iamrushman
Contributor
thank you for the informative trip report. really enjoyed it......keep them coming.
Malapascua Trip Report
- Thread starter WetPup
- Start date
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The last few posts has reinforced my preconceived opinions of diving in tlhe Philippines. My only experience diving in the Philippines was a Tubbataha LoB. The trip was fine, but the dive experience was at best similar and certainly not as good as remote Indonesia. Before I make any decisions as a guide, I watch my divers before banning gloves or pointers. Happy holidays!
Mucksavage
Contributor
There is an ordinance for Malapascua dating back as far as 2002 banning all divers from wearing gloves amongst many other rules. It has been edited and reissued several times since and gloves remain on the prohibited list along with reef hooks and 'diving with gear destructive to the Marine Reserve Areas'.
billt4sf
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I'm guessing that muck sticks and gloves are not even close to being the biggest threats to the reef at Malapascua.
- Bill
- Bill
Tippytoes12
Contributor
Thanks very much OP for taking the time to write and post this excellent report. Agree with DF that unless people can share not so good experiences , as well as raves , this forum would be pretty useless.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
Luko
Contributor
Thanks for th ereport Wetpup, this is also what I thought of Malapascua and why I never came back, even though there was much less divers at the time I first came (and also no dive Police as well).
It had to be said.
I would agree on a general level, however, I don't when it comes to specifics.
1- Try diving Anilao with Dennis Corpuz once and you get one of the best macro experience, on a par even better than Lembeh/Ambon because of less divers in your private boat. I rate Anilao pier the best nightdive in the world. Period.
2- You willl nowhere find in Indonesia the sardine school like in Moalboal. I dived a few times there in the past 6 years, it was incredible when the school was located on Pescador (best soft coral cover you can spot anywhere in Asia, better than Bangka or R4) but it's still magical now relocated off Panagsama more modest walls.
3- Filipino guides are often better than Indo guides. With a few exceptions of course...
It had to be said.
I would agree on a general level, however, I don't when it comes to specifics.
1- Try diving Anilao with Dennis Corpuz once and you get one of the best macro experience, on a par even better than Lembeh/Ambon because of less divers in your private boat. I rate Anilao pier the best nightdive in the world. Period.
2- You willl nowhere find in Indonesia the sardine school like in Moalboal. I dived a few times there in the past 6 years, it was incredible when the school was located on Pescador (best soft coral cover you can spot anywhere in Asia, better than Bangka or R4) but it's still magical now relocated off Panagsama more modest walls.
3- Filipino guides are often better than Indo guides. With a few exceptions of course...
Photos from the trip...
Look, it was what it was. Like I said, I can see the potential for some good diving there. The whole diving experience is simply being ruined by overcrowding and too many inexperienced divers in the water. And from chatting to various people on the island, there seems to be very little interest in the various dive ops cooperating to do anything to resolve the situation because ultimately it would result in someone losing out financially (at least in the short term).
Look, it was what it was. Like I said, I can see the potential for some good diving there. The whole diving experience is simply being ruined by overcrowding and too many inexperienced divers in the water. And from chatting to various people on the island, there seems to be very little interest in the various dive ops cooperating to do anything to resolve the situation because ultimately it would result in someone losing out financially (at least in the short term).
1. Everyone wants to see the thresher shark so how would you control the crowd?
2. Inexperienced divers? They are everywhere so how would you stop them from going to Monad Shoal? Most operators certainly won't be interested to implement any restriction.
Interestingly when I first went to Malapascua in 2002, sighting of thresher is a hit and miss. But for some reasons they are being sighted quite regularly nowadays even with so many divers around the area!
Success brings its own set of problems.
2. Inexperienced divers? They are everywhere so how would you stop them from going to Monad Shoal? Most operators certainly won't be interested to implement any restriction.
Interestingly when I first went to Malapascua in 2002, sighting of thresher is a hit and miss. But for some reasons they are being sighted quite regularly nowadays even with so many divers around the area!
Success brings its own set of problems.
1. You control the crowds by having a coordinated schedule. As they do with diving in places like Lembeh, the resorts cooperate and coordinate with each other so that you don't have too many boats on the same dive site at the same time - particularly on dive sites where numbers are an issue. So you'd have certain resorts who do the thresher shark dive on certain days. And yes, this will mean some coordination will be needed by the dive community so that they plan their trips to dive with a certain dive op in order to make sure that they manage to get out to see the threshers on one of that dive ops scheduled days, but something needs to be done. This policy works elsewhere, and I see no reason it can't work in Malapascua, beyond the fact that the dive ops simply can't see beyond the short term financial impact.
2. I could deal with a couple of inexperienced divers, but this comes back to point 1. It's not just a couple of them, it's boatloads of them. Again, if something was done to reduce the overcrowding, I think this second issue would largely resolve itself.
2. I could deal with a couple of inexperienced divers, but this comes back to point 1. It's not just a couple of them, it's boatloads of them. Again, if something was done to reduce the overcrowding, I think this second issue would largely resolve itself.
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