Dive-Monster Rhoody

Thalatta Garden and cottages

The large Pool-Area is the center of Thalatta. Well designed with a shallow entry part and a deep end, ideal for Scuba-Diving courses. The Beachresort has some separate small pools for Kids and a Open Air-Jacuzzi. The whole area is surrounded with tropical plants in all colors and shapes. The chef of the Restaurant is a french guy who really knows how to serve you local and international delights.

The diveshop in Thalatta is managed by “Raffi” and Easy-Diving from Sipalay. All equipment is brand new and the staff very professional. Easy Diving offers Scuba courses from Beginner up to professional level. Daytrips to the nearby Apo Island are scheduled a few times weekly. At present a big Bangka is under construction to give the guests the chance for some dive-safaris through-out the Visayas and northern Mindanao. 

There is a consumable entrance fee of some hundred peso if you don’t stay in the Resort and big groups might be rejected, so better call or mail the management before you go there.

cheers

Rhoody

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A year ago or so my friends Tom and Kim were living down here in Dumaguete or better 20 kilometer south of it in a small village called Maajong Tubig. We were drinking and partying many times together but never dived. When they finally decided to move back to Angeles City we ran almost out of time and squeezed in as many dives as possible.

Finally 2 days before departure Michelle the lovely girlfriend of Tom decided to make a PADI Discover Scuba Programm with me. A DISCO is usually the first experience in the water with SCUBA equipment. The participant has almost nothing to do… just breathing. If the DISCO programm is conducted in the open water they have to clear the mask and recover the regulater as some easy skills.

Michelle did it with flying colors and the rest was simply fun. Sometimes it is just great to be a PADI Scuba Diving instructor in the Philippines. Now almost a year later I dedected a short video of that dive on youtube. I thought Tom was just making pictures, but obviously he recorded a few frequences of that dive. Good that I behaved a kind of…

Somehow I must thank Asia Divers in Puerto Galera and PADI. Asia Divers made me to a complete diving addict and PADI gives me the tools to enjoy that kind of stuff.

cheers and enjoy

Rhoody

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While doing some research for my diving-page Philippinen-tauchen.com  I came across a nice article about Verde Island on CDNN and I thought I should share it with you. Here is a part of it…

PUERTO GALERA, Philippines – Verde Island Passage south of Manila has been described as the “centre of the centre” of the world’s marine biodiversity in a joint study by America’s Smithsonian Institute.

Beneath the turquoise waves that funnel nutrients from the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea are spectacular reef formations of more than 300 species of coral and underwater rock canyons that host nearly 60 percent of the world’s known shorefish species.

“This area can be considered the marine counterpart to the Amazon River basin,” said Kent Carpenter of the World Conservation Union, co-author of the study which put the passage at the peak of the “Coral Triangle” that spans the Sulawesi and the Sulu Seas in the southern Philippines and nearby Indonesia….

see the full story here

The only thing I don’t like is the last part as it is just promotion for a dive-shop, but the rest is a interesting read.

cheers

Rhoody

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Many people know that I was working there for 2.5 years. I stopped working at Atlantis Beach Resort in Dumaguete August 07, or should I say I got stopped as I have an own Character and don’t fit in the Diving MC Donald’s policy of the owners.

I never said anything bad about Atlantis and the value for money, but what I know, hear and read on different SCUBA diving boards is just scary and life-threatening.

In September I was contacted to help with some information about the altitude of the waterfalls. Putting my 2 Cents of knowledge together and the public post on DumagueteInfo.com there must have been a Decompression problem. Getting in contact with the person I found out that the customer-caring management sent them to 650 – 700 meters altitude after 2 weeks of “hardcore”-diving (up to 4 dives a day) and two dives in the morning.

One of the guests suffered the next day during the flight from decompression-problems and had to extend the stop-over in Singapore for treatment in the recompression chamber.

Around the same time Chef Guenther gave me a note that some Star-Divemaster went to Apo Island did a 42 meter dive and after a quite short surface interval a 46 meter dive. Those dives were no technical dives. Back on the Boat the diver recognized some itchy skin and red spots, a very clear sign for decompression problems. The responsible person on the boat was the Diveshop manager of Atlantis Dumaguete and a IDC-Staff Instructor from Puerto Galera. The education-level of those should be high enough for some proper treatment, but at least Guenther the Chef (not diving since 3 years) knew what to do. Other Philippino Instructors got fired for doing things like that, even there was no accident or problem involved. That probably never happens if you are the little puppie of one ow the owners.

Even more strange that Atlantis is promoting “SAFETY FIRST”, listening to that stories and knowing quite some facts I consider that Karabaw Poo (the philippino version of Bullsh…)

If it comes to American groups it is a hunt for enormous tip’s.  Many safety-rules got thrown overboard.

30 Meter/100 feet limit… only with non-americans.
Only non-decompression dives… no problem, we multilevel up and spend 20 minutes in the shallow anyway. 

Very amusing, that divers from the US visiting the Philippines are almost all PADI divers aged 50 and above who are not in the best physical conditions anymore…

Most European divers are CMAS, VDST or equivalent educated. In that systems diver learn to make dives below 40 meters and deco-procedures, but they can’t do that dives in Dumaguete, at least not in Atlantis. Maybe they should also give 100 $ tip at the beginning of the week, would make thing easier for them.

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Dumaguete, is the capital of the province Negros Oriental, in the central Visayas. You can get to Dumaguete either with a 60 minutes flight from Manila or by bus and ferry from Cebu. Most of the Dumaguete dive-sides, hotels and dive center are 15 kilometer south of the City in the beautiful little town of Dauin.
Diving in the Philippines don’t has to hide from any “big” destination in the world of diving. It is a paradise for macro-lovers and many professional underwater- photographers are coming to Dumaguete. The diveresorts around Dauin are also the starting-point for full daytrips to the well knows surrounding islands like Apo Island, Sumilon Island or Siquijor Island. Some dive-operators are also offering Island-hoping to the more remote Islands of Bohol and Malapasqua. The dark volcanic sand is home to a enormous variety of critters. The 15 divesites around Dauin can be reached within 15 Minutes with a speedboat. Some of them are accessible even as a shore-dive.
Most operators are offering up to four dives daily and additional Night dives and Mandarin fish-dives. All divespots in this area are protected areas, so called „Marine-Sanctuaries“ A line of buoys around this sanctuaries that no boat and fishermen enters this area. That also means the the diveboat ankers outside and the diver has to swim inside the sanctuary after the water entry and has to return to the boat at the end of the dive. Depending on the time of the year, the moon and the tides you can get into some currents from time to time. The well trained guides usually change their diveplans if that happens and drift with the group all the way to the other side of the sanctuaries. The diveboat will follow the group and picks it up on the other side of the sanctuary.

Welcome to my Diving Blog about the Philippines. As most of my friends call me Dive-Monster I thought this is a good idea for a Blog-name. I wish you a lot of fun on my page and I hope you enjoy the stay on my site.
Here are some Information in what country I am. 

The Philippines are with their 7.107 Islands still non of the classical dive destinations, but is already well known as a paradise for divers. Because of the long distance from Europe or the United States the archipelago is still a relaxing place unlike most dive-destinations in Thailand, the Red Sea or around Cozumel.
The Philippinesare a dream for divers and not many wishes stay open. You want to see Pygmy-Seahorses, Mandarin fish, Nudibranches Ghostpipefish or love to submerge into untouched coral-garden? Walls going down into the Abyss, hunting Barracudas and big Tunas make the heart of each diver beat faster. If you want to go Wreck-diving you can find two great destinations. One fleet lays in Coron, the other in Subic Bayin diveable depth. Also don’t forget the Walesharks in Donsol or you join a dive-trip to the Tubbataha Reef.

The tropical climate is basically ruled by two seasons. The north-east-monsun (Amihan) and southwest-monsun (Habagat).

 Diving is all around the year possible and only a few regions are limited to several month of the year. If Beginner, professional photographer or Tec-diver, the opportunities are almost endless. The water temperature rarely drops below 25C/65F and the visibility can reach up to 50 meter (160 ft). Even in bad conditions you will have 5meter/16feet.
Many divesites in the Philippines are protected areas, so called:`Marine Sanctuaries‘. The known reefs in the Philippines are covering an area of more then 34.000 km2 and the variety of the underwater species is known as the largest in the world. the philippine government and the local communities running different programs to protect the reefs and aquatic life.

There are four main regions (group of Islands) in the Philippines. Luzon in the north with the capital Manilais the starting point for many vacations. From here you reach easily the well known divespots of Puerto Galera, Anilao or Subic Bay.
If you arrive in Cebu you are in the Visayas, the central groups of Islands in the Philippines. Usually you need another short transfer (organized by your Resort or Hotel) to reach your final destination like the well known diving areas of Dumaguete, Moalboal, Apo Island or Bohol with Balicasag Island

Mindanao and Palawan in the south and west, are still a kind of blank spots on the diving maps, but enthusiastic international investors are building an infrastructure to get around easily. Places like El Nido, the Coron Wrecks and Puerto Princesa as a starting point for live abroad trips to the Tubbataha Reef making Palawan worth to visit.
If you plan your trip independently you will find out that the watches in the Philippines run a bit slower. Everything takes a bit more time, but you will reach your destination without any troubles in a safe way. Philippinosare very proud but also very friendly people. Almost everybody speaks english and is happy to help a “long-nose”
Don’t miss one of the countless Fiestas. If you are invited to a family-reunion, don’t hesitate to follow the invitation. There is only one thing we need to warn you:

ATTENTION, don’t get addicted to the Philippines