A Rant on Irresponsible Vlogger Promoting Illegal Diving Activity at Balicasag Island in Bohol, Philippines
An irresponsible vlogger captioned this on his reels saying:
₱3000/pax Scuba Diving in Bohol (Balicasag Island)
Many people have watched and shared the video as the vlogger and his companions wore incomplete gear. They were not even wearing fins.
Lo and behold! I've read somewhere that the vlogger claimed that it was a Discovery Scuba Diving for PHP 3,000 or about US$53. LOL
Discovery Scuba Diving but not wearing complete gear? Not wearing fins? And the funny thing is that he shared his oxygen tank with his dive guide through the 2nd octopus regulator which can be useful for emergencies only. What's crazier is that they were never trained for basic scuba diving procedures.
Here are some of the screenshots. I don't want to cite a link to his video to avoid several views. Irresponsible wannabe vloggers/social media influencers are happy to make their videos viral despite their wrongdoings. Let me just describe what I saw in the videos by writing a caption on each screenshot.
In the first few minutes of the video, they started to descend with the help of their dive guide. The dive guide wasn't wearing his own BCD (Bouyancy Control Device) + regulator although he was wearing his fins.
The vlogger and his companion have their own BCD + regulator but not wearing fins.
The dive guide took the 2nd stage regulator octopus from the vlogger. As you can see, the vlogger and the dive guide shared the same oxygen tank. LOL
You can see that the dive guide was taking his two clients by holding them at the back of their BCD. Hahahah!
The second dive guide was taking the third companion of the vlogger by dragging them underwater. The third companion is not wearing fins. A clear proof that the vlogger is not wearing fins.
The second dive guide and the third companion touched the bottom while the vlogger and the second companion disturbed the clownfish by touching them too.
The vlogger was fooled in broad daylight
While watching the video, I was laughing the whole time.
Is it allowed to do Discover Scuba Diving at Balicasag Island?
I wasn't sure about that but I did my diving at Balicasag Island as a certified diver in 2018 and it was a wonderful diving experience. Balicasag Island is good for beginners like me and expert divers, but not for people who have never been trained in basic diving procedures. Obviously, the vlogger and his companions were not trained.
I couldn't help but leave many comments on his reel.
Are you aware that you've been scammed with your PHP 3,000?
How many minutes did you enjoy your scuba diving for PHP 3,000?
You paid PHP 3,000 just to disturb the clownfish?
You paid PHP 3,000 for a Discovery Scuba Diving without basic training and incomplete gear? Hahaha! Seriously?
You're a vlogger but you don't do any research to find reputable scuba diving agencies in town?
You're a vlogger but you share false information with your viewers?
You're a vlogger but you're promoting illegal diving activities?
The vlogger's video lasted for 4 minutes but they only saw a clownfish. There is a possibility that they were diving for less than 15 minutes. For sure, the dive guide was already tired of dragging them underwater. Hahahaha!
EASY MONEY for PHP 9,000 (3 persons) in just 15 minutes.
Was the experience worth it paying PHP 3,000 with an unlicensed dive guide?
I did a little research on the legality of taking DSD at Balicasag Island and I found this review on TripAdvisor.
Source: here
Since this was a review from 4 years ago, the DSD without a license was priced at PHP 1,500. Another LOL moment at the vlogger.
The vlogger thought he was smart enough to get a good price of PHP 3,000 for DSD. It is a LAUGHABLE NO. I am not sure if he paid for his two companions for the diving trip.
Calling a vlogger out for his irresponsible vlogging for the sake of content and thousand views
Many irresponsible vloggers and social media influencer wannabees are spreading like wildfire. I am disappointed by the fact that they have many followers and they earn from their stupid content. As a travel blogger myself, I used to promote accommodations and activities on my social media account with complete information.
My experience on Discover Scuba Diving
To take a DSD from a reputable diving company, the usual price is about PHP 3,500. You will be trained first in a swimming pool or at a shallow area of the beach until you go deeper. Once you get certified as an Open Water and Advanced Open Water Diver, the pricing for each dive is about PHP 1,800.
Related Articles:
For each dive, you will enjoy about 30-45 minutes of diving underwater, depending on your oxygen level.
Be a responsible vlogger and do your research
I just hope that this vlogger's video will be deleted. He got ten thousand views, maybe more, who knows 100k views already. And he is earning from it, not even responding to the questions of other commenters. He should do his part to report the dive guide to authorities.
Here's my video on my Balicasag Island Diving Experience
This is just a 2-minute video but here are the underwater creatures I've seen. I will blog about this in the future with photos, as well.
Welcome to iTravelRox! Roxanne Tamayo is a Cebuana who is a traveler. Now a mom of 2 kids and a wife. She is a travel blogger and a digital nomad. As a Virtual Assistant, she does a lot of things like content writing, WordPress web design, WP updates and maintenance, graphic design, and photo editing. She is into wedding photography, as well.
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This is sad, dangerous, and bad for the diving industry generally. Sadly, it's something that happens all the time on different islands and other countries in the region.
Another thing is that many resorts take people out to discover scuba, even if they can't swim. That's dangerous in itself, just in case the customer gets into difficulty.
I know right, not just in Bohol. But what happens here in Bohol (Panglao or Balicasag) is ridiculous. I just couldn't believe that the vlogger agreed to pay 3000 PHP for less than 15 minutes of scuba diving. Even if the PHP 3000 is included with the island hopping tour, still a ridiculous amount of money. Not sure if there is "free lunch" inclusion on that deal package. I remember my trip to Kalanggaman Island which was 3-4 hours boat trip from Malapascua Island, I only paid PHP 800 with lunch inclusion. Have you heard some updates of Bohol? It's getting expensive in there.
feeling bad for the vlogger😄
hahah i think he is earning now with 100k views on his reels. haha
Valid point😄
:D
That's very irresponsible
Di ba, parang ayaw ko muna bumalik sa Bohol. Nangtataga ng presyo. Kaloka.
Moved my comment here mistakenly posted on the cross-post.
I'm no expert in scuba diving, but it definitely seems like the vlogger and their companions didn't receive any formal training. It sucks because not only is it illegal, but it can also be harmful to marine life. It would have been great if the link to the video was shared here so that we could leave more comments to raise awareness.
He is not responding to my comments and other comments. He ignores all comments for that specific video but continues to update his reels daily. For the content nalang gyud. Irresponsible kaayo. Kwarta2 na lang.
It’s important to have the right info, gear and training for something like scuba diving. There doesn’t always need to be that strict rule for some activities but scuba diving is definitely one of them, a lot can go wrong and you’re pretty far down in some cases! Sadly this person will learn in the hard way - someone will get hurt or die because of these things.
yeah, right. I first tried helmet diving and I had trouble with my ears when I first tried it. Never again. But with the vlogger's experience, they never really went deeper—still, a discomforting sight to see. The dive guide was in a hurry to avoid getting caught by other real divers.