Diving Fees In The Philippines

[shugar]

At Anilao daily passes are what 50 or 100 pesos now?

Does anyone ever buy the annual pass?

DMs and other dive pros do... 1800 is equivalent to 18 diving days... or 9 weekends - that's nothing to guys like caloy and spoon who are there practically every-other-weekend

i'd get one if i was sure of hitting the reef more often than i do.

passes are 100 now... this happened fairly recently and personally don't mind as long as they use it properly

last dec.30 joey (our DM and president of the anilao dive guides' group) was asking us what we thought of 2 proposals by the LGU (i think):

a) +25 pesos for diving in a sanctuary like cathedral, twin rocks or arthurs
b) +100 pesos (per day ata) per photographer

my 2 cents:

a) if the extra 25 goes to added sanctuary care that's ok... it's not a major impact on the diving expense, it's the cost of a beer - no biggie, i think most divers will cough up the dough w/o a fuss

b) NO - it's not a factor if scott tuazon or yvette lee pay an extra 100 to use their million-peso camera rigs in anilao. but what if i'm a 5-dive OW Noob bringing a kodak disposable u/w camera w/ me??? 100 bucks for praying that i'm even able to take 1 picture good enough for friendster? what's with that? many many people bring consumer-level camera setups u/w to capture their experiences, not sell them or win contests - look at caloy, gorgeous photos all for our viewing pleasure.

so it's just adding an additional burden on divers a majority of whom are barely financing their addiction with the way the economy is going (hence the popularity of old gear, day trips, shore dives and scubarat packages)

1 great way to kill the diving industry in the philippines is to make it so that only the ayalas or lucio tan can afford it

that was my 2 cents - joey agreed... i hope they prevail

Jag

 

[iris_ice]

At Anilao daily passes are what 50 or 100 pesos now?

Does anyone ever buy the annual pass?

DM's do (i think)...

edit: jag answered it already.

 

[shugar]

DM's do (i think)...

edit: jag answered it already.

of course he did... that's why he's the greatest

Jag

 

[Ben_ca]

From what I can gather off of Diversions... The system is working... and the sites are being taken care of with moorings better enforcement of the regs ect...

That I don't mind paying for.

I agree with Shugar on the Photo fee... Does anyone charge people who take topside photos at other tourist places

 

[shugar]

From what I can gather off of Diversions... The system is working... and the sites are being taken care of with moorings better enforcement of the regs ect...

That I don't mind paying for.

I agree with Shugar on the Photo fee... Does anyone charge people who take topside photos at other tourist places

btw ben, are you getting ppd tags? we're shipping them to midwest and he'll re-ship it accordingly via USPS so it's not more expensive or much more of a hassle

wala lang... you might have missed that particular PPD-hijacked thread hahahahaha

ooops... hijaking in progress

Jag

 

[Babydamulag]

As I read the posts I am getting the feeling that the Philippine diving community (reads - people spending the money) do not mind spending a little for the conservation of the diving environment.....the issue is "WHAT DO WE GET FOR OUR MONEY!?!?"
Okay, this is what we are running into with our municipality as well....WHAT DO WE GET? I am looking for more information about the "DIVER TAX" business in the Philippines. Ben_ca was a huge help!! We do not mind fees as long as we know some government official isn't putting the money in their pocket. Now, the issue is what is a fair charge and for what. Charging extra for cameras/photos is ludicrous. Along these lines we'll pursue more information.

 

[shugar]

As I read the posts I am getting the feeling that the Philippine diving community (reads - people spending the money) do not mind spending a little for the conservation of the diving environment.....the issue is "WHAT DO WE GET FOR OUR MONEY!?!?"
Okay, this is what we are running into with our municipality as well....WHAT DO WE GET? I am looking for more information about the "DIVER TAX" business in the Philippines. Ben_ca was a huge help!! We do not mind fees as long as we know some government official isn't putting the money in their pocket. Now, the issue is what is a fair charge and for what. Charging extra for cameras/photos is ludicrous. Along these lines we'll pursue more information.

i think the major downside is that theoretically the gov't can't work w/o a decent amount of money - like from fees... you have to collect X amount of dive fees to afford 1 bouy, etc etc

so the major fear will be the wait-and-see phase where you're paying a regular fee but there hasn't been enough time to gather an amount capable of showing the result of such a collection

Jag

 

[Halthron]

Setting expectations and charting the immediate and distant future are key with this type of thing. It's the same with any grouping of people or organizations. One organization that I was a member of solved the problem by not only spelling out what the money would be going toward and when but also allowing any of the members to audit the funds. We knew where the money was going and that it wasn't going anywhere (two people called suprise audits) until it was used for the purpose in question.

 

[moonlighting]

of course he did... that's why he's the greatest

Jag

Aye, Aye! That Jag man is the greatest of 'em all!

Ooops... I still find any of the current fees unreasonable, until perhaps I get to know what are the specifics of the activities they do which are being funded by the divers' fee.

 

[Xizang]

Here is one for the group --- what (or where can I find) is the normal schedule of diving fees for dive sites in the Philippines. As we research the local ordinances in our municipality, I am discovering there is not a "standard" for diver fees. As we develop our dive sites and learn more about the area I am concerned that the local ordinances are not adequate or are not written well to support the diving industry. Please share you knowledge of "SCUBA DIVING FEES" throughout the Philippines. We are writing a memorandum of agreement now that will better define our role and the role of the LGU's in the SCUBA industry in our area. This is an important issue since revenue will go to improving the local environmment, boat moorings, etc. Thanks.

Why not forget about the memorandum with the government and instead tell them that you will collect from divers a certain fee to fund buoy installations and regular clean-up dives in the area you dive. Do you really think that they will do something with the money that divers will be giving to them as dive fee?

The taxes your diving business pays covers whatever it is you owe the government.