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CORALREPUBLIC Philippines,
2018 |
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Trip
dates: |
5-17 April 2018 |
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Boat
/ resort: |
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Dive
centre: |
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Photo-friendly?: |
Yes, on both
locations |
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Number
of dives: |
21 dives over 9
full days of diving |
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Diving
conditions: |
It was windy in Dauin and one day was overcast with a brief spell of
rain. Most other days it was clear but the sea was not flat, neither too
choppy. In Malapascua, we had similar conditions,
with strong currents in the afternoon in some sites (Deep Rock). Visibility
was average in Dauin, including in Apo Island
dives, also average in Malapascua save at Monad
Shoal, where it was quite good. |
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Comments: |
Eighth time in
the Philippines, one of our favourite destinations. Last time we were there
was 4 years ago, right before the storm Yolanda went through wreaking total
havoc over the Visayas. Now the government charges
daily taxes to dive all our usual sites. Not sure if that applies to the
whole Visayas, but we had to pay park fees both in Malapascua and Dauin. And we
were told these payments must be made in cash, either Phps
or Euros, but cash. It is not big money, but be advised if you go there.
Also, new regulations limit the range of wooden boats (of any non-metallic
hulled boat) to a few miles from the coast. As a result, diving Siquijor is no longer possible from Dauin,
and any boat trips from Dauin must in any case stop
by the coastguard a couple miles down the coast to have a permit signed every
day. One day, the relevant authority took an hour to turn up while we waited
on the boat. This only happened once and is nothing the dive centre can do
anything about. I had not been to
Dauin for a good while and I must say I loved it.
The quality of the diving is fantastic. The boats are great and the guides
excellent. The hotel food and drink was reasonably priced and good. Sea
Explorers offers three-tank trips at extra charge to Apo Island (this has not
changed) but also now to Oslob, to dive with the
whale sharks. There is now a huge business flourishing at this tiny locality
of the southeast Cebu coast, many buses with day excursions releasing dozens
of snorkelers to swim with the sharks while local fishermen feed them buckets of shrimp. We dived with them in 5 meters of
water. A lot of people don’t like this. They don’t like the fact that sharks are being fed because they think this alters their
behaviour and makes them dependent, or has an anti-natural impact on
their migration patterns. There is also a complaint that they get harassed by
divers and snorkelers. My view? There were about eight whale sharks of
different ages around during our dive. They seemed fine to me. I have
difficulty believing these animals feel harassed. I really think if that was
the case, they would not come back day after day to
be fed. Nobody knows really what impact this feeding will have on their
migratory routes or their behaviour in general. I don’t worry too much about
these animals. The bubble of the coastal development, with the pollution and
crowding that it entails, is more of a worry to me. There are small resorts
cropping up everywhere. If this is not kept under control, the whole thing
will not last. As such, the
experience of swimming with whale sharks, even in such “artificial”
conditions was really exciting and I enjoyed it very much indeed, and
probably would do it again. These are impressive animals. Shark feeding does
carry quite some risks when is done with other species, as it may cause
accidents with swimmers that get bitten. This has been shown to happen in
various parts of the world. But whale sharks are not at all dangerous. They
seem to enjoy their shrimp treats quite a lot. If or when the whole thing
goes out of hand, they will just leave, I think, and the only victims will be
greedy developers. Now, Malapascua, almost a second home to me. Last time we
visited was a couple of months before Yolanda tore through and flattened the
island, as I said earlier. I was a bit apprehensive about what I would find.
The bottom line is, I think, the storm has prompted rebuilding investment,
but it is unclear whether the benefits have gone to the people. There is a
new dock at Maya, mainland Cebu, where you take the bangkas
for the crossing to Malapascua. It is not quite
finished yet, but the investment will facilitate things by making Maya
accessible to bangkas even at low tide. They are
also building a proper dock at the village in Malapascua,
and I think villagers do appreciate this. However, in terms
of housing and sanitation, things have not improved at all. Most people lost
their homes and of course had no insurance to cope with it. I saw lots of new
B&Bs owned – I guessed by the names – by westerners. I wondered how many
of these were built on the remains of local homes whose owners had to sell or
lease the land because they could not afford rebuilding them. We were
appalled to hear that much of the money that came from charities and
spontaneous donations from overseas never reached families. Some must have
been invested in restoring the dive business to operation as quickly as
possible. The reasoning may have been that the quicker the business back on, the
quicker employers would be able to pay salaries to the loads of people that
live from this in the Island. Yet, it is not sure that locals shared this
view. Many think they were mistreated and unfairly deprived of much needed
funds to rebuild their homes. Those lucky enough had to resort to getting
loans from family or friends to rebuild, and will be paying those back for a
long time to come. We saw many changes in staffing around the various dive
centres, including Sea Explorers. There were a lot of angry people, it seems.
This was an awful thing to hear. I would have
expected that after the storm, the authorities would have taken the chance of
improving water supply and waste treatment. These are crucial services in a
small island. But it looked like many villagers still have to procure their
water from common wells. We were told that just days after the storm the two
main telecom companies had already rebuilt their towers. I can’t help wonder
how on earth private profit-seeking companies can make people think a phone
is more important than clean water for their children. Throughout all
these conversations, we heard about the terror and hardship our friends went
through. It was heartbreaking. But happily, nobody
died or suffer major injuries, and the truth is, the
community held strong and people supported each other in an admirable show of
resilience. Hats off. The dive sites
were not affected too much by the storms, and the sharks were happily roaming
about Monad Shoal as always. We were lucky to coincide with Howard and
Michele Hall on a couple of dives, which was exciting. They are super nice,
approachable people, and their video and imagery work is rightly famous the
world over, so it was a real pleasure to meet them. I ditched the
wide angle and took only macro shots. I wanted to see the sharks with my own
eyes this time, rather than through the viewfinder. I did the same with the
whale sharks in Oslob, actually, and I don’t regret
it. Sometimes a photographer has to ditch the kit and enjoy observing the
fascinating marine life in peace, without worrying about framing, f-stops or
lighting. If you cannot do that, something is not quite right with you, at least that is what I think. Anyway, it has
taken me quite sometime to go through my pics and
share them, I am growing quite lazy, but here they are. I hope you enjoy
them. We are still working on a video, so keep coming back to this site from
time to time! Our thanks to our
great friend divemaster Martin, as always. And best
wishes to her little Sphia, who had her first
birthday party while we were there. We love you all. |
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