Tubbataha trip report

[ezywalker]

Im on Expediton fleet, Tubbataha middle of May. I hope it's good ;-)

 

[Hammerhead]

i think there's still adventurebound which uses the mv Vasco. GUE guys.

*shudders*

Spoiler

 

[ericpitar]

Hey Jeff,

I just read your posting. Just curious if you were in Tubbataha around May 8-13? I'm asking coz around that date, we were in a different liveaboard but could see Stella Maris anchored in the same area. 'Word was, they could not dive for 1 to 2 days due to the weather....We, on the other hand, were diving the whole time while they sat around their jaquzzi. The water was choppy on the surface but it was great most of the time underneath tho definitely not the best conditions.

If it's the same inexperienced boat manager they had, then that probly explains why he was trying to err on the safe side.

I also read another story about one of the Expedition fleet's liveaboards running aground in Tubbataha as well. 'Hope these guys get their act together.


Eric

I just got back from a liveaboard to Tubbataha. I was diving aboard the Stella Maris operated by the Expedition Fleet.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed. The boat manager who chose all the dive sites and lead the dives had very little knowledge of the area. He had a total of about 2 weeks diving experience on Tubbataha, and he quite obviously didn't know how to dive the reef. He frequently would miss the site that he was trying to bring us to. He was dead wrong about the currents on every single dive. At one point he chose a site that the second mate (a local familiar with the reef) said he had never heard of anyone diving and he thought it would be good. Guess what? The second mate was right.

In defense of the boat manager, he was trying his best, he just suffered from lack of knowlege. The company should be responsible for training him better.

The conditions were terrible. The seas were very rough, and visibility was comparable to New England (50 feet max). The liveaboard company advertises that they usually experience 200 feet of visibility, but I found out that poor vis is typical for this time of year. Vis doesn't clear up for a couple of weeks still. I could tell that the diving would be excellent if conditions were right, but the vis sucked, the currents were dead (so the big stuff wasn't around) and the dive master didn't know what he was doing. The coral was spectacular. More healthy gorgonians than I've ever seen. Several varieties of coral that I'd never seen. Nice diving, just not as nice as I expected.

If you're planning a trip to Tubbataha, I suggest trying later in the season and NOT using the Expedition fleet.

 

[World Wide Diver]

Ziiiiiiip .......... No comment here from me. :ignore:

 

[clgsamson]

:rofl2:

 

[kersny]

jeff,

sorry to hear your disappointment.

We just returned from the Oceanic expedition fleet April 17-22nd.

Our dive managers were well informed and the divemaster Dinto was exceptional.Their knowledge of the reef, what to look for, currents etc were very good.

We had a full boat 30 people and no incidents. Food was great, dives were overall very good. Even with all the people. 4 dives during the day and 3 night dives. (night dives were pretty basic and nothing unusual.

Last day only 2 dives out of 4 as bad weather came in. 3/4 of the boat were sea sick coming back in very high waves. Weather patterns have been changing in the last year according to the crews and rangers.

We also had the opportunity of having Angelica the overall park manager on board the first day and received even more information the park and dive sites.

At the same time the President of the philippines and her daughter were moored next to us for a day diving the sights. (this would explain the navy cruisers on the horizon.)

It appears the expedition fleet relies heavily on the managers and individual dive masters. It is luck of the draw in who you get on the boat and how much effort they put into the trip and divers.

In general the reefs and walls were very good. No whale sharks on this trip.

Turtles, barracuda, sharks in abundance and multiples of fish everywhere. The sunnier the day, the better the color of the reefs. At 90ft and overcast color just wasn't there.

One of the divers was attacked by a trigger fish which drew blood and put him out of diving for 1 day. He did threaten to hunt down the culprit and bring it back live, dead or fried.

Other than that no incidents and a well received trip by all other divers.

Sorry to hear you trip wasn't as good.

 

[pakman]

Any shots of the "presidential" yacht?

 

[jefffalcone]

Hey Jeff,

I just read your posting. Just curious if you were in Tubbataha around May 8-13? I'm asking coz around that date, we were in a different liveaboard but could see Stella Maris anchored in the same area. 'Word was, they could not dive for 1 to 2 days due to the weather....We, on the other hand, were diving the whole time while they sat around their jaquzzi. The water was choppy on the surface but it was great most of the time underneath tho definitely not the best conditions.

If it's the same inexperienced boat manager they had, then that probly explains why he was trying to err on the safe side.

I also read another story about one of the Expedition fleet's liveaboards running aground in Tubbataha as well. 'Hope these guys get their act together.


Eric

I wasn't on the boat you saw. We dived every day. The boat manager we had was a total ass. There was a guy on the boat who had 10 years of experience diving tubataha, but the boat manager was too proud to ask for his advice.

When we weren't diving, the boat manager spent his time telling obviously made up stories about his adventures. This guy felt the need to one up anything anyone on the boat had done. He also lost one of my friend's weight pockets when switching his tanks. We weren't allowed to switch our own tanks, or I personally would not have let this a-hole touch my gear. He swore up and down that he would make sure to replace my buddy's weight pocket. Well it has been a year now and still no weight pocket. Just another lie.

Tubbataha is one of the most amazing places on earth, but the expedition fleet is a irresponsible and poorly run company. One of the dive masters they had hired on my boat had no business being in the water, never mind leading dives. She dived verticle in the water column and very overweight, constantly finning up to stay off the bottom. The year before I went, expedition fleet ran a boat aground on the reef and destroyed a huge section of reef. Find another company to dive with. These guys are jerks. I gaurentee there will be periodic accidents as long as expedition fleet is on the reef. If you dive with expedition, you might have an amazing experience, because Tubbataha is so nice that it would be hard not to have an amazing experience, but you will be giving your money to irresponsible people and you might have to deal with a lot of BS, and who knows, you could be on the next boat to destroy the reef.

Personally I will swim to the reef from the mainland before I give another penny to expedition fleet. But if I can, I would definitely like to see Tubbataha again.

 

[jefffalcone]

It appears the expedition fleet relies heavily on the managers and individual dive masters. It is luck of the draw in who you get on the boat and how much effort they put into the trip and divers.

In general the reefs and walls were very good. No whale sharks on this trip.

.

Luck of the draw does not excuse a company from hiring unqualified help. The reefs and walls at Tubbataha are some of the best in the world, arguably the best. Expedition fleet has nothing to do with this. I'm glad you "got lucky", but you shouldn't have to. I have dived all over the world this is the only time that I have experienced a company that would be willing to have a man who had only one week of prior experience at a site lead dives on that site. Everwehere else I have been the dives were lead by someone who knew the sites like the back of his hand. It is just irresposible to hire people who are not qualified to do their job. If they can not find qualified help, they souldn't be there! Give expedition a few more years of crashing into the reef and Tubbataha will no longer be the pristeen gem that it is today.

Just as an example, this dive master tried to dive shark airport 5 times. He never found the site??!!!

 

[Asia Dive Paradise]

Maybe next year I can do Tubbataha
with the climate change going now and next yeah (sigh)