Philippines: Diver’s dream destination

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With 7,101 islands 18,000 kilometers of shoreline and 27,000 square kilometers of coral reefs, the Philippines lies in the centre of the coral triangle which boasts the most biodiversity and marine-rich waters on earth.

Priding itself as Asia’s Dive Capital, the Philippine seas are home to a species of aquatic resources – over 800 classes of corals, over 400 fish species and more than 500 fish families.  Underwater enthusiasts are sure to be treated with an unforgettable and rewarding diving adventure. Consider this an invitation to dive into our deep waters and be amazed by the big fishes, colorful reefs, World War II wrecks and underwater caves.

Come, experience the ocean biodiversity of the Philippine archipelago.

WHAT DIVER’S DREAMS ARE MADE OF

An invitation to discover the Philippines’ top dive spots

The Philippines is to scuba divers, what Switzerland is to skiers, Hawaii to surfers and Nepal to mountaineers. This is a place you must visit at least once, to get the real heart of the sport. The country is a veritable smorgasbord of the world-class dive sites set in a lush tropical environment with all the trappings you could ever wish for.

The Philippines is a scuba diver's dream come true. The warm waters surrounding the Philippines' 7, 101 islands present an underwater wildlife extravaganza, so spectacular that divers return for an average of 10 trips each.

Dive into crystal clear waters with underwater visibility of up to 60 meters. Discover shipwrecks, cliffs covered with sponges, colorful corals, gorgonians, turtles, sharks, rays, and even the very rarely seen exotic fishes like Spanish dancer, harlequin ghost-pipefish, camouflaged frogfish and fire gobies. Thanks to the convergence of the nutrient rich waters of the Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and Celebes Sea, you will be a spectator to an aquatic symphony of over 2,000 species of marine fish as well as more than 400 out of the 500 known coral species in the world.

The Philippines is divided into three geographical areas; Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. All regions offer premier destinations for divers amidst lush tropical environment with excellent underwater views.

So whether you're just after a relaxing dive with spectacular views or a chance to a perfect your macro photography skills, take on these dive spots for the best of all worlds.

TOP DIVE DESTINATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINESLuzon at a glance+ Anilao, Batangas
- Cathedral Rock
- Bahura
- Beatrice Rock
- Sepok Wall
- Bazura
- Twin Rocks+ Donsol, Sorsogon

+ Palawan
- Busuanga
- El Nido
- Tubbarttaha

+ Puerto Galera/Verde Island
- Canyons
- Hole in the Wall
- St. Christopher
- San Agapito Wall

+ Subic BAy, Zambales

Visayas at a glance

+ Apo Island

+ Bohol
- Balicasag Island
- Pamilacan Island

+ Boracay

+ Cebu
- Malapascua Island
- Moalboal/Pescador Island

Mindanao at a glance

+ Camiguin

+ Davao

LUZON

Your entry point to a colorful aquatic symphony

Luzon is home to more than half of the 82 million total population, with Manila being the commercial and financial center. Locals come here for a weekend of diving either in Anilao (Batangas), Puerto Galera/Verde Island (Mindanao) or Subic Bay (Zambales). These three diving destinations require only three hours or less of travel time from the city center.

Area: 104,687 sq km.
Jump Off Point: Manila
Dive Destinations: Subic Bay, Anilao, Puerto Galera and Verde Island
Climate: Dry from Nov to May, wet from Jun to Sep
Ave daily temperature 28-32ºC, cooler from
Dec to Feb in Subic Bay, Anilao, Puerto Galera and Verde Island.
Best Time To Dive: Year round, but water clearest during Mar to May.
When the Southwest Monsoon is strongest from Jun to Aug, head for Puerto Galera
Water Temp: 26-27ºC from Dec to Mar and 28-29ºC during the rest of the year.
Visibility: Anilao, Puerto Galera and Verde Island; Between 20 to 40m. Subic Bay: 5 to 15m.

Anilao, Batangas

 Anilao, Batangas is the hands down favorite being an easy two-hour drive from the city and the  presence of many of diving-dedicated resorts.

Favorite dive sites in the area include:

Cathedral Rock, a pinnacle that rises from the bottom at 36m-15m. Hundreds of damselfishes and sergeant majors envelop the divers as they approach. The pinnacle itself is covered with crinoids and anemones with resident clownfishes. There is a concrete cross marker that was placed in the vicinity by the formers Philippine President Fidel Ramos who remains an avid diver.

Bahura and Beatrice Rock, close to Sombrero Island are reefs covered with both hard and soft coral. Schools of red tooth triggerfish and thousands of orange altheas gather along the drops offs while Moorish idols, wrasses and white-eyed morays play hide and seek among the table coral.

Sepok Wall, is a short drift with the bottom at only 30m. With a current usually present, the dive spot has the lushest soft corals in the area and the wall itself harbors large egg and tiger cowries. Bazura is for the muck diving enthusiast and photographers. A close, careful inspection of the brown gravely bottom reveals seahorses, panda clownfish, banded pipefish, harlequin and robust ghost pipefishes, dwarf lionfishes, scarlet snake eels and even the amazing and engaging wonderopus!

Twin Rocks expect to see black, blue and yellow ribbon eels, rabbit and surgeon fishes as well as three different kinds of angelfishes, gobies and jawfishes. See if you can spot the two resident soccerball-sized black frogfishes.

Donsol, Sorsogon

Have a whale of an experience in Donsol, Sorsogon. In late 1997, the world discovered the huge schools of whale sharks that had been visiting the mouth of Donsol River for generations, oblivious to the small coastal community. Organized whale shark expeditions then transformed this sleepy, remote fishing village into a major eco-tourist destination almost overnight. Get ready to put on your gear, ease yourself quietly into the water, and swim alongside the world's largest fish, over 15m in lenght and 13 tonnes in weight, in the wondrous waters of Donsol.

Palawan

The island province of Palawan has been declared as a nature sanctuary of the world, and for good reason. It is wrapped in a mantel of rainforests, outstanding dive sites, majestic mountains, untouched caves, pristine beaches. It is surrounded by a coral shelf that abounds with varied and colorful marine life. It boasts of exotic flora and fauna, like the mousedeer and the scaly anteater, that are found nowhere else.

Tubbattaha Reefs is a marine sanctuary located in the middle Central Sulu Sea. Declared a World Natural Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) on December 1993, it is under protective management by the Department of National Defense (DND). It is located in Cagayancillo town, Palawan. Trips to Tubbattaha from mid-March to mid-June are all vessel based and require planning for a minimum of six weeks prior to departure.

El Nido Marine Reserve occupies an area of 96, 000 hectares, this popular nature spot boasts of diverse ecosystems such as rainforest, mangroves, white sand beaches, coral reefs, and limestone cliffs. It is now one of the country's premier tourist destinations. Blessed with extraordinary natural scenery. El Nido is the sanctuary of various forms of wildlife. Countless varieties of fish are also found here. Manta rays are a common sight; when in season, divers may see one of the world's rarest marine mammals, the sea cow, known locally as “dugong”.

Coron Reefs, Coron Bay, Busuanga boasts of seven enchanting lakes surrounded by craggy lime stones cliffs, which attract hundreds of nature lovers to Coron Reefs in Northern Palawan.

Busuanga Island, whose main town is Coron, is the jump-off point for numerous dive operators. The principal dive sites are 12 WWII Japanese shipwrecks sunk on September 24, 1944 by US Navy action. They range in depth from the surface to 40m. This large variety offers exciting wreck exploration for enthusiasts, from novice divers to snorkellers. Dive operators of PADI dive courses ranging from Discover Scuba to Assistant Instructor, Technical and Enriched Air Diving, and other specialty courses.

Puerto Galera and Verde

It’s a 45-minute ferry ride away from the port of Batangas City. It is accessible by either private transportation or the numerous buses that leave Manila every half hour or so.

Puerto Galera claims to be the most popular dive destination for overseas tourists and it's easy to see why.

Canyons their most famous dive site, is world-class. This site boasts a series of three canyons whose sides are completely covered by pink dendronepthya where whip corals shelter residents that include spotted, oblique, striped and oriental sweetlips. Giant trevallys are batfishes hide among spectacular seafans and barrel sponges while large schools of snappers part their flanks to let a group of beautiful blue-finned trevallies and emperor fish pass through.

Hole in the Wall is exactly that – a hole on a coral covered underwater ridge at 14m. Which divers can swim through. Once past the hole, several coral heads provide shelter for currents that are often present. Huge trevallies, emperor fish and batfish usually gather in shoals overhead and ride the moving water like a Ferris wheel.

St. Christopher is one several wrecks in the area and is home to a photogenic school of batfishes and angelfishes. The same can be said about the Sabang wrecks close by. There is also a seafan about 15m deep that is very popular with photographers because of it's resident pygmy seahorses.

San Agapito Wall off Verde Island across the passage is another world-class site. Marked by a small group of rocks that break the surface, it is a true wall that extends downwards in excess of 70m. Schools of trevallies, batfishes and triggerfishes can be seen at the southeastern-most point while hordes of fusiliers, wide-mouth mackerel, bannerfishes and butterflyfish occupy the west wall. There are also resident banded seasnakes and yellow frogfishes. Humongous seafans and eye catching tree corals that dazzle in a wide variety of colors are found everywhere you go.

Subic

This bay was once home to the largest US Naval base outside the United States. In 1992 the US Forces left the Philippines after the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the restricted bay was finally opened to recreational divers. There are several wrecks at diveable depths with the battleship USS New York being the most visited. Overgrown with corals, and despite the usually murky visibility, one gets a sense of history as the twin barrels of its giant guns loom out of the depths as you descend.

Originally developed as a naval base by Spanish colonizers in 1885, Subic Bay became the largest US Naval facility in the Far East. In 1991, it was transformed into a Freeport economic and tourism zone. Today Subic Bay hosts a formidable combination of wrecks, like the 19th century Spanish gunboat San Quintin, Japanese luxury liner Oryoku Maru, and the ex-USS New York. Complemented by a rainforest and a white sand beach, Subic Bay has an international airport and tourism support facilities that include a marina, yacht club, hotels, shopping arcades, and food shops.

VISAYAS

Where white sand beaches and unique marine life await your discovery

Centrally located and with thousand of islands to choose from, it is no wonder that this part of the Philippines contains the most number of diving destinations, with new finds being added every so often.

Area: 57,202 sq km.
Jump Off Point: Cebu City has fastcraft ferries to carry divers to all the destinations mentioned although Bohol, Apo/Dauin and Boracay have their own airports with regularly scheduled flights from Manila.
Dive Destinations: Coron, Sangat Island, Tubbataha Marine Park
Climate: Average daily temp 28-32ºC, cooler from Dec to Feb.
Best Time To Dive: Literally, year round since typhoons rarely come through the area. Water is clearest between Mar to May.
Water Temperature: 26-27ºC from Dec to Mar and 28-29ºC during the rest of the year.
Visibility: Between 15-40m

Apo Island The island offers the best diving around. On the southeast, the sanctuary is gradual slope with a shallow wall. Thousands of tiny fish cluster around the bushes of black corals in crevices, and there lapu-lapus, surgeons, some beautiful stony corals, and a collection of various species of clownfishes and anemones.Apo Island Beach Resort, formerly Kan-Upe Cove Resort, is an internationally acclaimed dive site. teh 12-hectare island has eight regular and honeymoon cottages. Located in Dauin, it has a hilly terrain and white-pebbled lagoon. Nestled within, the Balwarte Rocks and Negros Oriental Marine Conservation Park, With its spectacular coral gardens and marvelous marine life, are consistent crown drawers. Only 20min from the Dumaguete City Airport, This is one of the easiest places to reach from Manila or Cebu City. The coastline on the southeastern side of the province of Negros Oriental is host to many dive centers and resorts.The area’s most popular dive site is where the bigger pelagics wrasses and several colonies of clownfishes can be found. Do remember that local officials have implemented a strict no-gloves-while-diving policy a few years back. Despite the large number of divers that visit the island, unbroken fields of both soft and hard coral still cover the reefs that surround this small island.

Bohol

Famous for the tarsier monkeys and Chocolate Hills, Bohol also boasts several premier dive sites. Resorts and dive centers line Alona beach on Panglao Island and diveboats head out to Balicasag Island everyday at 8 or 9am.

Balicasag Island. The steep coral covered slopes and walls of it's protected waters contain schools of barracudas and jacks, banner and butterfly fishes, batfish and the smaller nudibranchs and flatworms and numerous varieties of anemones with their resident clownfishes.

Pamilacan Island. The chance to see turtles, bumphead parrotfish and humphead wrasses are what diver go to Pamilacan for. Its healthy reefs are a photographers delight with both soft and hard corals providing shelter to a profusion of reef fishes.

Boracay

Non divers and divers alike flock to the island of Boracay, voted one of the 10 best beaches in the world.

Postcard-perfect coconut trees heavy with fruit rise above the blinding white sands of the beach while puffy white clouds stream across a dark blue sky. The emerald water of the sea provide what is called the best scuba classroom in the world. Dive operators line the beach and offer courses in English, German, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish and Hebrew. Visitors often plan to say for a few days but end up staying a month or two leading to a proliferation of restaurants and bars for a healthy nightlife.

Providing big fish action is a dive site called Yapak, a blue water descent to the reef top at 25m, where barracudas, jacks and sharks come to play.

Cebu

Cebu City, known as the Queen city of the South, is a thriving, highly urbanized center that comes second to Manila's bustling metropolis. Only a few minutes away, are numerous white sand beaches, crystal blue waters, and swaying palms, making Cebu a perfect destination for divers.

Malapascua Island. Fast gaining worldwide attention, Malapascua’s claim to fame are the thresher sharks and manta rays that regularly visit the cleaning stations on Monad Shoal in the early morning. Further out, there are several wrecks, including a Japanese warship that lies upright with trhe shallowest portion at about 40m down. The Doña Marilyn, a passenger liner that went down in a typhoon over 20 years ago, is conceivably the most beautiful wreck in the Visayas due to the profusion of dendronephtya and black coral bushes that cover most of the ship.

Moalboal/Pescador Island is where the local Cebuano city dweller visits on the weekend. The white sands of Panagsama Beach contains the most number of resorts, dive operators and restaurants and is the jump-off point for Pescador Island, less than 20min away. Expect to see sloping reefs filled with corals and reef fishes, a drop off and sponge-covered walls with lots of cracks and crevices to explore, and overhangs to swim through. Here, you will also find large tunas, Napoleon wrasses, white tip and even hammerhead sharks.

MINDANAO

Untouched beauty at your doorstep

The second largest of the Philippines’s 7,101 islands, Mindanao covers one third of the country's total land area is the center for agriculture. It is a unique melting pot that showcases manifold traditions, customs and arts contributing to the island's ethnic image, amidst picturesque plains and highland lakes, plantations plateaus, unsullied beaches and fascinating marine life.

Area: 4,667 sq km.
Jump Off Point: Cagayan De Oro for Camiguin, Davao City for Davao Gulf, Gen Santos for Sarangani Bay.
Dive Destinations: Camiguin and Davao
Climate: Average daily temp 28-32ºC, cooler from Dec to Feb.
Best Time To Dive: March to September for Camiguin, year round for Davao
Water Temperature: 26-27ºC from Dec to Mar and 28- 29ºC during the rest of the year.
Visibility: Between 20-30m

Camiguin

Misamis Oriental and Camiguin hide spectacular reefs filled with soft and hard corals. a Prevalent feature of Camiguin diving id the presence of large numbers of black coral trees. Medina Paradise is a famous dive site due to the lush soft corals divers encounter. Offshore, Burias Shoal and Jigdup Reef have walls and current swept reefs as well as the big fish schools. Mantangale Alibuag Dive Resort's Again reef was so named because of guests'inevitable request to dive it again and again.

Davao

Davao city folks consider the Davao Gulf as their aquatic playground. The pearl Farm Resort boasts two WWII era shipwrecks within a stones throw of some of their guest cottages. Big Ligid Island as well as Aundanao Sanctuary not only has spectacular walls and underwater topography, they also get frequent pelagic visitors aside from a healthy fish population.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Getting There

Via manila: The Ninoy Aquino International Airport by most airlines from the major Asian, Australian, European and USA Cities on the west coast. There are flights to the cities closest to all the diving destinations everyday. Transfer to the Domestic Airport to catch them.

Via Cebu: Also an International airport reachable via Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Malaysia and several European Cities (via Hong Kong or Singapore).

From Cebu City pier, Fastcraft Ferries leave several times a day to service the different ports of the dive destinations.

Entry Requirements

All visitors wit a valid passport are issued a 21-day visa automatically, free of charge. If you expect to stay longer please visit the nearest Philippine Embassy or Consulate. You can also ask your travel agent to arrange the details. Extensions applied for while in the country require special applications and the lines and procedures can get quite tedious, so it better to get it done while in your home country.

Culture and Local Customs

Naturally warm and friendly, Filipinos are known for their hospitality. English and Tagalog are widely spoken with thee former as the official language used in government for other, especially the elderly, are practiced and appreciated.

Health and Safety

No vaccinations are required. Travelers are advised to stick to bottled water and cooked food.

As far as safety is concerned, a little common sense is all one really needs to assure personal safety. Just deposit your passports and cash at the front desk of the resort you are staying at and only take what you will need with you.

Currency

100 centavos = to 1 Peso (monetary unit of the Philippines) presently trading at 52 pesos to 1 USD. Most resorts will accept US Dollars and travelers checks. But there are Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central Bank of the Philippines) authorized money changers at the airports and the local banks in cities to dive destinations.

Voltage and Electricity

Voltage is 220V with two flat-pronged plugs. Since the voltage can be erratic in the outlying islands, please check with the dive operators in case you need to recharge flashlights or batteries. Most have facilities or access to charging stations with consistent power supply.
TOP 10 DIVE TOUR OPERATORS

Atlantis Dive Resort
Tel. No: (63) 43 287 3063 to 69
Email: info@atlantishotel.com
Website: www.atlantishotel.com

Cebu Sea Explorer Water Sports Inc
Tel. No: (032) 234 0248
Fax No: (032) 234 0245
Email: info@seaexplorer.com

Exotic Island Dive Resort
Tel. No: (63) 32 437 0983
Email: cora@malapascua.net
Website: www.malapascua.net

Eureka Dive Inc
Tel. No: (63) 2 756 0170
Email: eurekadive@eurekadive.com
Website: www.eurekadive.com

Last Frontier Dive Travel & Tour
Telfax No: (63) 480 434 5145

Scotty’s Dive Center
Tel. No: (63) 32 231 0288
Fax No: (63) 32 231 5079
Website: www.divescotty.com

Scuba World Inc.
Tel. No: (63) 32 895 3551
Email: swidive@cebu.pw.net.ph
Website: www.scubaworld.com.ph

Tropical Island Adventures
Tel. No: (63) 32 340 1845
Fax No: (63) 32 340 5901
Website: www.cebudive.com

Wind and Wave Davao
Tel. No:(082) 300 7914
Fax No: info@windandwavedavao.com
Website: www.windandwavedavao.com

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