mikeng
Registered
anybody knows if the the thresher sharks are still in moalboal?? im heading out there on aug 7..
Mactan to Negros dive trip
- Thread starter Bowmouth
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
sierradeux
New
A few more thoughts regarding this thread:
Thank you to Karl H for the apology. It's just another illustration of the principle that you had to be there to understand the problem, and the facts.
After reading Bowmouth's description of the incredible beaurocracy surrounding these dive sites, one appreciates the excellent job that dive operators such as Worldwide Dive and Sail do, to make diving easier for their clients. While we were somewhat aware of this nightmare of regulations and fees, all of this rigamarole was taken care of by the operator, and included in the one fee charged to us, making things remarkably smooth when we got on site. And we also managed to avoid surfacing into armed confrontations!
The dispute over this incident is ongoing. I am told that another hearing was held, which was attended by representatives of WWD&S, but that the entire discussion that took place did not involve the dive company, but was between local and regional authorities, fighting over the income from diving, with the regional authorities trying to wrest the money loose from the Apo Island folks. Anyone see a pattern here? Anyone smell corruption? It would appear that the boat incident is being used as a lever in this power struggle, or is it a money grab?
That said, I would reinforce some of the observations made earlier in the thread. While the water is warm, and the corals quite wonderful, the marine life in the Visayas was nowhere near as profuse as we have experienced in Lembeh, Manado/Bunaken, Komodo, Mabul, or Layang-Layang, for example. I suspect that much of this is due to the pervasive fishing at virtually every site that we visited. It is almost a joke that even a designated MPA (Marine Protected Area) with its attendant armed patrols, while restricting commercial fishing, still allows (over)fishing by the local villagers, to the point where we characterized a number of dive sites as "barren" in our dive logs. It's another sad example of man's negative effect on the environment. Hard to teach new behaviors here.
Thank you to Karl H for the apology. It's just another illustration of the principle that you had to be there to understand the problem, and the facts.
After reading Bowmouth's description of the incredible beaurocracy surrounding these dive sites, one appreciates the excellent job that dive operators such as Worldwide Dive and Sail do, to make diving easier for their clients. While we were somewhat aware of this nightmare of regulations and fees, all of this rigamarole was taken care of by the operator, and included in the one fee charged to us, making things remarkably smooth when we got on site. And we also managed to avoid surfacing into armed confrontations!
The dispute over this incident is ongoing. I am told that another hearing was held, which was attended by representatives of WWD&S, but that the entire discussion that took place did not involve the dive company, but was between local and regional authorities, fighting over the income from diving, with the regional authorities trying to wrest the money loose from the Apo Island folks. Anyone see a pattern here? Anyone smell corruption? It would appear that the boat incident is being used as a lever in this power struggle, or is it a money grab?
That said, I would reinforce some of the observations made earlier in the thread. While the water is warm, and the corals quite wonderful, the marine life in the Visayas was nowhere near as profuse as we have experienced in Lembeh, Manado/Bunaken, Komodo, Mabul, or Layang-Layang, for example. I suspect that much of this is due to the pervasive fishing at virtually every site that we visited. It is almost a joke that even a designated MPA (Marine Protected Area) with its attendant armed patrols, while restricting commercial fishing, still allows (over)fishing by the local villagers, to the point where we characterized a number of dive sites as "barren" in our dive logs. It's another sad example of man's negative effect on the environment. Hard to teach new behaviors here.
I certainly would not use the word "profuse" to describe the marine life in Bunaken/Lembeh/Manado and Layang Layang. It is well over 12 yrs sicne my last visit to Sipadan and Mabul and if my memory is correct they were no better than any average dive sites in Philippines. Any improvement? I doubt it.
Corruption is not the exclusive right in Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are much worst.
Corruption is not the exclusive right in Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are much worst.
Similar threads
