We are some of the luckiest people in history

[wetman]

Have you ever thought about just how fortunate we are to be able to go to the places we go and see the things we see?

A couple buddies and I just got back from a trip to Cozumel. The sights down there are beyond description. If you haven't had a chance to get to a tropical place (it was my first time in one), do everything within your power to get there and see the sites. We stayed at a great resort (Occidental Grand) and it was off season so the price was fantastic. Everything about the diving experience was a joy - picked up on the beach in front of the resort, tanks and weights waiting in the boat, very short boat ride in calm waters, all dives were drift dives in super clear, warm water so you didn't even have to expend any energy on your dive - just look around and watch the incredible show go by.

Even the fact that we dove with divemasters wasn't a negative experience as i thought it might be - these were our first dives with divemasters.

Then to get finished with a day of diving and jump right into fantastic meals/drinks was just the icing on the cake. Oh, and then do it all again the next day.

This trip made me realize just how fortunate we all are to be enjoying this sport as we do. On many dives, I think about how I'd love to be able to bring everyone I know with me to see the sites that they're missing - video and pictures rarely do these things justice.

100 years ago none of this stuff was really possible on the scale it is today.

I also think we should remember to thank the people who are willing to teach this stuff.

steve

 

[Welshman]

Steve

You obviously had a great trip.

Nonetheless very appropriate of you to remember how fortunate we are when we get to enjoy something that good.

Regards

 

[Lawman]

I'm always pleased that I can turn at my desk and talk
to friends in other countries about something we all like.
These really are good times.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Many of the people on those tropical islands are dirt poor. They could afford none of the luxuries that we are enjoying. You go there, enjoy their resource in which they can't, give your money to some international conglomerate that don't give any of it back to them.

Cozumel ain't so bad, but there are plenty of other islands which are much worse. All you have to do is take a detour off the main tourist strip and you could see everything.

 

[O-ring]

Lwang once bubbled...
Many of the people on those tropical islands are dirt poor. They could afford none of the luxuries that we are enjoying. You go there, enjoy their resource in which they can't, give your money to some international conglomerate that don't give any of it back to them.

Cozumel ain't so bad, but there are plenty of other islands which are much worse. All you have to do is take a detour off the main tourist strip and you could see everything.

You don't think their local economy enjoys any benefits from tourism? What if nobody went? How would they be doing then?

 

[Lawman]

Are you arguing with the premise or agreeing?

 

[Lawman]

Lwang that is

 

[redacted]

I think the favorable price was still the effects of the grand opening (Sept), rather than season. So what was your favorite - mexican, mediterranean, or steak - surely not the pizza. Now if they could just rebuild the beach.

Good to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

O-ring once bubbled...

You don't think their local economy enjoys any benefits from tourism? What if nobody went? How would they be doing then?

They wouldn't be much worse off. Many of those resorts charges unbelievable high prices, on par with high expense locations like Aspen.

In those places, labor is practically free, food expense is low and profit is high, but most of it gets siphoned away by the international corporations.

I know most divers go stay at the hole in the wall and eat locally where the money goes to the local merchants, but that isn't where the bulk of the money goes into.

Are you arguing with the premise or agreeing?

I am saying it is lucky for us. There are some places that is so poor, that the locals spear fished up all the tropical fish in the water.

 

[O-ring]

Lwang once bubbled...


They wouldn't be much worse off. Many of those resorts charges unbelievable high prices, on par with high expense locations like Aspen.

In those places, labor is practically free, food expense is low and profit is high, but most of it gets siphoned away by the international corporations.

I know most divers go stay at the hole in the wall and eat locally where the money goes to the local merchants, but that isn't where the bulk of the money goes into.


I am saying it is lucky for us. There are some places that is so poor, that the locals spear fished up all the tropical fish in the water.

People make similar arguments against Nike and the World Bank (and against globalization in general)...like Nike paying 10 cents a day or something to an 8 year old for assembling shoes in a factory. Some people just don't realize that without that 10 cents a day the whole family would starve and the kids in that particular culture have always worked to help the family. I think tourism keeps some of these nations afloat..

The thing I think that is good about these arrangements is that by building the resorts on the nation's property (the definition of this industry) the large multinational corporations you speak of are forced to engage in foreign direct investment in that country. That not only creates local jobs, but also increases the ties the two countries have with each other and encourages the free flow of information, ideas, technology, and currency across national borders. I really don't think the negatives come close to outweighing the positives...