Learn To Dive In Kota Kinabalu | Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!

New Professional Scuba Diving Interns in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 @ 10:10 Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News, Professional Diving Internships

Joining us for the next few months are Paul and Sara.

They will be working towards becoming PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors (OWSI) with us at the Downbelow PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Paul, already a PADI Rescue Diver, hails from the UK, whilst Sara, a PADI Open Water Scuba Diver, is from Denmark.

It’s not Sara’s first time with Downbelow however. You may recognise her from the group of Danish adventurers that visited us in September last year.

Back then their main purpose was to travel Sabah and experience the adventures and cultural activities this unique state has to offer. It was also in September when Sara gained her Open Water qualification when the whole group learned to dive with Downbelow.

The experience made quite an impact on Sara and she wanted to come back to become a professional diver herself and learn how to teach diving to others, which is how she ended up back here in Kota Kinabalu.

Keep an eye on the blog as follow Sara and Paul’s journey to becoming PADI OWSI.

Our international staff provide personal, premier service at our PADI 5 Star Instructor Development (IDC) Dive Centre, where we pride ourselves on small group tuition with extremely high safety standards & procedures.

Do visit us at our Dive Shop & Travel Centre where we offer free wireless Internet and refreshments.

Tel: +6 012 866 1935
Email: dive@divedownbelow.com

Visit our Facebook page to see what we get up to over here in paradise!

PADI Open Water – Learn to Scuba Dive in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Monday, December 5th, 2011 @ 15:29 Courses, Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News

Sabah, Borneo: Downbelow is the most popular scuba diver training centre and the only PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre that can offer what we do in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

We are the only PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre located on Gaya island, which is just 8 minutes by boat from Kota Kinabalu city, offering you a holiday from holiday and a resort-like environment.

Our dive centre is right on the beach in a quiet bay, affording our guests the opportunity to experience Sabah’s lovely nature surrounding our centre – the most beautiful place from where to learn to scuba dive.

Our resident PADI Course Director is always on hand to ensure the highest training and safety standards are adhered to. Our guests enjoy training by instructors who are highly trained and experienced themselves.

We dive from any of our 4 fast, speed-boats, capable of reaching any of the TAR Park’s 40+ dive sites in mere minutes.

Intervals between dives are spent at the dive centre on Gaya island, where you enjoy a hot, freshly cooked lunch before chilling on the beach, strolling along well-established trails through the tropical Sabah jungle or just hanging out on the dive centre’s front deck.

This paradise location is also so comfortable and well-equipped, that it doubles as a classroom for our PADI Open Water Scuba Diver and most of our other PADI courses.

Confined water skills training takes place just a few steps from the beach, in the natural, calm lagoon that fronts our dive centre and is the perfect environment in which to learn how to scuba dive.

When your diving is done and you look to other Sabah activities, Downbelow’s travel centre can offer an integrated tour experience and discounted packages.

If you want to learn how to dive in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, choose the dive centre that more people choose – dive with Downbelow.

Contact us to do your PADI Open Water course or visit our offices in KK Times Square in Kota Kinabalu and learn how to scuba dive in Sabah.

Angry Bird on Gaya Island, Kota Kinabalu

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 @ 09:00 Gaya Island Animals, Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu

Gaya Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Park: We had a feathered visitor of the rather large variety at the Gaya Island dive station on Friday the 13th.

Although beautiful, the owl didn’t look too friendly; in fact, the owl reminded a bit of the all too popular Angry Birds.

There is plenty of superstition, if you’re in to that kind of thing, to link to owls.

In some cultures they are revered and hailed as wise, but in other cultures they are feared, associated with witchcraft and death.

If you lean to the darker side of superstitions and you encounter an owl on Friday the 13th, you may well find youself on guard.

But bad omens be damned.

Ollie the Owl, as he was cleverly named, was in fact a friendly and most welcome visitor to our PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre on Gaya island last weekend.

One of the many curious wild animals that visits the dive station every now and then, Ollie the Owl spent quite some time around the centre and got ever closer and friendlier.

Eventually Richard had charmed the owl so much that he managed to get real close for some outstanding photos and a bit of a 1-on-1 chat session too.

You can check out more photos of Ollie the Owl in our Wild Animals of Gaya Island photo album, which is a collection of Ollie and all the other animals that have visited our dive station in recent months.

Of course, we still actually dive at the dive centre too, so if you want to learn to dive in Kota Kinabalu, do contact us.

Danish Adventure Group Learns How to SCUBA Dive in Kota Kinabalu

Friday, May 6th, 2011 @ 11:02 Courses, Danish Adventure Group, Diving Kota Kinabalu, Groups & Schools, Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: A group of 10 Danish adventurers joined Downbelow for the month of May to undertake a series of adventures. First up, was learning how to SCUBA dive at dive centre on Gaya Island in Kota Kinabalu.

The young group of 8 women and 2 men, aged 19 – 28, came all the way from Denmark for a 3 month adventure in Asia, starting with a month with Downbelow right here in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

For 5 days the adventurers lived at our PADI 5 Star IDC Centre on Gaya Island in the group-tent we erected for the previous group we hosted.

For the ladies and gents, most of who have never been in a jungle environment, Gaya island was a soft introduction to the jungles of Borneo, more of which are to come later.

But as you may know, Gaya island, in spite of being so near the city, is still wild jungle – and on a couple of occasions the quiet island atmosphere was pierced by Danish screams as a variety of (innocuous) critters and bugs came too close to the group.

The challenges of bugs and furry or slimy island inhabitants aside, the Danes eventually triumphed over the challenges of island life and successfully completed their Open Water SCUBA Diver courses, with 8 qualifying as PADI Open Water SCUBA Divers and 2 as PADI SCUBA Divers.

In the coming days the group heads out the white waters of Sabah for some river rafting followed by a 5 day journey across the Crocker Range Mountains to retrace the steps of villagers along the Salt Trails.

Stay tuned for more of the Danish group’s adventures.

2011 PADI SCUBA Diving IDC Internships in Sabah

Monday, February 21st, 2011 @ 10:28 Diving Borneo, Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News

Learn to dive in Kota Kinabalu: Downbelow is proud to present 2011 PADI Scuba Diving IDC Internships in Sabah, Borneo.

A professional diving internship is a hands-on way to gain invaluable, on-the-job experience of a busy dive centre, while furthering your dive education to qualify as an Open Water SCUBA Instructor or beyond.

We offer internships, based at our Gaya island based PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre, with a duration of between 1 and 6 months, which can be joined any time of the year.

Due to our dive centre’s proximity to the city of Kota Kinabalu (10 minutes by boat), a SCUBA Diving IDC Internship with Downbelow in Sabah means a balanced learning experience with good fun mixed in with hard work.

And as we have a lagoon and house reef just a giant stride away from the dive centre, with many more dive sites a short boat trip away, we can offer interns unlimited SCUBA diving.

2011 PADI SCUBA Diving IDC Internship in Sabah.

Start your 2011 PADI SCUBA Diving IDC Internship

First, get all the details from our Professional Internships page.

And then contact us via phone, email or by walking in to our offices in KK Times Square in Kota Kinabalu.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Downbelow Welcomes 4 New Local Interns

Friday, February 18th, 2011 @ 10:00 Diving Borneo, Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News, Professional Diving Internships

Gaya Island, Kota Kinabalu: Richard from Downbelow welcomes Gary, Lee, Jeff and Jessica who have all joined Downbelow’s very successful, ongoing local internship program.

Gary, Lee, Jeff & Jessica joins the Downbelow team

Under Richard and Downbelow’s protective wing, the Fab Four will complete a year of SCUBA Diver training to eventually qualify as professional PADI Divemasters.

Once the year is complete, they will be offered permanent contracts and the opportunity to become PADI Instructors in Downbelow’s PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre on Gaya island.

Good luck guys!

PROMOTION: Learn to Scuba Dive PADI Open Water Course & Advanced Diver with Accommodation

Sunday, November 14th, 2010 @ 10:19 Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News, Promotions

Learn to Scuba Dive in Sabah Borneo on a stunning tropical island !!

The fun does not stop here: if you are serious about not just learning to dive but also extending your skill level then complete the PADI Open Water Course & PADI Advanced Open Water Course with us on Gaya Island.

Get qualified as an Open Water Scuba Diver

Backpacker’s Scuba Diving Promotion

Outstanding Value Backpacker Promo RM 2,080 – all inclusive!

5 days PADI Open Water Course & Advance Open Water Course +
6 Nights Accommodation with daily breakfast at RM 2,080 per person

Package Includes: Return transfers from lodge, return boat transfers to Gaya Island, required PADI Materials (yours to keep), PADI qualification and registration fees, park and jetty fees, equipment (except dive computer) refreshments – free flow water / tea / coffee, freshly and cooked lunch.

Prices are NETT and include hotel government and service tax.
No single supplement. No peak season surcharge!

Facilities Includes:

Breakfast with free flow of filtered drinking water
Comfortable single bed with spring mattress
Dormitory with air conditioning
Shared Bathroom and Shower with Hot Water
Satelite TV ( ASTRO ) in the cozy Living Lounge
CCTV Security System
Free WIFI in the Lounge
Laundry Services
Pool Table in Lounge
IDD Telephone Line at reception

Gaya Island within the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park in Kota Kinabalu Sabah provides an ideal venue for both of the courses with confined shallow, sandy areas right in front of our PADI 5 Star Dive & Adventure Centre which are ideal for skill practice and we also have 49 dive sites accessible to us with Wreck, reefs and lots of critters to explore which is perfect for PADI Advance Open Water Course.

See amazing sights in the TAR Park

All the academic takes place on the island so you will get a real experience on the sea rather than stuck in the class room!! Enjoy our tropical surroundings chatting about all the wonderful creatures you will have spotted. We are the only operator here so our surrounds are non crowded.

PADI Open Water Course

The PADI Open Water Course is the first certification within the PADI system of education, you complete a Knowledge Development session (Home Study) with elaboration from your instructor throughout the academic portion of the course, quizzes and a final exam, 5 confined water dives – this is where you learn diving skills, plus 4 open water dives where you put your skills into practice.

You will also be asked to swim 200m and float / tread water for 10 minutes as part of the watermanship assessment. Our absolute maximum ratio is four people on a course with 1 instructor.

Our PADI Courses are performance based, so only once students have fully understood and mastered one section do you progress to the next.

PADI Advanced Open Water Course

PADI’s Advanced Open Water Diver program fine tunes your dive skills and allows you to explore some of diving’s top adventures. We find that this course attracts divers with varied amounts of experience from those who have just gained their Open Water Certification to those who have been diving for some years.

Every Advanced Course option includes the two required core dives, Deep Diver and Navigation Diver.

2 Day Program

2 x Core Dives: Deep Diver and Navigation Diver
3 x Elective Dives. Please choose any 3 from the list below which are ideally suited to our environment.
Search & Recovery
Fish Identification
Peak Performance Buoyancy
Underwater Photography (rental cameras available at MYR 150.00 or RM 225.00 per day (depending on model) if clients do not have their own)
Wreck Diver
Multi Level Diver (dive computer rental available if client does not have their own RM 50.00 per day)
Boat Diver

Contact us to book now!

Try the Fish ID Elective

PROMOTION – Begin your PADI Dive Course NOW via eLearning & get a FREE Scuba Dive

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 @ 12:55 Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News, Promotions

It could not be easier to start your PADI Diving Course right now … in the comfort of you own home, office, garden or whilst travelling you can log onto our PADI eLearning portal and begin your diving adventure.

Start eLearning today and save your holiday for diving Once completed you are ready to join us on Gaya Island for the fun part of the course!

eLearning is now available for the following courses & programs:

Scuba Tune Up
PADI Open Water Diver ( English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian & Japanese)
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
PADI Rescue Diver
PADI Divemaster Theory

PADI Digital Underwater Photographer
PADI Enriched Air Diver

PADI Instructor Development Course

Why wait until you’re on holiday, sign up now and we will give you 1 extra dive for FREE at Gaya Island!

If diving isn’t for you – then why not buy a voucher for a friend or family member !

START eLearning NOW!

Discover Scuba Diving DSD – Try Dive Lessons for Beginners

Monday, August 16th, 2010 @ 12:28 Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News, Promotions

Try Dive – Discover Scuba Diving, fondly known as the DSD is Scuba Diving Lessons for Beginners – An ideal day trip to the TARP Islands offshore Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Borneo.

It could not be easier to try Scuba Diving and within the same few hours see the beauty of the underwater world in a safe, warm paradise location.

Just take a look at some of our recent guests, pictured left with their PADI Instructor Strike, they all chose to take their first breaths underwater with us, gaining our “Dived and Survived with Downbelow Stamp !!!!

Discover Scuba Diving Our Island based PADI 5 Star Instructor Development & Dive Centre in the The Tunku Abdul Rahman Park is ideally suited to beginner divers providing shallow, sandy confined water environments which slope to slightly deeper coral reef habitats.

The PADI Discover Scuba Diving program introduces people to scuba diving in a highly supervised and relaxed manner.

Under the guidance of a PADI professional, new divers learn basic safety concepts, put on equipment and swim around underwater in a closely supervised environment.

Our half day program competes before lunch time so you can spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the tropical beaches, snorkeling, trekking or sea kayaking.

Alternatively we can take you on an additional pleasure dive to a maximum depth of 12m with and instructor in the afternoon as part of the full day program.

You don’t have to book the afternoon dive, “try before you buy” if you get the dive bug you can decide on the day.

Daily Program

08:00 – 08:20 Hotel pickup (KK City) transfer to Sutera Harbour Marina
08:30 Meet Downbelow Staff and Transfer to Downbelow’s The Beach House – Gaya Island
08:45 Registration & Equipment Selection
09:00 Dive Theory, Equipment Orientation and Dive Briefing, Confined Water Dive & Skill Practice, Open Water Scuba Dive
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Optional Scuba Dive or Relax on the Beach or go Trekking.
16:00 Boat Transfer to Mainland Jetty
16:15 Return to Hotel

Learn to Scuba Dive, PADI Scuba Diver Course TARP Kota Kinabalu Sabah Malaysia

Sunday, June 13th, 2010 @ 18:19 Learn to Dive in Kota Kinabalu, News

Short of time but still want to join a Scuba Diving course, learn how to scuba dive and experience the beauty of the Underwater World ?

Then we have the perfect solution for you – The PADI Scuba Diver Course which takes 2 days to complete.

PADI Scuba Diver Course – 2 days

The PADI Scuba Diver program is a pre-entry level certification that is perfect for vacationers or people who only plan to dive a couple times a year.

As a subprogram of the PADI Open Water Diver program, the PADI Scuba Diver rating allows you to get certified quickly and easily by minimizing time constraints.

With the PADI Scuba Diver certification you can dive under the direct supervision of a PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, Instructor or higher professional on your next vacation or dive trip to a maximum of 12m.

What do I need to start?

Virtually anyone who is in good health, reasonably fit, and comfortable in the water can earn a Scuba Diver certification. If you are between 10 and 14 or have a child between these ages, there is a PADI Junior Scuba Diver program available

What will I do?

Throughout the course, you’ll learn fundamentals of scuba diving, including dive equipment and techniques.

You earn this rating by completing confined water dives in our lagoon in front of our island based dive centre (pictured below). You will also complete knowledge development sessions which take place at our island paradise below, plus you will make two open water dives in the surrounding tropical ocean.

How long will it take?

PADI programs are performance based. You proceed as you demonstrate mastery of the course skills. This allows you to work at a pace that is comfortable for you, we allocate 2 days for this course.

Where can I go from here?
After completing the Scuba Diver program, you can at anytime continue your diving education by completing the PADI Open Water Course with any PADI Dive Center which will take an additional 2 days.

How do I book my place ?

Please send us an email with your preferred dates and we’ll schedule your course.

Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!