Earlier last April, Aquino, with some Thai visitors and dive operator Norrased “Benz” Palasing, were in town to dive in Davao Oriental and Kiamba in Sarangani before they proceeded to Malapascua in Cebu.
The participating groups are Aquino’s Aquascout Thailand, Seascout Diving with Krissapon “Ter” Srithong, Padum Diving with Than “Than” Intarachote, Dive Terminal with Sutee “Best” Duangkaew, For Earth with Aphinat “Tha” Suthivorachai, Scuba Paradive with Passaree “New”Meevassana, HappyDiveDotNet with Kanjana “Tommy” Srinapa, along with Let’s Dive,
Dive Info and Scuba Jamboree.
Aquino underscores the tourism potential of diving, citing that one dive operator alone brings several groups to Cebu every year. But the Davao Region and surrounding areas are unheard of in Thailand.
But, there’s a lot that local governments have to do to make diving tourist-friendly. Specifically, the fees the Island Garden City of Samal collects from each diver, which include fees even on personal gear like underwater cameras, which for years have been discouraging big dive groups from checking out the area.
Then there is the readiness of communities to welcome the divers. Visibility underwater is very good in many places, but there are very limited creatures to see. Then there is the high price locals are extracting from divers. These require regulations that need to be implemented to the letter.
