Ocean Deep is Luzon’s first PADI Five Star Dive Center, operating on the beach just west of San Fernando Airport in La Union since 1975 — one of the longest-running dive operations in the Philippines.

The center is run by instructor Tim Aukshun, widely credited in the Philippine diving community with having trained the majority of the country’s active PADI instructors. As a PADI Five Star IDC (Instructor Development Course) center, Ocean Deep teaches the full range of certification levels — from Discover Scuba Diving and Open Water (typically 3-4 days) through Divemaster and Assistant Instructor — plus 33 specialty courses, including technical diving disciplines rarely offered elsewhere in the country: sidemount, gas blending, tec deep, and trimix, up to instructor level.

La Union’s dive sites near San Fernando are typically calmer and more sheltered than the more current-exposed reefs further south, making the area well suited to both first-time divers doing an Open Water course and technical divers working toward advanced certifications.

Location: beachfront, west side of San Fernando Airport, San Fernando City, La Union.