Anilao rubbish

I was appalled at the volume of rubbish in the water after a recent trip to the well-known Philippines macro dive location of Anilao. Floating in the water was all kinds of plastic from bags, wrappers and packaging of various sizes. It was not only disgusting, it is harmful to not only the local marine environment but to the broader regional marine eco-system and ultimately the dive tourism sector.

Anilao is the first choice for most Manila based divers for weekend dives, just a short road trip towards the port city of Batangas before veering off to the Mabini peninsular. Batangas is the port connecting the island of Mindoro to Luzon; it is busy, heavily polluted and reasonably close.

Not that far from Batangas and Anilao the somewhat famous village of Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro, known for diving and nightlife. If the Philippines wish to become a world renowned dive location, the issue of marine rubbish must be identified and acted upon immediately. No reasonable person wants to go on holiday to swim through rubbish infested water when pristine sites beckon.

Of the South East Asian competitive markets, Malaysia is outstanding diving that is well organised and managed, Thailand has been the tourism leader for decades in terms of volume, Indonesia is excellent diving and emerging as a place to dive, Vietnam is improving dive infrastructure and slowly gaining in popularity while Brunei still sadly lacks.