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Two Chinese tourists came to Cebu for only one reason: to enjoy its awesome dive spots. They lost their lives instead.
The two Chinese nationals drowned while diving in barangay Tingo, Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City at around 11 a.m. yesterday, according to PO1 Julius Bolado of the homicide section of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.
The two divers, identified as Pang Chi-Lung, 44, and Cheung Joanne Wai, 28, were both licensed divers who had been in Cebu just for a few days and were staying at the Para Dive HK Scuba Diving Resort in Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City, Bolado said.
called Para Dive several times but no one answered the resort’s phone listed in the directory. There was also no answer to the calls made to the cellular phone of a certain Figueroa, that according to Bolado was the name and phone number of the resort’s supervisor.
Bolado said the two Chinese nationals belonged to a group of licensed divers from China on a dive holiday in Cebu.
They have already gone to other dive spots in Cebu and Olango Island was supposed to be their last dive before they return home to China, he said.
Olango Island is a favorite dive spot for professional scuba divers as it has one of the deepest wall dives in the Visayas and improved management of coral reefs in nearby marine sanctuaries help to provide an abundant coral and fish life much to the enjoyment of divers, according to the website of the Polaris Dive Resort on Olango Island.
Baring dive site is along the North-Western side of the Island and the wall starts at 60 feet (20 meters) and ends down to about 220ft before disappearing on a gradual slope. This area is known for strong currents and big sea creatures. There are two large resident sharks (hammerhead and thresher) that have been spotted on and off for the last 10 years.
Tingo Shark Point, the specific dive spot of the Chinese group, is a dive where one hopes to see larger pelagic species.
“You have to make an open water descent to the top of a deep reef, where you find a sandy bottom sloping even to greater depth. Settle down in some shelter and look out at anything that would pass by. At the drop off, you encounter greater fish and often one or two thresher sharks. If you are very lucky some hammerhead sharks pass by. Strong surges and fierce unpredictable currents; a site for advanced divers only,” the website added.
Pang and Cheung were with four other Chinese tourists, all licensed divers, staying at the same resort that left the resort around 10 a.m. yesterday on board a rented pump boat for their diving expedition on Olango Island, Bolado said.
Among the five foreigners was their own diving instructor, Cheung Hung Kam, according to Bolado.
He said their initial investigation showed that the tourists appeared prepared for the dive as they all wore complete diving gears and had oxygen tanks.
When they arrived in the water off barangay Tingo, Bolado said the Chinese divers immediately went for a dive at a depth of 40 meters.
They were all supposed to be back on the surface after 30 minutes. When the two failed to come out of the water after half an hour, other Chinese divers went back for them but failed to locate them.
A few minutes after the search started, the two missing Chinese were found floating a few meters away from their dive spot. Both were unconscious, Bolado said.
The group immediately loaded their compatriots on the pumpboat and they sped back to the resort where a service car then rushed the two to the Mactan Doctor’s Hospital.
But the two did not reach the hospital alive, Bolado said.
Bolado said the diving instructor told investigators that the two probably failed to check their oxygen indicators and continued diving in deep sea and ran out of air.
“Professional divers na gyud siguro sila kay licensed divers man sila tanan. Disgrasya lang gyud nga last dive na lang unta nila (They were professional divers as they were all licensed divers. It was an accident which unfortunately happened on their last dive),” he added.
But he said they would still conduct further investigation on the incident to ensure there was no foul play in the death of the two Chinese.
He said the other divers in the group, including the dive instructor, were asked to return to the police station today for additional statement on the incident.
The bodies of the two Chinese divers were brought yesterday afternoon to a funeral parlor in Lapu-Lapu City, Bolado said.
He said the other members of the group have also refused to give further statement until the relatives of the victims have arrived in Cebu.
He said the two’s companions have already called relatives of the victims in China and they were expected to arrive in Cebu today.
