New Member

[passfire]

Hi All,

I meet Spoon on the Deco Stop forums and he told me about this group. My wife is from the Philippines but we are living in Central Florida right now. She keeps wanting to move back to the Phils but that is such a huge move for me! I can run my business from anywhere so money or jobs is not an issue, but I worry about culture shock. Are there many American divers among you who actually live there? It certainly seems to be cheap to live there, but I worry about things like the terrorists in Southern island, local uprisings, government corruption etc. It sounds like there's also a pretty big drug addiction problem going on there right now that is driving up the crime rate. Are these things really a concern? I have the Philippines Channel on my DirectTV subscription so I can at least watch the news and shows there to get an idea about the culture. I have only been there one time, in Cebu, but that was for only two weeks so I didn't get to see much.

Also I'm wondering about what the dive scene is like there. I'm mainly into cave and wreck diving. I guess I would be into reef diving also if Florida had the nice reefs that the Phils has, but the reefs in Florida are pretty boring. It seems like the terrain in the Phils would be ripe for caves, but I haven't heard much about any caves there. Are there many good wrecks in the 100-200ft depth range? From looking at your gear desriptions it looks like the shops must be well stocked, so that's good. How hard is it to get O2? I'm pretty spoiled living here in Florida, at least as far as tech diving goes. We have lots of caves and good wrecks!

-Kyle

 

[ishbaby]

but I worry about culture shock. Are there many American divers among you who actually live there? It certainly seems to be cheap to live there, but I worry about things like the terrorists in Southern island, local uprisings, government corruption etc. It sounds like there's also a pretty big drug addiction problem going on there right now that is driving up the crime rate. Are these things really a concern?

All these things happen in every country, it just sounds all hyped up by media all the time, we have all the great beaches and dive sites, the Philippines is not only made up of one big, crazy place called Manila, there are so many places to go to, so dont worry about those stuff u hear in the news. . . you will definitely like it here.

 

[Halthron]

A lot of the stuff that you hear going on here gets overblown by the media. As far as American divers in the PI, it depends where you go. You'll find few caucasians at local dive sites like Anilao and a greater number of them at the more touristy places like PG. Phil divers are fun to be around though, I'm glad I didn't limit myself to diving just with my countymen.

Cave diving is mostly by word of mouth. There are caves to dive but it's not as well known as the reef and wreck diving. As far as wrecks, you may have heard of WW2? Lots of wrecks from that time litter the entire country, never mind the wrecks from outside wartime.

 

[Babydamulag]

Didn't he just describe most major cities in the US?!?!?!

 

[paolov]

americans..... hey Eric better invite kyle to the american club gathering ..... hehhehe

note :to politicians and people who think they are doing the country service - i don't care what you think.
KYLE : american politics runs the show here in the Philippines ! but ofcourse they deny nor confirm.

getting O2 is easy. bring your own. it's easy to get your own here. and of various sizes. now for U/W O2 that you know has to be handled by a Dive OP for your requirements.

i just purchased my topside O2 unit here and it's relatively cheap.


ask more questions and we'll try to give you an answer that you could use.


.

 

[chip104]

Welcome to the PPD kyle!

No worries about the crime. I think culture shock would be an issue if you've never lived outside the US since it is very different! But once you adjust, I'm sure you'll love this country even through all the bad.

O2 is easy to get. I hear helium is expensive. Subic and Coron are the wreck diving havens in the 100-200ft range. I don't know many caves around here but Spoon can hook you up with a lot of good contacts about that.

A good portion of the PI is made up of limestone and -as halthron brought up - a lot of ships sank during WWII that we may never know about, so if you ever want to explore, I'm sure you'll be able to find something interesting.

 

[passfire]

Didn't he just describe most major cities in the US?!?!?!

Actually, US cities are even worse, that's why I don't live there either. We have a big problem with guns and gangs here, and a justice system that just turns criminals free again. When I was in the Phils I was able to walk around some pretty poor villages at night without worrying about getting beat over the head. If I tried that in an American ghetto I wouldn't have lasted five minutes!

We actually don't hear much about the Phils in the media here. My awareness of the drug problem comes from my wife and her family members, who's neighborhood has had a real problem with youths getting addicted to shabu (sp?). Even her brother and sister fell prey to it, and many of their friends have been in and out of rehab. Perhaps this is only common in poor neighborhoods just like in America, I don't really know.

I didn't mean to sound like I only wanted to dive with American divers, I only wanted to get the perspective of what it is like living there from an American who lives there. I see how hard it is for the Filipinas to adjust when they move over here, they really get pretty depressed at first and it takes several years to get over the culture shock. So I just wonder what it is like when the tables are turned and I am the one that has to adjust.

That is good to hear about the WWII wrecks. I figured there is a bunch of wrecks there, but I didn't know if they were within diving limits. The waters around most islands tend to get deep really fast, so I figured many wrecks would be beyond 300ft deep. Here in Florida most of the wrecks are artificialy sunk, so they are stripped clean and there's nothing interesting you would ever find inside one. A reall WWII wreck would be quite spectacular!

The other thing I like about the Philippines is the period around Christmas and New Years where everyone shoots off lots of fireworks. My profession is in the fireworks industry, but in America there are too many overprotective laws that ban the fireworks in many states. America is not "land of the free" anymore in a lot of areas these days.

-Kyle

 

[greatwolf]

Hey dude, welcome to the board. Here's a site that may give you a few answers about living in the Philippines.

 

[Babydamulag]

I understood exactly what you meant....I was ribbing you. We have no issues living here. Many of us have homes, businesses, and enjoy our vacations in the Philippines. Stay out of the bad neighborhoods (like anywhere else in the world) and you are good to go. Living in the Philippines is the BEST! Diving in the Philippines is even BETTER!! Bring it on....dive yourself silly and have fun!

 

[paolov]

come and join me and lets light some Super Lolos !!!! with Moonie riding one or a couple of them.

:05:

The other thing I like about the Philippines is the period around Christmas and New Years where everyone shoots off lots of fireworks. My profession is in the fireworks industry, but in America there are too many overprotective laws that ban the fireworks in many states. America is not "land of the free" anymore in a lot of areas these days.

-Kyle