Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, if the condition is good and we can go to the manta point. The depth of Kabira manta points is around 10-12m and within the range of DSD dive limit.

Although you do not have to be a good swimmer, it is recommended that you at least have experience of swimming. Not being a good swimmer and being afraid of water is a totally different thing. We can help you if you are not a good swimmer but are eager to try. If you are afraid of water, however, you should not push yourself.

Yes. There is no prior experience necessary for our Discover Scuba Diving program.

Equalizing your ears is a critical skill in diving. If you have any problems or other health issues, please consult your doctor.

Technically you could participate in OWD and AOWD courses back to back in a total of four days. We can accommodate such requests, however, we usually recommend our guests first complete the OWD course and enjoy diving for a while, before moving on further.

Completion of PADI e-Learning is a prerequisite for joining our OWD course, and you need the completion record of e-Learning to start our OWD program. If you register from our link, your e-Learning progress record will be sent to us automatically from PADI, and you do not need to bring it yourself.

We do not usually use manta points for our PADI courses. The priority of our course programs is to teach you the required skills, and we will be selecting appropriate dive sites for each skill depending on the course.

At Prime Scuba Ishigaki, enriched air tanks are available free of charge, and you can use them on a trial basis. Please note that having basic knowledge about enriched air is important in diving safely with enriched air, and we recommend all divers be certified as EAD.

You do not have to be a good swimmer, but swimming is one of the important skills in diving. In the PADI Open Water Diver course you will be required to float 10min without any floating aid, and swim 200m without any swimming aid (300m with mask, fins, and snorkel).

We have the following dives available for the AOW course. (Deep diving and Underwater Navigation are mandatory dives for the AOW course).
・Deep Diver
・Underwater Navigator
・Peak Performance Buoyancy
・Search and Recovery
・Enriched Air Diver
・Boat Diver
・Underwater Photography
・AWARE Fish Identification

“PADI courses are accomplishment basis, and the certificate will not be issued until you appropriately learn the required skills. Although very rare, there are cases when our guests cannot complete the course in two days due to unexpected weather, health, and other issues.

In such cases, we will issue an official letter of partial completion of the course, showing which required skills you have completed. You can bring the letter to other PADI dive centers to complete the rest of the course, and be certified.”

PADI e-Learning is an online based interactive knowledge development program provided by PADI. You can do the classroom part of the certification program with e-Learning before you come to Ishigaki. As we do not provide a classroom-style knowledge development program, you need to complete e-Learning before you start your OWD course with us. The cost of e-Learning is not included in our OWD price.

“No, but if you book enough in advance, there is a better chance we can accommodate your request.

Dive sites for each day are decided by our boat captain every morning, taking into account such factors as wind, swells, current, visibility, the guests’ skill level, as well as the guests’ requests, in order to maximize our guests’ satisfaction while assuring safety.

We will do our best to bring our guests to their desired dive sites, but there is no guarantee that you can always dive at your favorite dive sites, particularly for last-minute reservations.”

“Although we will do our best to bring you to the manta point when requested, we cannot guarantee you will see mantas as it is up to mother nature.

Having said that, the encounter rate of mantas in the Kabira area is high around 80%, although it changes from time to time. In good times there are a dozen mantas hovering around the cleaning station every day for around a month. In bad times you may not see any for a week.

Mantas are probably there even in bad times, but divers have only around 40-50min time under the water, and meeting a manta in a short period of time could be just a matter of luck when there are not many around.”

Yes, if the condition is good and we can go to the manta point. The depth of Kabira manta points is around 10-12m and within the range of DSD dive limit.

We do not usually use manta points for our PADI courses. The priority of our course programs is to teach you the required skills, and we will be selecting appropriate dive sites for each skill depending on the course.

No. Diving points each day are decided every morning based on the sea condition, our guests’ skill level as well as their requests. We will try to accommodate your requests as much as possible on a first-come first-served basis.

Although there always are some places where we could see mantas throughout the year, the best season would be April through November. Kabira manta points will not be accessible when the wind is blowing from the north. Therefore, the best season will be around April through November, when the wind normally blows from the south. From December through March, mantas are seen around the Kuroshima area.

Yes. If you send your equipment to us, we will bring it to the boat on the day of your dives. Please make sure to send enough in advance to make sure it will arrive before your dive date.

We will prepare rental gear based on the size information provided, and the gear should fit you fine. If you want to make sure by trying them on before the dives, you can come to our shop on the day before and try.

Our tanks have Yoke valves. If your regulator has a DIN valve, we have a DIN/Yoke adapter free of charge.

We are sorry but we do not have a side mount BCD for rental. Also, we do not have tanks for side mount BCD.

If you live in Japan, we will wash and dry your gear and send them back to your address in Japan.

At Prime Scuba Ishigaki, enriched air tanks are available free of charge, and you can use them on a trial basis. Please note that having basic knowledge about enriched air is important in diving safely with enriched air, and we recommend all divers be certified as EAD.

Although water temperature in summer can go up to 30C, and you can swim without a wetsuit, we recommend our guests wear wetsuits for protection from scratches and other injuries

We have wetsuits up to 5L (188cm/110kg, or 6″2’/243lb). Our BCDs are adjustable jacket types and will fit most large sizes. We have fins up to 31cm/US13/EU52.

We have masks with myopic optical correction lenses available from +2.0 to +5.0.

No. All our programs are guided dives, and our instructors are responsible for managing your dive profile. You can use our dive profile for your logging purpose.

Our rental wetsuits are mostly 5mm full suits. We also have a hooded vest it you need extra warmth.

Our transportation will be available if you will be staying in the city area (excluding Fukai, Tozato, Nosoko, Ibaruma, and Hirakubo). If you will be staying outside of our coverage area, you will need to arrange your transportation to our shop or to the port. Please ask our staff for more details.

Morning pick-up at the airport could be available if you arrive on a domestic flight before 10:30 am. Please contact us enough in advance for availability.

It will depend on your arrival and departure schedule. If you arrive before 8:00 am from other parts of Japan, you could join our dive cruise for three dives. If you arrive later, you may be able to join from the second dive, depending on the schedule. Please ask our staff for more information.

If you will be driving, we will arrange a meeting place near the port, and our staff will meet you there.

Yes. Please take the ferry and come to Ishigaki port in the morning. Our staff will pick you up there.

If you will be staying outside of the city area, our transportation will not be available. We will send you details of the meeting point, so please arrange your own transportation.

We have a group discount during December thru March. Group discount applies to groups of 5 or more (ex boarding program), and Fun Diving (ex rentals) and Discover Scuba Diving fees will be discounted by 10%. We are sorry but there is no dive shop tour price available in 2018.

We are sorry but we do not have instructor or dive master discounts. At Prime Scuba we welcome all levels of divers and provide the best quality service.

We have one free dive for every 10 dives.