- Komodo – Flores – Alor
- Sangeang – Banta – Komodo – Padar – Rinca
- Ambon – Banda Sea
- Ambon – Seram – Misool – Wayag – Raja Ampat

Daily rate per pax. is from 259,- Euro
Single Surcharge 169,- Euro

We have our deluxe 3 1/2* tropical room for 2 persons.
3 nights and 4 days (normally 310 USD) now only total 248 USD.
Or 7 nights and 8 days (normally 650 USD) now only total 520 USD.

If you are a family, some good friends, what about our 4* luxury Ocean Villa, good for 4 persons.
3 nights and 4 days (normally 754 USD) now only total 628 USD.
Or 7 nights and 8 days (normally 1608 USD) now only total 1340 USD.

Inclusions:
- Roundtrip from Puerto Galera Pier – The resort – P.G. Pier.
- Twin Sharing Accommodations.
- Complimentary Western- Filipino Breakfast
- Taxes and service charge
- 1 x test dive in our pool.

If you will book one of our special room offers, we will offer you our 1 day dive packet incl; 2 dives and lunch in our dive center for only 56 USD p.p. (the normally price is 70 USD).

No time to think book now direct with us info@abwonderdive.com
You can request for more days / dives on top.

Thanks for your time. Alice and I are looking forward to dive with you.
Best regards from,
Alice & Bjørn Askholm.

Diving! A beautiful way to spend a day.
“We are known for our quality, but our divers, make us famous”.

We have had many divers passing by over the summer holidays and we would like to thank you, for coming diving with us. We would also like to congratulate to Jessica and Dylan from USA, Mads, Morten and Mikkel from Denmark and Alexandra from France, who all finished their Open Water Diver course here in ABWonderdive. Well done!

On the 2nd of July we celebrated Alice’s birthday in Aninuan Beach Resort, where we had a great afternoon playing football game, table tennis, pool and kayak racing. If you would like to see photos from that day, please have a look at the link named: 2nd of July 2010 www.abwonderdive.com

We have only 4 cabins left, for our trip to the Maldives in Sep 2011. Sign up now, to get one of the last spots!

If you would like to book another holiday with us, you now have the possibility to choose between our rooms here by the dive center in Small Lalaguna, or if you prefer a bit quieter, we now offer a new hotel set up, where you will be in a very luxurious, tranquil and beautiful mansion. We will have shuttle service back and forth from the hotel to the dive center every day, easy and convenient for you.
The mansion is placed on the hillside in a beautiful green area by Puerto Galera. Read more about the hotel on our website: http://abwonderdive.dk/de/om-resortet/deluxedeluxedeluxe/

All bookings go through info@abwonderdive.com

The staff in ABWonderdive, is giving their regards to you and are looking forward to go diving with you again.

Best regards from,

Alice and Bjorn.

We would like to congratulate Marlon Daliposa and Tosca Waeber; they both just finished their Divemaster course. Tosca is back at her job in Switzerland and Marlon is now employed as Divemaster by ABWonderdive. You can find some nice pictures of them on our website. www.abwonderdive.com

Our next Divemaster course will start on the 15th of July -10. If you want to sign up for the course, please send us a mail to info@abwonderdive.com, so we can arrange accommodation etc. for you.

You can also find us on Facebook on this link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ABWonderdive-by-Alice-Bjorn/479427870710
If you sign in on that page, you might be able to find friends, with whom you were diving with here in ABWonderdive. Get in touch!

Best regards from the ABWonderdive team by
Alice and Bjorn

Hallo Tauchfreunde,

Wir gratulieren Marlon Daliposa und Tosca Waeber; sie haben beide Ihren Divemaster Kurs bestanden. Tosca ist zurück auf ihrer Arbeit in der Schweiz und Marlon ist jetzt als Divemaster bei ABWonderdive angestellt. Ihr können ein Paar schöne Photos von Ihnen auf unsere Webseite www.abwonderdive.com finden.

Unsere nächster Divemaster Kurs fängt am 15. Juli -10 an. Möchstest du zum Kurs eintragen, dann bitte ein Mail an info@abwonderdive.com schicken, so dass wir Euch ein Zimmer besorgen können.

Wir sind auch am Facebook an diesen link zu finden:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ABWonderdive-by-Alice-Bjorn/479427870710
Wenn du dich auf dieser Seite einträgst, kannst du vielleicht Freunden finden mit wem du hier bei uns in ABWonderdive getaucht hast. Einfach in Kontakt kommen!

Liebe Grüsse von den ganzen ABWonderdive Team bei,
Alice und Björn

Hej dykker venner.

Vi gratulerer Marlon Daliposa og Tosca Waeber; de har lige bestået deres Divemaster kursus. Tosca er tilbage på sit arbejde i Schweiz og Marlon er nu ansat hos ABWonderdive som Divemaster. I kan finde et par herlige billeder af dem på vores hjemmeside www.abwonderdive.com

Vores næste Divemaster kursus starter d. 15. Juli -10. Hvis du gerne vil tage del i kurset, skal du sende os en mail på info@abwonderdive.com, så vi kan arrangere beboelse etc. for dig.

Du kan også finde os på dette link på Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ABWonderdive-by-Alice-Bjorn/479427870710
Så hvis du skriver dig ind på siden, kan du muligvis finde nogle af dem, som du har dykket sammen med her hos os i ABWonderdive. Kom i kontakt!

Mange hilsener fra ABWonderdive teamet hos,
Alice og Bjørn.

Best regards from,
Alice & Bjørn Askholm.

Diving! A beautiful way to spend a day.
“We are known for our quality, but our divers, make us famous”.

Guido, our dive center manager, has just been on a trip to Donsol with 2 guests and they were snorkeling with 9 whalesharks in 2 days only. They had a splendid time and came back to ABWonderdive, with some great photos and big smiles on their faces.

Our Maldivian safari trip is up and running for September 2011. We have only 8 spaces left on the famous MV Orion live aboard, so if you would like to join the trip; it is now time to get yourself booked in. You can find a lot of information regarding the trip on our web, but if you want more info, then don’t hesitate to write us a mail on: info@abwonderdive.com

Congratulations to our boat captain Jay. He just got married with Aileen on the 1st of May, and it was a beautiful wedding. Take a look at the pictures on http://abwonderdive.dk/filippinerne/aileen-and-jay/

Who would believe that we have a new record in nudibranch spotting? Michala and Martin from Denmark have been taken photos of 65 “nudies” and they are all identified as different species. Well done! More photos on the way

After the Easter rush in, we had some quiet days, where we made maintenance in the dive center. It is fresh painted everywhere and ready to receive guests again over the summer period.

The ABWonderdive team is looking forward to diving with you soon.

Best regards from,

Alice and Bjorn.

Alice in Scubasia dive magazine vol 8.

Hello dive friends.

Good news. Our safari trip in the Maldives has been postponed till next year, the 2 last weeks of September 2011. To get the same price as this year, we have to book not later than the 1st of May 2010. If you are still interested in joining our trip, then please mail us as soon as possible on info@abwonderdive.com

If you are interested in swimming with the whalesharks, we can arrange a trip to Donsol for you as well. You can make a combination trip going diving with us in ABWonderdive and by the beginning or the end of your holiday go snorkelling with the magnificent beauties of the sea.

Regarding diving here in Verde Passage, Puerto Galera, Philippines, we can only say, “It keeps surprising us”. Again and again new species are showing up, which we never saw before. Especially the nudibranches keep popping up in different shapes, sizes and colours, it is fabulous.

Our special spring /summer offer is valid from the 15th of March till the 30st of September 2010. Your holiday must be held within this period, to get this fantastic offer.

You can book one or more options from A, B or C.
A) 1 x AOW + 1 x Nitrox NRC, normal price from 455, – NOW only = 396, – Euro.
B) 2 x Spec* + 1 x Nitrox NRC, normal price from 465, – NOW only = 396, – Euro.
C) 4 x Spec* + 1 x Nitrox NRC. Well on your way to your Master Scuba diver level. Normal price from 800, – NOW only = 716,- Euro.

* You can select between these following Speciality courses:
PPB-, Deep-, Night-, Wreck-, Drift-, Video- (own Camera), Photo- (own Camera), EFR-, Navigation-, Naturalist- & Shark spec.

All offers are included certificates + free Nitrox after you are a certified Nitrox diver.
Equipment is not included in the above prices.

For any room reservations please send us a mail and we can help you with the booking. We have different price levels starting from 33, – Euro per night per room, depending on the hotel you would like to book.

The ABWonderdive team is looking forward to dive with you and show you some of the amazing stuff in this area.

Best regards from,
Alice and Bjorn

We, Alice and Björn, are planning an exclusive repeater trip to the Maldives in the period of September/October 2010. We will arrange a 7 days trip and a 14 days trip on a live aboard, where we will dive the highlights of the Maldives.

There is space for 16 – 20 persons on the live aboard boat. We need to fill and pre book the boat, to be able to make our own private trip. Therefore we are asking you, if you would have interest in joining us in this kind of trip. Please let us know by our e-mail address: info@abwonderdive.com

Further information about dates and prices will follow on our website and direct to you by mail.

Best regards from the ABWonderdive team,

Alice and Bjørn.

The yellow fan gorgonian coral by ‘Boulders’ is full of small pygmy seahorses. You better bring your magnifying glass to be able to see them. The mandarin fishes on our house reef are happy breeding, so love is in the air these days.
The mandarin dive is a perfect way to start your night diving experience and gain credits toward the Advanced Open Water Certificate. We make theory in the afternoon; get ready for the briefing and jump in the water just by dusk. You still have enough light to orientate and slowly get used to the darkness. Then the show goes on! You have many different nocturnal species crawling and swimming around by the reef. Of course the Mandarin fishes are one of the highlights, but other critters like flamboyant cuttlefish, crayfish in all sorts and juvenile batfish are to be seen as well.

More happy divers in the sea! We would like to congratulate our newly certified Open Water and Advanced Open Water divers:

Cogratulations to Gabriela Gregorius (Brazilian) and Anna Coverdale (Australian) for finishing Open Water Course the 9th of Nobember. Both of them are living in China and made a quick visit here, but they are definately not done diving!

Congratulation to Ralf Ullrich, Denise Heyde, Birgit Gebhardt and Michel Lesik finishing Advanced Open Water on the 6th of November. All four from a group of Germans who were here for two weeks. Now they can proudly join the club of their friends who were already Advanced divers.

Best regards from the ABWonderdive team by
Alice and Bjorn Askholm

Regatta seen from Small Lalaguna Bay the 1st of November

Hello everybody!
Here in Small Lalaguna everything is going well, the weather is beautiful, the fishes are jumping and the sky is blue.

On the 31st of October we celebrated Halloween in the dive center. We had a variety of different creative outfits, which meant that we (in some cases) did not even recognize each other. We had some funny games going on, a bit of dancing and of course Bar Marlon’s delicious cocktails, which we could not resist!!! More pictures from our party.

The Philippines could be under your Christmas tree, either as a gift or even better; you could actually be here and celebrate Christmas together with us. Please write us an email, if you would like to arrange a holiday to our dive center.

The ABWonderdive team is looking forward to greeting you welcome and take part in making your holiday a great and unforgettable experience.

Best regards from
Alice and Bjørn Askholm

We would like to inform you following regarding the flooding in Northern Luzon.
The airport in Manila is further south of the flooded areas and is not affected; the flights are coming in as normal.
We are based on Mindoro Island, which is 500 km. south of the flooded areas and we have only experienced the outskirts from the tropical storms. This means we have been able to continue diving in our area and still do.

We are looking forward to greet you welcome here in Small Lalaguna Beach.

Transscripted article by Scott Berlin from ‘Triton Traveler’s Philippine Gateway’, June 2007

You may not imagine the Philippines as a place where dreams come true, but for Alice and Bjorn Askholm it is. This Danish couple traveled all over the world for two years, searching dozens of islands, only to experience repeated disappointments. Facing challenges that would have overcome most, Alice and Bjorn refused to let go of their dream and pressed on. Their success and everything they needed to make their dream a reality was waiting for them at La Laguna beach near Purerto Galera.
Alice and Bjorn met at the University of Odense in Denmark when they were both studying Physical Education. Here they learned to work as a team and pull together when things got difficult.  They teamed up and began traveling together and along the way they developed a love of traveling and scuba diving.  To their dismay, jobs and the business of making a living kept them away from these things all too much.
Bjorn worked as teacher and Alice worked as a physical therapist at a center for the elderly. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, both of their jobs ended at about the same time, which proved to be an opportunity they weren’t going waste. A friend mentioned to them that they could collect unemployment benefits in any EU country, for example the French Martinique Island in the Caribbean. By then Alice and Bjorn were certified divers and had been to the Maldives on diving trips.
Bjorn had advanced to Dive Master and was working on his Instructors certification, when the idea of working as a diving instructor in the Caribbean came about. Living on a warm Caribbean island and getting paid to dive was not a difficult idea to sell them on. They packed up and flew to the Caribbean.

Their ten months in the Caribbean was far from the tropical island paradise they had imagined. They received a small amount of unemployment benefits for only three months. Diving instructor and physical therapists jobs were quite difficult to get. They island hopped to Martinique, Dominica, St. Lucia and Aruba searching for work and were forced to accept small jobs here and there to survive. Money was so tight they were eating only two meals a day and Alice and Bjorn reached a low point and in November, called Alice’s parents to ask for money for plane tickets home. Though they were back in Denmark, the yearning to teaching scuba diving for a living had not left them and they were rather disappointed they had not been able to succeed at that in the Caribbean.

Two months later their luck changed and they were offered jobs as Base Leaders for a company called Scuba Caribe in the Dominican Republic, where they were responsible for all aspects of operating the dive center. The job gave them experience organizing, scheduling and conducting dives as well as teaching PADI certified courses from Open Water Dive to Dive Master. In addition they learned to maintain all equipment and to do the office work.

Managing the dive center was a challenge, but they loved it and excelled at it.  Just 18 months later in July of 1999 they headed for new waters to work as diving instructors for CH Company Ocean Pro in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. This was a step up because the company was bigger and had dive centers on six islands throughout the Maldives. Alice and Bjorn believed working for this company would give them more job security and they advanced quickly and in six months they were transferred to a different island to manage the dive center there. Every place that Alice and Bjorn worked, they successfully managed and built up the business. They were good at what they did and they loved doing it and that was great for the companies they worked for, but it wasn’t great for the future security for Alice and Bjorn. A different plan was needed.
When the two of them imagined what the ideal situation would be, there was only one vision; a dive center of their own. Their dream was clear and they were focused and in 2003 they began working towards realizing this dream. The plan was simple; buy or build a dive center and open for business. It seemed like a simple plan but they had no idea all that it would entail.

They were already in the Maldives so that was the logical and easiest place to start searching. They quickly learned how difficult it is to get a dive center in the Maldives. Either you try to buy a dive center for yourself, which is expensive, or you try to be a part of a corporation that buys the dive center. On top of that you don’t really buy the land, you just lease it from the government for 5-10 years, all of which is done through a bidding process. It was disheartening for Alice and Bjorn to have a dream, and realize their dream came with a million dollar price tag on it.
Every time they found a place that looked promising, they were competing with big companies that easily out-bid them. Alice and Bjorn searched for almost two years and finally had to concede that they couldn’t afford it, not in the Maldives anyway.
On November 1st 2005 after six and a half years, they quit their jobs and left the Maldives to pursue their dream full time and Indonesia better fitted their budget. Prior to their departure they had made some contact there and were offered a franchise with a company that had a dive center at Manado on Sulawesi Island. Promises of a well equipped dive center and luxury hotel turned out to be a ruse and when they got there, the hotel had not even been started. They decided to look on their own and began their search in Bali.

Searching for a potential dive center is not a simple matter of thumbing though the real estate listings. You have to go there and take a dive, because what’s under water is the main draw of the business, so first-hand investigation 20 meters below the surface is needed. Thus, a lot of time and money is required to check places, but determined to do their due diligence, one by one Alice and Bjorn began checking the beaches on Bali. They systematically worked their way around the island; Nusa Penida, Candi Dasa, Amed, then Tulamben, Kubu, and Tianyar. Having no success there they widened their search by heading east to inspect the many islands in the Flores sea; Timor, Alor, Flores, Rinca, Komodo, and finally Lombok.
Months of searching and still no success, yet their time spent did formulate their criteria. One of the problems that kept cropping up was that the locations were too far from medical services. This was not a negotiable criterion, the location had to be close to a hospital with a decompression chamber and some of the islands they looked at were one full day away from the nearest hospital. Another criteria, was being able to reach the dive center from Europe within a single day’s journey, thus, reasonable proximity to an international airport became a second criteria, that eliminated some of the other islands they checked. A third criteria they formulated from their investigations was that the location had to have a reputation for good diving and of course the basic criteria, was it had to have an affordable price tag, which crossed off some of the more popular beaches on Bali.

In late 2005, an unfortunate turn of international affairs cut short their search when a Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten, published a cartoon depicting the Islamic profit Muhammad, which sparked sharp protests that reach across the world. By April of 2006 Alice and Bjorn felt their physical safety was at risk so they left Indonesia. They were doing their best but it seemed like literally the whole world was against them.
Before leaving Bali they received information about an opportunity on an island in the Russell Islands in the middle of the Solomon Island group. Their inquiry yielded a response detailing the good air service to and from the island, the wonderful diving and a negotiable price. In addition they were sent photos of the place showing a beautiful white beach with a great hotel and dive facilities and seeing the photos lifted their spirits and gave them new energy.
This venture turned out to be a pattern they had experienced before; the build up, anticipation and hope, then dipping into savings to pay for long airplane flights only to discover upon arrival, lies and deception. Their first shock upon arriving was that there was no air service to the island they were to check. When they did get to the island their contact lead them to a place that had no resort or hotel. When Alice and Bjorn insisted on seeing the place in the photos, they were told that the photos were of a different island and it was not for sale. They left the Solomon Islands in short order but the disappointment, sadness and anger would take awhile longer to leave them. After this, Alice and Bjorn gave up on Indonesia and flew home to Denmark to sit on the internet and start over.
They weren’t home for very long when they got a lead on a possible place in the Seychelles Islands north of Madagascar along the east coast of Africa, where once again, in the Seychelles they felt like they had been deceived. The dive center they looked at was not at all what it was claimed to be and the price was way too high for what was being offered.
Tired, disappointed, frustrated, and sad, but unwilling to give up, Alice and Bjorn returned to Denmark and resumed searching for their dream. On the PADI web pages listing business opportunities the Philippines came up and digging a little deeper they learned that there were essentially three places worth looking at in the Philippines: Palawan, Coron, and Puerto Galera. Luckily, there was something available in Puerto Galera.

In the Philippines their first stop was at Small Lalaguna beach near Puerto Galera. The owner of Mabuhey Resort was selling the dive center portion of the resort and as he asserted, those who pay the money are the ones who will get the dive shop. The price was not negotiable. After so many difficult and disappointing trips finally Alice and Bjorn had some good luck:  “There were 3-4 others who were interested but we were the fastest ones.” Bjorn said. Alice added, “We went diving here and the diving was beautiful and the dive center was very well set up”.The location also met their criteria; there was a doctor in the town of Sabang just 15 minutes away and Manila, with plenty of fully equipped hospitals and the International airport, was only 3-4 hours away. Sabang and the waters around Puerto Galera were renowned for some of the best diving in the world. On April 21st 2006 they said “yes, we’ll take it.”
Alice and Bjorn’s dream had taken them over vast distances. They personally checked dozens of islands, endured deceptions and disappointments along with emotional and financial hardships but they never gave up. Finally all the right elements for success came together for them in the Philippines. Still one last hurdle stood in their way of their dream becoming a reality; all of their savings only amounted to two thirds of the total cost of the dive center. The problem was solved when they were able to secure a bank loan for the remaining one third and ABwonderdive officially opened in July of 2006.
When I interviewed Alice and Bjorn for this article I was amazed and entertained by their story. At the end I still had to ask one more question to Bjorn that summed it all up. His response answered the question and at the same time revealed his character. I asked him, “Are you living your dream?” With a smile he said “We are living our dream. ….. But then you get new dreams.”
You can visit ABwonderdive at http://www.abwonderdive.com

Entering oktober it is once again time to let you know what is going on here at ABWonderdive.

• The 19th of Sebtember a Mola Mola – also known as the sunfish – was spotted in an afternoon dive at Dry Dock. Apparently it was as big as 2 meters in diameter. WOW

• Our staff has become reenforced with the arrival of Bram (Dutch) and Helene (Dansih). Both PADI instructors. Both of them speak German and English of course.

• As something new we will recommend the Deep Diver Speciality, that will take you to spectacular dive sites like Mahmood Reef or the famous Fish Bowl on 40 meters depth.

• As far as the future goes, we are currently planning to start up 3-4 days dive safaris, where you are living aboard a ship. One of the destination would be Apo Turtle Reef. More about this in our next newsletter!

We are looking farward to your next visit in our Makro Paradise!

Again in 2010 You will find us at Boot Düsselforf. ‘Boot’ is a huge exibition about diving, holidays and other adventures held every year in Düsseldorf, Germany. We have been comming there every year since the beginning of ABWonderdive.

Guido and Bjørn will be standing at the stand we have every year. We hope to meet a lot of new divers/guests, but are also looking farward seeing familiar faces.

The exibition will take place from the 23rd till the 31st of January. For further information have a look at:

http://www.boat-duesseldorf.com/