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Team: Did and did their best. The base management and your 3 guides are running at full capacity. They do their best, but urgently need support. The two bottle boys and the boat teams are very helpful. They deserve 5 stars for the heart and soul they put into the base.

Rental equipment: We had our equipment with us. I was offered an improvised solution (no Mares material on site) free of charge after a torn fin ligament. Thanks for that.
On the whole, the equipment could do with some love or is getting on in years. In the two weeks on site we experienced two incidents on the red boat when a rented piece of equipment gave up the ghost. This can happen, but shouldn't.

Diving house reef:
The dive center was presented in great detail.
The check dive was at Exit 6 of the house reef. Since we came from a liveaboard, we were a bit out of place, but we joined in. We were 4 divers + guide. As the 2 other divers didn't have as much experience, they were more in focus. We just dived with them.
In our opinion, diving in general is specially regulated: you can dive independently after a minimum number of dives. House reef or boat dive site doesn't matter. We found it strange at first, but enjoyed the freedom. We usually went with one of the two dongis and dived at a distance after the guide, as we didn't know the sites.
We also went diving on the house reef, where the current can change from exit to exit (strength and direction!). Running back and forth and signing in and out was a bit annoying, but there's no other way to organize it because you have to keep track of everything. The only thing that would enhance the vacation feeling would be if the diving equipment was also taken away after the dive, not just the empty tank.

Boat diving:
There was a red (leisurely) and a blue (current) boat.
The red boat usually goes to places with less current. Always positive entry, comfortable diving. We preferred this type of diving and still saw sharks, eagle rays and beautiful corals/reef fish.
The blue boat goes to the channels at the edge of the atoll with more current. Always negative entry. We were only on the boat once because we didn't like the concept. The entry is always negative, in our opinion, the atmosphere is artificially action/nervous. Compared to the diving safari (many channel dives WITHOUT negative entry), it was not as relaxed and we also noticed that some divers missed the edges. If you need the thrill...or spend almost 100 dollars only to see nothing in the second or third row... To each his own, it wasn't ours.
But there was another reason we chose the red boat. There were no reef hooks to use. All divers who didn't have hooks had to hold on to the reef edges with their hands. Some divers came back with coral entanglement. In our opinion, this is not sustainable for the dive sites and the reef.
We also find it bad that during the checkdive we are told to simply hold on to the reef when the current is running. Some divers can't tell the difference between rock and stony coral and see this statement as an invitation to touch everything. This is how you slowly ruin your dive sites.

Dive sites:
We can only speak of the red boat sites. Often you could see the high water temperatures on the reefs, unfortunately you will have to get used to this sight in the future. However, 2-3 reefs were beautiful.

Boats:
The diving dongis are functional and equipped with a maximum of 12 divers + 1 guide. This can be cramped, but you get used to it. No toilets available. 4 divers can book an accompanied dive, the others dive on their own. Max. 60min or 60bar including safety stop.

Price:
We didn't find the price/performance ratio very good if you hadn't booked in advance.
All in all, a dive costs 132 dollars in the worst case (single dive, guide, boat dive + rental equipment).
That is quite a lot for what is on offer. If you want to do more than 1 dive per day over 6 or more days, it is best to pre-book non-limit diving. Optimal with your own equipment.
Non-limit diving can be quite a lot of walking if you only dive on the house reef. If you also dive twice by boat, it becomes a time and logistical challenge to fit in the 3 or 4 dives between the boat trip and dinner. For this reason, we only did two dives per day.

Conclusion:
On the whole, we were disappointed with the dive center. The price/performance ratio is not right and the idea that you should just stick to the reef is no longer in keeping with the times. The main thing is that the cash flow is right.
It's not the fault of the team on site, there are simply too many divers and not enough staff. Dive sites are okay, 2-3 beautiful reefs.

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The dive center left me with a very mixed impression. The friendliness / customer orientation left a lot to be desired.
One of the experienced dive guides in particular was not convincing (e.g. swimming against a strong current for no apparent reason, going too deep for too long without seeing anything).
Price/performance is not right for me. I don't understand why you have to pay an additional US$ 1 for the tank at a price of US$ 84/day (in a 10-pack).

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Stellungnahme von Wedive
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The dive center is very helpful. Nice people there. Equipment is available to hire. We even used the diving scooters.
How should you rate the dive sites, there is a large selection. Unfortunately, we had poor visibility, so the dive sites may not seem so great if you can hardly see them... in general, there are dive sites for all levels of experience.
The house reef is also beautiful, with two wrecks. There are sharks and rays. You usually only dive on the west side. The other side, which is still diveable, is less worthwhile as you don't necessarily make it around the bend due to the current and don't want to swim out to the edge of the reef forever only to realize that the current won't let you dive far.... Well, you'll find out. Boats go out every day if the house reef gets too boring.
The prices for a full tank and weights are quite inexplicable. The prices for rental equipment are ok.

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Very well run diving school with international diving instructors. Top service. Rental equipment is well maintained.

Top house reef. 1 boat for more challenging drift dives and 1 boat for easy dives.

Very friendly team. Well organized.

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Well organized dive centre, very nice house reef. When diving from the boat, there is a fresh towel and coconut snacks after every dive. You can follow the guide, but you can also do your own thing, which I really like.

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Unfortunately, they didn't really care about the divers here, although the dives are really anything but cheap. Statements like: In an hour you have to be back on the surface, then the boat will pick you up, I find a little strange.

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Mateja, the leader, is suuuuuper! Very helpful and nice. The CH guides seem rather inexperienced...:

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Stellungnahme von WeDive
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Why only four stars for the dive sites.
I have already seen some therefore it has not quite convinced me. Fish abundance good even some big fish but the color richness has been missing to me. Maybe it is but also whining at a high level from me.
The price level is high a dive for 75€ + 15€ boat is crisp.
Taster course with guide about 1 hour 130€.

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Well run base. The base manager is very committed and takes care of (almost) everything. The organization is clearly structured. Guides explain all dive sites and procedures very neatly. Unfortunately we had a lot of waves and therefore a few failures during the boat trips.

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Partial report about the dive sites already above.
The dive center, the equipment and the guides are great. If you dive at the house reef, the diving equipment is transported by the staff by handcart to the entrances.
The guides are professional and very friendly.
Only the base management could use some support. One person is just a little bit less. But everything has always worked out.

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Due to the high number of divers in our travel time, there were bottlenecks in the registration for the boats the next day. To stand in a queue half an hour before the boat lists are posted is not possible.
Not having enough boats in the main season is an organizational failure. Especially when diving packages are pre-booked and you don't get on the boat you want.
Some of the dive guides have only been on the island for half a year.
Strong currents at the dive sites occur, but are then misjudged due to the lack of many years of experience of the dive guides on the island, at the dive sites on site.

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Our opinion about the dive center is unfortunately very split. Diving at a Werner Lau dive center requires some expectations, which unfortunately were far from being met.
Initially, it was very difficult to get information and the reception was anything but friendly, mainly from the Deputy Base Manager Jaq. We as young divers (26 years) did not feel taken seriously at all and also not welcome. The guides we were diving with most often (Markus and Beat) were super nice and helpful as well as the compressor boys.
The house reef offers a lot due to the length of the island, including two wrecks that are also about 30m. The house reef can be dived on two sides and is really recommended (especially early morning & night dives).
The dives from the boat are divided into beginners (red boat) and advanced (blue boat, min. 40 dives). It is extremely important to know that for the blue boat a Nitrox course is required, otherwise you will not be taken along. The dives from the blue boat are very deep and always with a lot of current. But attention! Here no drifts are dived but always against the current! Gloves and a current hook are recommended.
The dives from the red boat are often very boring, there is little to see and are overcrowded.
Dives on site are very expensive, so it is best to book everything online. Renting the equipment on site as well. If you don't book anything in advance and don't have any equipment with you, you will pay $110 for one dive.
The best time to dive on Filitheyo is end of January to April (at least that's what we were told on site).

All in all, the dive center is okay.

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The dive sites are only rated as satisfactory because at the time of travel in December 2020 the visibility was poor. This was especially true for the boat dives in the interior of the atoll, which were ultimately not worth it. There was more to see at the house reef.

The staff in the dive center especially from the bottle shuttle was very nice and helpful. The bottle shuttle to the house reef was well organized. But the fact that you had to carry your stuff back to the base by yourself was not so good because of the long way. In my opinion, it would be better if there were baskets at the entrances and exits where you could put your jacket and weights, so that the things stay together and are brought to the base by the shuttle service.
Ropes to the beach would facilitate the exit at some exits (especially 2 and 3).

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Dive Center:
after the EcoBluue tour we did not know if we will dive much more on Filitheyo.
We have made 10 TG and the prices on site are steep, Housereef 71$, Boatstrip 86$.
The prices were from "Unlimited 6 Days Packet".
On the Dhoni there was a guide for about 10 - 12 divers, it was dived unguided. For 86$ per TG really little service!
The dives in the channels were always with current, from moderate to strong, mostly relatively deep (25-30m) and therefore the fun was already over after 30-45 min. For 86$ a little little.
We both have about 700TG, for us diving with current was therefore no problem, less experienced divers were mostly after 30 minutes back in the dhoni.
One dive guide (Markus) felt like a combat diver and is therefore rather not suitable as a dive guide!
His dive briefing also included info's on what to see at 35m. For Nitrox divers already over the limit and Nitrox was used by 90% of the divers.
The rest of the dive guides were good and friendly, the compressor crew was always in a good mood and helpful.
The dives in the atoll were good.
Housereef is still worth some dives, good markings for entry and exit.


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Solid dive center, great house reef. Unfortunately no manta rays to observe, not even by boat tour. Advance booking of the TG is worthwhile in terms of price.

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I am CMAS TL3. My wife CMAS 4*
1. The check dive went to 33,2m. Strong current. No check was performed.
2. we dived autonomously. OK
3. at Cannel TG it was noticed that the dive guide accompanying us surfaced very far about 100m away from us. Dive depth: 46,2 (Filitheyo Tila)
Help with problems -- impossible.
4. boats and base - TOP


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Underwater scooter is a must

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The dive center unfortunately does not have the same high quality as Werner Lau in Marsa Alam. There are a few good dive guides, but the rental equipment has major flaws. Within one week the mouthpieces of two regulators came off during the dive and the 1st stage was really shot off by turning on the compressed air bottle, because the thread was already so rusty. The center management changes frequently, which is probably due to internal conflicts. The dive sites were consistently nice, especially the house reef is beautiful.

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Professional diving center, professional staff. There are both the comfortable dives and the drift dives.


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