doctor's signature is far easier to get before the trip than in a beach town. Be honest on the form, since it exists for your safety and nobody else's.
The confined water part is where you learn the skills: clearing a flooded mask, sharing air with a buddy, controlling your buoyancy. A full PADI Open Water course includes 5 such pool sessions.18 SSI's Open Water Diver plan lists six academic sessions, six pool or confined water sessions and four open water sessions, from age 10.19 The names differ, but the skills you leave with are much the same.
Then you go to sea. With your instructor you make four open water dives, usually over two days.4 On Cebu one GetYourGuide listing sells the full PADI Open Water course on Mactan Island, with a minimum age of 10 and a course that takes 2 to 3 days. It is not in Moalboal, but it lets you arrive on the west coast already certified and spend your Moalboal days on fun dives rather than skill drills.
Checklist
Before your first dive
01
At home
- Answer the medical questionnaire honestly
- Get a doctor's form signed if a condition applies
- Leave a gap of 12 to 18 hours before your flight home20
02
On the day
- Ask which certificate, if any, the trip needs
- Skip the dive if you have a cold or blocked sinuses
- Stay close to your instructor on the first dive
Price check
A first dive day for your group
Pick a trip and the number of divers
People
Total from$320
from, per person $160
Check availabilityfree cancellationSums multiply a trip's starting GetYourGuide price per diver by your group size and convert it with today's European Central Bank rate; your exact total appears when you book.
Video
How to Get Scuba Certified
The clip loads from YouTube only once you tap play.
How deep each certificate lets you go
PADI dive depth limits are simple once you see them side by side. A newly certified Open Water Diver is trained to a maximum of 18 m, or to the depth reached on the training dives if that was shallower.5 The PADI Scuba Diver rating stops at 12 m, always with a professional beside you.9 A try dive stays within 12 m in open water.12
Children have their own limits. Junior Open Water Divers aged 10 and 11 must dive with a PADI professional or a certified parent or guardian, and no deeper than 12 m.21 From 12 to 14 they must dive with a certified adult, and the limit rises to 18 m.22 If you travel with a child who wants to dive, those two rules decide what the family can do together.
Advanced Open Water opens deeper water. It needs the Open Water certificate first; the junior version starts at 12 with a limit of 21 m for ages 12 to 14, and the adult version starts at 15 with a limit of 30 m.15 At Moalboal much of the life sits shallow, along the top of the reef, so depth is rarely the point; comfort and good buoyancy are what make a dive here enjoyable.
From Advanced Open Water to divemaster in Moalboal
Advanced Open Water is five dives: two required ones, deep diving and underwater navigation, and three more that you choose from what the local sea offers.10 It suits a later trip, when the first certificate feels familiar and a little more depth or a night dive sounds tempting.
Rescue Diver comes next for those who want to look after others. It asks for Adventure Diver with a completed underwater navigation dive or Advanced Open Water, plus Emergency First Response training within 24 months, and starts at 12 for the junior rating and 15 for the full one.11 It changes how you watch your buddy on every dive after it.
Divemaster is the first professional level, and the step people mean when they search for a divemaster in Moalboal. You need to be 18, have 40 logged dives and medical clearance from a physician within the past 12 months to start, and 60 logged dives to earn the rating.67 A divemaster can lead certified divers on guided dives and assist PADI instructors in training.6 Training with PADI in Moalboal at that level means living by the reef for weeks, not days.
Rules that look after a new diver here
Diving in the Philippines has its own regulator. A 2007 presidential order directed the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving to regulate dive establishments and the activities of dive professionals.23 Under the Tourism Act of 2009 that commission sits with the Department of Tourism and is tasked with basic dive rules and the safety of the sport, including accredited dive establishments.24
Its rules also shape your first day in the water. Accredited dive establishments must take every dive tour on an orientation dive first, in a quiet, shallow and safe area, so divers get to know the site, the dive master and the emergency procedures.16 So expect your first dive with any accredited shop to stay gentle and shallow, and welcome it rather than rush it.
Your own body sets limits too. Divers Alert Network advises that it is always best not to dive with a cold or anything that may block the sinus passages.25 It recommends at least 12 hours before flying after a single no-decompression dive, and 18 hours after several dives in a day or several days of diving.20 Plan your Moalboal dives early in the trip, and keep the last day for snorkeling instead.
Plan your dive
A private dive day at Moalboal
Hotel pickup across Cebu, an instructor, the gear and Pescador snorkeling.
You ask,we answer.
Do I need a certificate to dive at Moalboal?
Not for a try dive. PADI's Discover Scuba Diving needs no card, and one Moalboal listing offers a guided introductory dive to guests without a license.2
What is the minimum age for a first dive?
10 for a PADI try dive. SSI Try Scuba starts at 8 and PADI Bubblemaker at 8, in very shallow water.11314
How many dives does Open Water take?
Four in open water. After the pool sessions you make four open water dives with your instructor, usually over two days.4
How deep may a new diver go?
18 m with Open Water. A new Open Water Diver is trained to 18 m at most; a PADI Scuba Diver to 12 m with a professional.59
Does this site's tour accept beginners?
Its listing does not say. It includes a diving instructor and the equipment but names no certification rule, so ask the operator first.
How many dives before divemaster?
40 to start, 60 to finish. You also need to be 18 and medically cleared within the past 12 months.67
When can I fly after diving?
12 to 18 hours later. DAN suggests 12 hours after one dive and 18 hours after several dives or days of diving.20
Sources
The sources for this guide
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- 16Supreme Court E-Library (Philippines)PCSSD Rules and Regulations Governing the Accreditation of Sports Scuba Diving Establishments in the Philippines (DOT, April 10, 2003)↩
- 17↩
- 18↩
- 19↩
- 20Divers Alert NetworkFlying After Diving↩
- 21↩
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- 23The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law FoundationMemorandum Order No. 275, November 23, 2007↩
- 24The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law FoundationRepublic Act No. 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009)↩
- 25Divers Alert NetworkSinus Barotrauma↩
