Malapascua... it's not diving, it's a business model!!!

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Experiences depend of places...but more than that...of people! We had a great time in Malapascua, if it was not for a simple guy that I would have rather never met....but more on this further...



We left early morning Boracay for our flight from Caticlan to Cebu on Cebu Pacific. For once, the plane was on time...At Cebu airport, the original idea was to take a taxi to the bus station for the atrocious bus ride to Maya. That one can take up to 5 hours. But a little discussion with the taxi driver...and a price I couldn't refuse sent us directly to Maya pier in less than 3 hours...small roads...big traffic, as it is just short of 140km to get there...in 3 hours!



From Maya pier, it's just over 30 minutes local boat ride...and you reach a paradise for divers...a place most dive books would put in the 50 places to dive in the world....Malapascua, a first for me.



The island is fully geared toward the diving. The beaches are ok, but the diving is better! And hopefully today for the island, divers are coming here in serious number. Because back in November 2013, typhoon Haiyan has hit straight into Malapascua. 50% of the trees were done...and you can imagine, most local homes were wrecked...only few hotels and dive centers were still standing...and thanks to the divers coming back fast...people keep their job, and it is time to rebuilt. So do not hesitate to come or come back to Malapascua...fast...



So let's start by the great...before reaching the ugly...



We stay at Tepanee, a small resort with 20 bungalows run by a charming Italian couple. The place is simply superb. For 30usd a night per bungalow, we had two bungalows with views right on the beach and sea...and private sunset. Sadly for returning guests, the currently cheapest accommodation at Tepanee....will be very soon going through a serious upgrade...meaning the price will also increase. But even their more expensive rooms are a steal....I truly wish we could still have those ones in Thailand, but it has been over for years.



Than there is the food. The restaurant at Tepanee is very nice, but it is a work in progress and I guess they will need few more months to get to the level of Angelina's. The restaurant is basically at the entrance of Tepanee, run by another charming Italian couple. I know, that's a lot of Italians! Their pizzas, pastas, ice cream....made us come back night after night. I have to be honest, they put the level pretty high...and beside the restaurant at Tepanee....nobody is even close to their level. Be aware, Angelina's is packed every night!



The island is pretty small...and actually could look pretty similar to Koh Lipe in many aspects. Beaches are not the best....but Tepanee do have a great little private beach right in front of your room, so why go further! Don't take me wrong...this would still be considered paradise by most people.



The people of the island are amazing too. They don't live with much, but you can see that the mix between the divers and the locals is working pretty well. Nice people....lovely island.



Than there is the diving. Well....to dive you need sites, you need underwater fauna and flora...and you need...a dive center....



The dive sites...well, they have soft corals and hard corals, but I wouldn't call the place pretty...you do not come for the underwater architecture here....you come for....the Thresher Sharks. I met a nice Italian guy who like me, can claim himself fully spoiled....have seen a lot... everywhere... but guess what, we never spotted a thresher shark before, and this is THE place to come...on our little planet if you want to encounter thresher sharks.



I did wake up 3 times at 4.20am to go to 30 meters to see them. Leslie woke up also twice...and the great news, he saw them...twice in a raw! But my first encounter with Threshers was not the one I had dreamed about. At 5.30am, the dive site, Monad Shoal is packed with boats. Visibility was not great, but it was made even worst by the huge number of divers...most of them kicking playfully the sand with their fins...and flying their arms worst than a manta on Viagra, and those bubbles....come on guy...relax first...breath after! Trust me, even if we saw the sharks, it was not an experience I did enjoy.



Next morning was better....the visibility was worst...current was way worst (meaning stronger)....but the dive was really great. You may think...is he mad...better dive with a worsening visibility. Well, I knew pictures would not be good...but with such current, most people do not go too deep....and they don't stay much on the reef....giving the feeling to have the place a little more for yourself....if only...



Third day, Leslie saw them...one of the two advanced open water with me was out of air after 17 minutes....go figure out...I saw nothing....beside 2 devils ray playing with us for few minutes while we were drifting in the blue...that was fun too!



I wish they would impose a quota on the number of divers per day in such a place. Something in line with what is in place in Sipadan. I'd rather go only once in three days and have a proper experience, than to be surrounded by hordes of divers who have no idea of what they are doing. But that's a fool dream....because here, you feel it...operators are not in for the diving, they are in for the money, and nothing else!



We dive in Malapascua for 4 days. So it was three times in the morning the thresher sharks, once for each of us the sunset dive....one day going out to dive Gato island, and 3 days around the local sites of Malapascua. We saw threshers, devils ray...and 2 white tips. That with average dive sites, you may feel it's a little weak...but wait....there is a plus to Malapascua divig, the macro life is actually pretty amazing...



I had seen before a lot of nudibranches, I had seen seahorses and ghost pipe fishes, but I have never seen the blue ringed octopus. I found myself at Gato Island in front of this little cute thing. The octopus was not bigger than 10cm...and to take a good picture, my camera...and therefore my fingers where not further than 15cm too. At the end of the dive, I simply asked...what is this little cute thing. Well, it's one of the most dangerous, aka venom wise species on earth...and I had no idea. Google it and you will learn that it carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans in a few minutes....simply by touching it...and I didn't know! But no worries, I never touch what I don't know! So yes, the macro life was pretty amazing!



One more thing for macro, for the sunset dive...they do have mandarin fishes here. I had seen them in Palau, but you do not find them in many places in the world. Sadly, same comment...way too many untrained divers on the site...no idea how this will be sutsainable for such small fishes on the long term.



Than you have the dive center. We did 4 days of diving with Thresher Shark divers. You look on tripadvisor, and you see plenty of great comments...they are in fact the only 5 star padi dive center on the Island...that should be good enough. Their local dive staffs are, I mean it, pretty amazing. They also have an army of divemaster trainees...who love diving. Bear in mind, with being today close to 600 dives....it's kind of fun to see that most of these trainees have just reached their 100 dives...yesterday...



But than you have the management....the diver center manager is a British guy call Dino. I guess is job is not too smile, and for sure not to welcome his clients...couldn't call them guests...you see clearly that this guy is only there for the money. Sad when you see how great the local staff is...and how scared they are too of their own "management".



Dino like to point that safety his is first priority...but he is a liar, money is his first priority. Read this...on an afternoon dive, the divermaster told me to wait for the group at 4 meters on the line. Easy done...3 minutes later, nobody is down, visibility is pretty poor...I go up. One of the guest has issues to go down with her equipment...ok...divemaster tell me to go down and wait for them. It's my third dive of the day...and you do not re-surface multiple time...this is dangerous...sorry for this technicality if you have never dived. I wait, one minute, three minutes...5 minutes...nobody. Well...maybe I should go up. Divers are gone...my boat is gone! Imagine, a gone boat! Another boat is there, belonging to another dive center. They tell me to dive in the direction they point as they saw bubbles...I dive, bad visibility, I never find the group. Not an issue, I know what to do, I have all the safety equipment, I simply re-surface...thinking this is it for me today. Surprise...no boat! I mean, no boat...nothing less than 500 meters from me...and that's also the distance to the Island shore of Malapascua...and I'm not sure the current will help me!



As a friend said...most people would have panicked nicely...Well, it was 3pm, I had drink a lot of water for lunch...I was not to roast that fast! I spent a good 30 to 40 minutes in the water....swimming smoothly in the direction of the island. Than the boat saw me...finally...no long swim to the beach today, no beer on the beach in my equipment. But imagine, in nearly 600 dives...it's the first time I encounter a dive center which "serves" two dives sites at once, leaving 10 divers with no boat less than 500 meters from the dive site...and what does happen if somebody has a serious health problem....this is not a security issue...this is murder...all this to put more divers on a single boat and save some fuel!



So next, I will send a complain to PADI about the dive site. And be warn, always dive with a safety sausage...it does help...and it could save your life!



Will we come back to Malapascua...the answer is yes, and actually, may be as soon as next year. Why did I keep diving with TSD...well...after serious homeworks, they all seem the same on the island...I miss my friends from Lipe here! But where there is a problem, there is always a solution! We have the great resort...the great food...and the amazing locals...gues what!?! Next time I'm coming, it's with friends...and I have the numbers of the locals to charter a private boat...and this time, we will dive Malapascua...the right way!



So next on Malapscua, it will be Gato Island again, but we will add Calanggaman Island....without forgetting to say hello to the mandarin fishes...and at 4am, we will be up again every morning!



Coming soon, more diving....Tiffany has improved a lot the last two weeks of diving, and no need to speak of the level of diving of Leslie. July is coming soon for them, with more amazing diving!



Happy bubbles to all...and dive safe!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Great photos
We loved our time in Malapascua. Thanks for the memories. We enjoyed the Thrashers

[liliram]

What a scare!
If it were someone else, panic would have ruled and results could have been tragic. My, you should really file that complaint!

[Maisondubonheur]

Well....I did...
...and PADI doesn't care, doesn't even follow up, I'm disgusted by that organization which is nothing else than a money making machine...

[Dino]

Bordering on Libel
Pierre, Your blog has been brought to my attention by members of my family. If you wish to write a public blog for the world to see & comment on; then sir, you should ensure that your readers are fully aware of the facts and moreover; inform your readers of nothing short of the truth in that you & I did not see eye-to-eye because I would not allow you to have your own way regarding your young son's depth limits! Your comments about me being a “liar” and “money is his first priority” are with malice, full of inaccurate statements & are a personal opinion and as such; false & without foundation. I would also remind you of “The Bloggers Online Defamation Law”. Let us first discuss the issue of safety... During your stay with us; you constantly harassed my dive staff about taking Leslie beyond the legal limit of his training which at the time was 21-metres/63-feet. You attempted this on a number of occasions including at least 3-times with myself. You were also informed via email prior to your arrival that we would not allow Leslie to dive beyond 21-metres nor Tiffany beyond 12-metres. Likewise; you were further reminded during you Orientation Briefing on arrival! Each time you attempted to coerce the dive staff or me personally; I politely reminded you about the effects of bone necrosis and the effects that it may or may not have on a growing child - you even retorted that everyone's physiology is different and that you had previously taken your young & growing son well beyond the limits to which he was trained. While I do agree that everyone's physiology is different; there is still a very real risk of damaging (permanently) a growing skeleton and even the remotest risk in my PROFESSIONAL OPINION is not one I would gamble someone's life on - especially that of a child's life. Hence; my point with not allowing Leslie to exceed 21-metres was both a safety procedure and the following of PADI Training Standards that specifically set the maximum depth for a Junior Advanced Open Water Diver of Leslie's age to 21-metres. Had we taken your children beyond their training limit and had there been a fatal accident; then I am 100% certain we would be looking at a wrongful death lawsuit for failing to provide 'Duty of Care'. A further point you have failed to mention regarding safety is that for every dive over 12-metres; both of your children were assigned their own personal PADI DM thus ensuring that Leslie did not go beyond 21-metres and Tiffany not beyond 12-metres. I am absolutely certain that any reader now reading this would understand that I was being "reasonably prudent" with regards to the safety of your children whereas you...well; I am sure they can figure that out. With regards to you allegedly being left on the surface with no dive boat... I can tell you that in fact, two investigations were carried out. The first investigation was carried out by PADI & the second investigation carried out internally by the TSD owners. The reason you have never heard back from PADI is because there is not one iota of evidence to support your claim. I can likewise tell you that all guests on the same trip were contacted. Not one single guest or member of the dive team could collaborate your alleged misfortune at being stranded in the water without a dive boat whilst the dive boat was allegedly on a different site. All evidence supports an entirely different catalogue of non-events of an otherwise routine day. My question to you is...Why you did not approach me as the Manager of TSD and inform me of your 'alleged' plight at the time ? It was as you put it an alleged major safety violation - was it not? Not once during your entire stay did you address this and that dumbfounds me completely. My suggestion is that your arrogance and the fact that I would not allow Leslie to exceed the limits of his training despite your excessive attempts at coercion have blinded your judgement into writing a work of fiction!

[Maisondubonheur]

Dear Dino,
I discover your comment on my way back from another great diving week in Komodo. It is more than normal to publish it even if it not an accurate comment of the event. My main issue with you is simple, you dive two different dive sites which are not drifting dives using the same boat. You can call me a liar, I can put my hand on the bible telling you it's not a lie. I would have never found about it have I done a normal dive of 50 to 60 minutes. I was left in the middle of the water for 30 to 40 minutes, and was the first diver back on the boat. Why would you need to ask divers, it's either you or your management team who picked the dive sites. The good news is my serious accusation may have stop you to do this again in the future. I do not wish to have any dive with an emergency situation, no boat above my head, and the beach at around 500 meters from where I am. Regarding the depths. My son didn't go further than 21 meters and my daughter deeper than 12 meters. What I did argue with you was the fact that you would not let my son dive on the Thresher shark dive, even if the site did allow it and he was experienced to do it. At the end, he went twice. You claim that you provide my children with DM...well....most of the time they were trainee DM...but you seems the only one thinking that a child is not a customer. If you take them on, are you not supposed to provide a DM, or decline at booking time. I know, for you it's a money issue. Now the depth...when a site is in serious current at 21 meters, and that at 22-23 meters there is serious protection, I have no issue to bring my son to 23 meters. You can use the "book" to lecture me on your professional advise. I use my common sense knowing that my children do 2 diving trips per year. If 23 meters is dangerous for my son, than why is 21 not! Specially in the current. I know these are serious accusations, and I stick by them. At least you found the time to write a comment once you knew I went public. Why didn't you write me when I did the complain to PADI. Go find out! I really don't see the point, after 600 dives in more than 45 countries to make up such a story. At the end of the day, there are enough divers and organizations with a true passion for diving, and a proper common sense, our roads do not have to cross again. I'm the first one to appreciate a great organization...but I'm also the first one to find it scandalous that people who claim they have an interest in my security...would not put a boat above my head. We all know the reason...by serving two dives sites with different level, you can put more people on your boat. So your comment is duly noted, but not correct. Best regards, Pierre-Alexandre