We surface after our last dive of the day, a tour of a pristine reef with corals the size of a Volkswagen and fish like the neon of Hong Kong. Basking in the 84-degree waters of the South China Sea, we pull ourselves onto the bamboo outriggers and floated languidly, buoyant, reluctant to follow our gear into the boat and let the adventure end.

"No problem"' he says and, to our delight, orders a bottle of Perrier Jouet from the resort on his walkie-talkie. It arrives via speedboat with four glasses, along with beers for the crew.

We are hardly surprised. We have come to expect this level attention after four days at El Nido, a dive-oriented resort in remote Philippine waters midway between Manila and Borneo. Earlier that day, we decided on a picnic lunch on an isolated island beach. Our banca, as the outrigger boats are called, delivered us to the snow-white beach upon which a three-course meal of chicken, pork and fish was served beneath the palms. The tables were laid with silver and the coolers filled with icy beer. Later, we snorkeled offshore over shallow reefs.

El Nido is perfect for inexperienced divers. The resort offers crash courses in diving, although the courses are not certified by any of scuba's sanctioning groups. Still, we never went down with more than five divers or fewer than two certified guides. Each dive was a little more technical and a little deeper than the one before. And the staff clearly worked hard to make everything easy. Each evening at dinner, Bunny, our activity coordinator," appeared at our table. "Diving tomorrow? What time would be good for you? Or would you rather go sailing?"

The resort offers various activities for the nondiver: Sailing, windsurfing, deep-sea fishing and island-hopping, for example. One afternoon we paddled kayaks through a crystal-blue lagoon beneath soaring limestone cliffs.