⌛ Top 10 in the World? In Dreamworld!

To be Frank with you

Yo be frank with you , as I allways am with everybody ..
Yes it sure starts to look that way..
I have jus step down from entertaining KID , sorry work comes first ..
Beside even my wife said , that it makes no sense spending anymore time on that person.
So many good members here on so many topics ... so little time...
Your arguments about closing down divespots and so on.. is realy a hit into the right direction.. That is also one of the reasons I have NOT revealed any of the " new " places . though for those that want to know , I will give by email or PM.. .Atleast Corey we agree on that one......

 

So far i read this topic, no good,lot of unnecessary word fights,i can't blame the philippine symphatizers to be mad,because this thread if you see from the start begins with such slap insult,is this how good you start a healthy thread ? Is this person zambisi here to tell his gooda stories of his underwater trippings to insult to prove something the new credits of his underwater discoveries,whoaoa , no good.there is more of big ego in the background at play other than only sharing real stories to entertain the less travelled here who can't refute and ofcourse many likes this kid . who else likes kid but those who unfortunately have gullible tendencies.

 

C'mon people enough of the BS... let's have a pleasant discussion instead of a slagging match.

 

Good spoken

Well you will see mthat üs "as in you and me and many others share the same point of view.. beside it all he is talking from teh side of his neck . Very frustrated person , no love , perhaps single spoiled child .. what ever reason .. He wants to kick asses here , but should do that somewhere else..
I am a Dutchman BUT DON,T talk nasty of the PHILS !!! If you don,t like it here JUST MOVE ! WRIGHT ? Bewide that we have pput up ample deffence for the scientifc proof that the Phils is STILL the best over and overe and over and overe and oever .. but he DOES NOT WISH TO ADMIT the wanker !

 

you speak of the truth mr earl in this regard.

 

Well you at least you smelt Wanker right!

 

Diving in Dauin area

Well this was for sure a very long and tiring thread to read - have to admit I skipped a lot of it.

Like Rhoony I agree with some parts of the criticisme but find other parts exaggerated or misplaced.

One thing, I do agree on, is that overfishing is a huge problem in most of the Filippines. There are hardly any "big fish" like sharks left anywhere.

I also agree, that the dive industri in Dauin / Negros Oriental are facing political problems. Dive and even snorkeling fees are collected, not so much to protect the marine environment, but more to fill the pockets of the municipality or even the mair in person.

This is annoying, and like Rhoody write, the area is "walking on thin ice" in this respect. Suggesting however, that the industri "should do something about it", seems quite naive or even ignorant.

The Philippines is a third world country and unfortunatly it is also a very immature democracy. Moreover, the country has some of the most corrupt politicians in the entire world. In real live therefore, the dive operators in Dauin can choose to either live with the situation or simply close their business.

An industri owned entirely by foreigners has no sympathy or understanding whatsoever with local people, nor with the politicians. That is the sad fact of life in this part of the world. Add to this the typical filippino attitude of rather going for a dime today than a possible dollar tomorrow, and the situation is more or less explained.

Other parts of the criticisme I can not really understand. If Apo Island is one of the 10 best diving spots in the world, I don`t know. Its probably not, but it sure isn`t that bad either. I have had some great dives there.

As for fishing cages being all around the island. Well, yes, fishing is allowed in some parts of Apo Island, but I can´t recognise that description. I can only remember to have seen a very few on my many dives there. About litter flowing around, this is certainly also not anything I can recognice.

Admittedly it is 2½ years since I have been diving in Apo Island, and the situation could have deteriorated since then. But I dought it could have deteriorated that much to be honost.

 

Apo Overrated

I finally had a chance to dive in a number of spots on the south side Apo island over the weekend. I have to say that I am terribly dissapointed. The notion that this could be one of the top dive areas in the world has to be a mistake. I am sorry but that's the way I see it. It is embarrasing when (on one one dive) all the divemaster can show you is a single 9kg Grouper, a couple of Nudibranchs, two banded sea snakes, couple jacks and blue runners and thats it. Of course your usual tenants clown fish, et al. Very sad indeed. Oh and one turtle. I would say there are nice corals but nothing special compared to thousands of other coral reef dive sites in troipical regions of the world

And to think I traveled thousands of miles for this. I dare say I won't be recommending diving here to anyone for fear of embarrassment. I'm off to Thailand and then back here to Tubbataha in March which I have heard only great things about.

Luckily I'm only PASSING THROUGH

Cheers

 

That's indeed bad news

The ONLY think why expats would consider living in Dumaguete is because of Apo Island.

This is because Apo creates a destination for tourist, which results in resorts/restos, which makes Dumaguete an interesting place to visit/live, even for non-diving expats.

If Apo goes down the drain (and yes, there is incredible trash problem in Apo, even with all the extortion in fees they collect--they apparently collect these fees and buy stuff, and throw the packaging anywhere), the diving tourists will no longer come, and the resorts will close, and expats will leave.

Everything hinges on Apo. Everything.

 

Are WE glad you're only passing through !
It is said by many members here already....you can't judge after only a few dives with even maybe the 'wrong' guides.
I dived there also last week again and get more positive by the time.
It's true about the fishing cages; I saw a few, but luckily all empty !
I will surely try my best to get things improved regarding waste, fees end other less positive points. Hope we can jointly make local administration convinced of the necessity to introduce some improvements.
But..... we are visitors here and can't shout that they are misbehaving.
You get me, I hope ! Thanks of only passing through :D
Oh by the way....welcome to this forum