Dive Trip Report: Bleh Boracay

[clgsamson]

Agree with you on the overdevelpment - in four years of going there the island has changed, for the worse before my eyes. Shame though, stunner of a beach. .

So what can be done to stop this happening in future?

Build a power plant? Ooops.....wrong thread :rofl2:

 

[Babydamulag]

The resort owners in Boracay can fix their issues if they really wanted to make Boracay a better place. The environmental laws of the Philippines are very good. Enforcement and compliance are the issue. We are concerned when we see them trickling into our area because theirs is ruined. Any diver worth their salt does not go to Boracay to dive. The place is just going to get worse with the influx of more tourists.

 

[neopluredon]

boracay = malate + salt water + fishes + some rock like corrals...

after reading your post, the more that i don't want to dive... i've been there but haven't taken a dip. thanks for the tip.

but then again, i might dive there just for the sake of adding it to my log book

 

[Kevrumbo]

Sounds like diving on touristy overcrowded Waikiki Beach in Oahu --which no serious scubadiver does because there is nothing exciting or amazing to see anymore (well . . .other than the massively fake soo-soos walking & swimming around:buggy: ).

[Kevrumbo currently on the WiFi at El Galleon Resort, Puerto Galera --no massacres ever going on over here. . .]

 

[Joe Cool]

I am already booked to do my Rescue Course in Boracay. I will be there from Feb. 25 to March 2 next year. I have been hearing a lot about how unexciting the dives are over there. I just chose Boracay as the venue for my Rescue Course because of its fine soft sand. It will be way easier to do the shore rescue exercises. I am booked to dive, learn and stay with Blue Mango Dive (along Boat Station #3, quiet side of the beach). So far, so good. Blue Mango's dive and accomodation rates are very similar to or even better than some good dive resorts in PG. I hope the service is good. We'll see They have been very responsive via email and they made a really good impression on me especially the way they responded. Very professional. In between rescue classes, I plan to do Yapak dives and probably some nearby night dives. My dive guide tells me that Yapak is, so far, the best advanced dive site in Boracay. All else is so-so. When I reach PI, Boracay is first in my list. It is, IMHO, a nice area to get used to diving again (after more than 6 months hiatus) before my dive trips to Tubbataha, Bohol and Sogod Bay (I'll be in Pinas for more than a month).

I have not been to Boracay nor have I seen it personally. So, this would be a good opportunity for me to see another over-developed resort area and learn from that experience.

Phil

 

[HomelessDiver]

A bunch of rocks, some coral, some reef... yea, those dozen damn pesky coral gardens larger than you can single tank dive on (each).

 

[Babydamulag]

I am not knocking the dive "training". If you want a vacation with the glitz and glamor of the big city with the ability to do some dive training then you are in good shape. The traveling/vacationing diver could pick better venues in the Philippines.

 

[greatwolf]

thanks babyd... and yes, i did get my horn polished when i got home...

i didn't mention that there were a disturbing number of trannies on the prowl when i was in boracay - real scary, i mean, they weren't fooling anyone with those tiny miniskirts, fake boobs and adam's apple bukol that was about as big as the bukol on the miniskirts...

but I don't think it's really purely man's fault - seems that that areas is really not a dive heaven... great beach, but lousy dives

Jag

LOL. When I was there, the beach was practically deserted. It was beautiful.

 

[antiquediver]

Thanks Shugar and Babydamulag....
in short notes...

Fall in Lane at the warehouse and find your personal fish

 

[Izel]

DISCLAIMER: if you love Boracay diving this is not for you, go elsewhere.

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Got to stick in a couple dives while I was in Boracay for the Nescafe Soundskool Workshop.

Overall Boracay is an expensive and ugly place to dive. I don't know what foreigners see there but by Filipino Diver standards that is the most boring, uninteresting and overall pathetic excuse for diving.

Jag,

Bora is in sorry state, indeed. Dove the same sites last year and it was as you described it. Thanks for the trip report nonetheless. But I'm still curious about Yapak 1 and 2 - a promise to a friend I have to keep.

Regards,
Gi