The PADI Deep Diver course in Boracay is, for a lot of our certified divers, the best thing they do here. Across four dives you go deeper than you ever have before — to a maximum of 40 metres / 130 feet — while visiting four of the island's greatest sites: the Tribird plane wreck, the Camia II shipwreck, the Punta Bunga drop-off and the legendary Yapak wall. It is part specialty certification, part grand tour of Boracay's best diving. Here is exactly what the course involves, who can take it, and why so many divers call it the highlight of their trip.
What is the PADI Deep Diver course?
The PADI Deep Diver Specialty is the certification that qualifies you to plan and make dives to a maximum depth of 40m / 130ft — the limit of recreational diving. Below about 18 metres the rules quietly change: colours fade, your no-decompression limits shrink, your air lasts a shorter time and nitrogen narcosis can start to creep in. The Deep Diver course teaches you to manage all of that so you can explore deeper sites safely and confidently, rather than just drifting past the recommended depth by accident. You can read the full breakdown on the Deep Diver course page.
It is a specialty, which means it builds on skills you already have rather than starting from scratch — and here in Boracay it happens to unlock the island's most spectacular diving.
Why go deep in Boracay?
Boracay is best known as an easy, warm, convenient dive destination, but its most dramatic sites sit below 18 metres — and the Deep Diver course is the natural key to them. Over four training dives you are not practising drills in a sandy bay; you are diving two genuine wrecks and two of the island's great walls. That is the real draw: the course gives you both a world-recognised PADI certification and the trip-of-the-year dives at the same time.
Because our sites are a short boat ride apart, we can build a sensible, progressive course where each dive goes a little deeper than the last, so your body and your confidence adjust gradually on the way to the 40m maximum.
The four dives: Boracay's best wrecks and walls
This is the part divers remember. Your four deep dives take in the four sites most divers tick off over several years — done here as one course:
- The Tribird wreck — a sunken aeroplane resting on the slope, an atmospheric and photogenic first deep dive.
- The Camia II wreck — a large ship deliberately sunk as an artificial reef, now draped in coral and patrolled by schooling fish.
- The Punta Bunga drop-off — a sloping wall where the reef falls away into the blue and bigger pelagic life passes through.
- The Yapak wall — Boracay's legendary deep wall, famous for its drop-off, schooling jacks and the occasional reef shark. This is usually the climax of the course.
Every site is different, so you come away not just certified to 40m but having actually dived walls and wrecks, with an instructor beside you the whole way.
What you'll learn
The Deep Diver course is about judgement as much as depth. With your instructor you'll practise how to:
- Plan a deep dive — working out your limits, timings and gas needs before you ever get in the water.
- Manage your gas supply at depth, where you breathe through a tank noticeably faster than on a shallow reef.
- Recognise and manage nitrogen narcosis — the mild "rapture of the deep" that can affect judgement below 30m.
- Use buddy-contact and safety procedures so you and your partner stay together and in control.
- Hold fine buoyancy, which matters far more at depth than it does in the shallows.
These are the exact skills that separate a diver who happens to go deep from a diver who is genuinely comfortable there.
Who can take the course?
You'll need to be at least 15 years old and already hold a PADI Adventure Diver certification (or a qualifying certification from another training agency). Adventure Diver is the first step on the Advanced Open Water path, so most divers who have completed their Advanced course — or even just the deep adventure dive within it — are ready to enrol. If you only hold Open Water, the quickest route is to do your Advanced course first, which we can run back to back with Deep Diver.
You do not need to be an experienced technical diver — this is a recreational specialty designed to take a reasonably confident diver safely beyond 18 metres for the first time. Not certified at all yet? Start with our specialties overview to see how the courses fit together, or get in touch with the team and we'll map out the right path for you.
How long does it take, and what's included?
Plan on 2 to 3 days. You complete the PADI Deep Diver eLearning before you arrive — around 2 to 4 hours of independent online study you can do at your own pace on any device — and then spend your time here where it counts: four deep dives over at least two days with your instructor.
Your course includes all of your scuba gear, a dive computer and a torch (colours fade with depth, so a torch brings the reef back to life), the eLearning, and your certification once you've met the performance requirements. The only thing to sort out yourself is getting to Boracay and a good night's sleep between dives.
Deep Diver and the road to Master Scuba Diver
Deep Diver is one of the most popular steps toward PADI Master Scuba Diver — the highest recreational rating, earned with Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and five specialties. Many divers pair Deep with the Wreck Diver specialty (Boracay's wrecks make it a natural fit) and with Enriched Air (Nitrox) to get more out of their shallower dives. If you want the full menu, our guide to enriched air diving explains how nitrox extends your bottom time on reef dives.
How much does the Deep Diver course cost?
Prices change with the season and with what you bundle in, so rather than quote a figure that could drift out of date, we keep the current rate on the Deep Diver course page. As with all our courses, booking online and paying the balance in cash earns you a discount, and your gear, dive computer, torch and eLearning are already included in the price you see.
Frequently asked questions
How deep do you go on the PADI Deep Diver course in Boracay?
To a maximum of 40 metres / 130 feet, which is the limit of recreational diving. Your four dives build up to that depth progressively rather than going straight to the maximum.
What do I need before I can enrol?
You must be at least 15 years old and hold a PADI Adventure Diver certification or higher (or a qualifying certification from another agency). Divers who have completed Advanced Open Water are ready to go.
How many days does the Deep Diver course take?
Usually 2 to 3 days. You do the eLearning online beforehand (about 2 to 4 hours), then make four deep dives over at least two days with your instructor.
Which dive sites do you visit on the course?
Four of Boracay's best: the Tribird plane wreck, the Camia II shipwreck, the Punta Bunga drop-off and the Yapak wall — two wrecks and two walls in a single course.
Is deep diving dangerous?
Deeper diving carries more risk than shallow reef diving, which is exactly why the course exists. You learn to plan, manage your gas, recognise narcosis and stay in control, with a PADI instructor beside you on every dive.
Do I need the Deep Diver course to dive deep sites in Boracay?
For sites approaching 40m like Yapak, proper deep training is strongly recommended and lets you dive them safely and confidently. The course is the simplest way to earn that qualification while actually diving the sites.