Innovation in diving is not simply about introducing new equipment. It means carefully considering whether a different system can add something worthwhile to the guest experience, then investing in the training, equipment and operational support needed to offer it properly.
Solitude Liveaboards and Resorts has taken that approach with the Avelo System. By introducing Avelo training at Solitude Acacia Resort and making the system available to appropriately certified guests aboard Solitude One, Solitude is giving divers another way to experience the underwater world.
Traditional scuba equipment remains fully supported at both operations. Avelo is not being presented as a replacement or a requirement, but as an additional option for guests interested in a lighter, water-integrated approach to buoyancy.
This distinction matters. Genuine innovation is not simply about being among the first to adopt new technology. It is about giving people meaningful choices and ensuring that each choice is supported by proper instruction, trained teams and reliable technical infrastructure.
Giving Divers Another Way to Dive
Traditional recreational scuba equipment primarily manages buoyancy through an air-filled buoyancy control device. As depth changes, the air within the BCD expands or compresses, requiring the diver to make adjustments throughout the dive.
The Avelo System approaches buoyancy differently. Its Hydrotank and Jetpack use water as part of the buoyancy-control process, removing the need for a conventional air-filled BCD. Because water does not expand and compress in the same way as air, the system is designed to help divers maintain stable neutral buoyancy with fewer adjustments as they move through the water column.
The equipment is also designed to reduce carried weight, bulk and drag. For some divers, the attraction lies in having less equipment to manage. Others may be interested in the stability, streamlining or different sense of movement the system provides underwater.
For newer divers, reduced task loading may allow more attention to be directed towards breathing, positioning, communication and the surrounding environment. Experienced divers, underwater photographers and other task-focused divers may appreciate the ability to maintain a stable position while concentrating on something other than repeated buoyancy adjustments.
No equipment can replace sound training, gas awareness, responsible behaviour or good judgement. However, equipment can influence how a diver moves, learns and responds underwater. Providing access to different systems allows guests to discover which approach best suits their experience, physical needs and personal preferences.
Turning New Technology into a Practical Guest Option
Purchasing new equipment is the simplest part of introducing a different diving system. Making that system genuinely available to guests requires considerably more.
Instructors must be trained to teach it. Dive teams need to understand how to prepare, fit and operate it. Technicians must be able to inspect, maintain and service the equipment. Appropriate units must be available in the sizes and configurations guests require, and procedures must be integrated into the daily rhythm of the dive operation.
This is where Solitude’s implementation of Avelo becomes significant.
Rather than limiting the system to demonstrations or occasional promotional dives, Solitude has invested in the people, equipment and technical support needed to offer Avelo in two distinct Philippine diving environments: resort-based diving in Anilao and selected liveaboard journeys aboard Solitude One.
The result is greater choice for guests, supported by established dive operations rather than experimentation alone.
Avelo Essentials at Solitude Acacia Resort
Solitude Acacia Resort became the first Official Avelo Dive Centre in the Philippines in 2025, establishing a dedicated base for Avelo training and recreational diving in Anilao.
Certified open-water divers can learn the system through Avelo Essentials, the newly renamed course previously known as the Recreational Avelo Diver or RAD course.
Avelo Essentials combines online learning with two instructor-led dives. It introduces divers to the principles behind water-integrated buoyancy, the operation of the Hydrotank and Jetpack, and the procedures needed to use the system confidently underwater.
The course is available throughout the year, allowing guests to add Avelo to their existing diving qualifications during a stay at the resort.
Solitude Acacia will also host dedicated Avelo workshop weeks from 24-30 August and 19-25 October 2026. Alongside Avelo Essentials training for recreational divers, these programmes include professional instructor and technician development opportunities.
The professional training helps expand the number of people qualified to teach and support the system, while technician training develops the local ability to inspect, maintain and service Avelo equipment. Both are essential if a new form of diving is to become a dependable guest option rather than a short-lived novelty.
A Considered Place to Learn
Solitude Acacia Resort offers an appealing environment in which to become familiar with a different way of managing buoyancy.
The resort’s calm training cove provides a controlled setting for learning the equipment and developing confidence before divers move into Anilao’s varied underwater terrain. Reefs, slopes and macro sites then provide opportunities to use those developing skills during real dives.
Anilao is also a destination where stability and careful positioning matter. Many of its most sought-after marine subjects are small, well camouflaged or found close to delicate reef and seabed habitats.
For underwater photographers, the ability to hold position while managing a camera can be particularly valuable. For any diver, controlled movement can help reduce unnecessary contact and disturbance around sensitive habitats.
Avelo cannot create responsible diving on its own. That comes from training, awareness and individual behaviour. However, offering a system designed around stability and reduced equipment management can support a more thoughtful and controlled approach underwater.
Extending the Choice to Solitude One
Avelo is also available aboard Solitude One, giving appropriately certified guests the option to use the system during selected liveaboard itineraries in the Philippines.
Solitude One is fully equipped to support Avelo diving as part of its established operations. This places the system in a very different environment from resort-based training.
Liveaboard diving involves repeated dives, changing sites, variable open-water conditions and multi-day journeys through several marine environments. Making Avelo available in this setting allows certified divers to use the system as part of a complete diving itinerary rather than only during a course or introductory experience.
It also demonstrates the operational commitment required to support new equipment at sea. The vessel must carry the necessary systems, charging facilities and supporting equipment, while onboard teams must be prepared to assist guests throughout the journey.
Solitude Acacia Resort and Solitude One operate as separate Avelo access points rather than as a routinely combined itinerary. Together, however, they give divers more opportunities to encounter the system in the Philippines: through structured resort-based training or as an equipment option during selected liveaboard journeys.
Choice Rather Than Replacement
One of the most important aspects of Solitude’s approach is that traditional scuba equipment remains available.
Not every diver wants to change systems. Some are comfortable with the equipment they have used for years, while others may have personal, physical or technical reasons for preferring a familiar configuration. Avelo also requires its own training before it can be used independently.
Offering both systems respects those differences.
Guests can continue diving with traditional scuba equipment or, if appropriately trained, choose Avelo. Those who are curious can undertake Avelo Essentials at Solitude Acacia Resort before deciding whether the system suits them.
This is a practical form of innovation. It does not ask every diver to follow the same path. Instead, it widens the available paths while ensuring each is properly supported.
Innovation Built Around the Guest
Scuba equipment will continue to evolve, but the value of any innovation depends on how it is introduced and supported in real diving environments.
For Solitude, implementing Avelo has meant more than adding a new item to an equipment list. It has required investment in training, technical knowledge, equipment availability and operational procedures across both resort and liveaboard diving.
That investment ultimately serves one purpose: giving guests more choice in how they experience the ocean.
With year-round Avelo Essentials training at Solitude Acacia Resort, professional and technician workshops scheduled during 2026, and Avelo available aboard Solitude One, Solitude is helping make a new approach to buoyancy accessible to more divers in the Philippines.
It is a considered step forward, led not by novelty for its own sake, but by curiosity, preparedness and a willingness to offer guests something different.
For more information about Avelo diving, training, workshops and Philippine itineraries, visit Solitude Liveaboards and Resorts.