Philippines

The Philippines is part of what is known as the ‘Coral Triangle’ (along with Indonesia & Papua New Guinea), where scientists believe marine life first begin; this region has the highest marine biodiversity than anywhere else.

Whatever kind of diving you enjoy you can find it in the Philippines, whether it be diving with sharks at Tubbataha or Malapascua, or Japanese WW2 wrecks in Coron or stunning coral reefs with all kinds of small, weird and wonderful macro life right across the country.

A good way of describing diving in the Philippines is by comparing it to types of television (!) – Outside of the Coral Triangle region it’s like watching TV in Black and White. In the Philippines it is 4K Full colour!

There are many, many dive destinations across the Philippines, with a wide range of Resorts and Dive Centres, from affordable budget places to top end resorts.

Liveaboards options are not as abundant as the Red Sea, Maldives and Indonesia, with all the main operators focussing on Tubbataha from early March through to mid/end June. Outside of the Tubbataha season, liveaboards offer itineraries mostly around the central (Visayas) part of the country, with some offering itineraries in December to January in the north west, to places like Apo Reef and Coron.

Anilao, Luzon

The birthplace of recreational scuba diving in the Philippines; this is where the locals first started to dive in the Philippines back in the 70’s, mainly because it is the nearest place to get to from Manila!

What they didn’t realise at the time is that they ventured to a place which is a top draw macro & muck diving destination and should be regarded in the same standing as Lembeh, Ambon & Alor in indonesia.

There is colourful and varied reef around Anilao, particularly at dive sites like Sombrero, Beatrice and Kirby’s Rock, but a lot of divers are attracted to the macro and muck diving, particularly for nudibranchs, cephalopods, crustaceans and the weird and wonderful fish, such as Hairy Frogfish, Ornate/Robust/Velvet/Roughsnout Ghostpipefish, ‘Anilao’ Seadragon, Ambon Scorpionfish, Magnificent Goby and if you are lucky, Rhinopia. If you look in the Nudibranch/opisthobranch guidebooks you will repeatedly see Batangas (Province of) as the place where a species was discovered, where they actually mean is Anilao.

Anilao is also one of the very top Blackwater diving destinations, and many of the resorts offer it.

Best time to go: Diving is possible year-round. The cooler months of December to February possibly have slightly more macro life around, but the warmer months of March to June will have better visibility and better weather. July to September is the rainy & low season, you’ll frequently get discounted rates going at this time, and the diving is still very good.

How to get there: Super easy to get to from Manila, it takes about 2.5-3 hours to get to your resort from Manila Airport, so regardless of what time you land in Manila you can get there the same day.

Puerto Galera, Mindoro

This was the first place foreigners set up dive operations in the Philippines in the 80’s, drawn to the area for its beautiful scenery, white sand beaches lined with coconut trees and spectacular coral reefs – then someone had the bright idea of setting up a dive centre, and the rest is history!

Today, Puerto Galera is the most popular diving destination in the country, offering a wide variety of accommodation and dive centres in Sabang, Small Lalaguna, Big Lalaguna and around the quieter PG town itself.

Flushed out by the tides every day, and aided by the natural geology of the area, nutrient rich water from the very deep Verde Passage allows a wide variety of hard and soft corals to flourish, which in turn supports hundreds of fish species and other life forms.

For divers, this is most definitely a place to keep an eye on the tide tables, as the currents can be used for exhilarating adventures on some of the keynote dive sites such as Canyons, Kilimar Drift, Hole in the Wall and Sinandigan. But there’s always an alternative if you prefer more sedate diving. Muck and macro divers will love it here too, at dive sites such as Sabang Wrecks, Boat Yard, Giant Clams, Tamaraw and White Beach; you’ll have the opportunity to find special creatures such as Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Hairy, Clown, Painted and Giant Frogfish, Mimic Octopus and all the species of Ghostpipefish.

Night diving, like many places in the Philippines, is superb, with the opportunity to see creatures such as Stargazers, Bobbitt Worm, Spearing Mantis Shrimp, Snake eels and many species of crustaceans and Opisthobranch.

But no trip to PG is complete until you do a day trip to Verde Island. Possibly the most fish abundant dive site in the whole of the Philippines; the volcanic rocks are covered in hard and soft corals, huge gorgonian fans and barrel sponges. The whole dive site bustles with thousands of Redtooth Triggerfish, Fusiliers, Bigeye Trevally, Sweetlips, Snappers, Batfish and more Anthias than you can shake a stick at! It’s a stunning dive site!

Best time to go: Diving is possible year-round. The cooler months of December to February possibly have slightly more macro life around, but the warmer months of March to early June will have better visibility and better weather. Being on the north side of Mindoro Island it is protected from the Habagat winds (SW monsoon) from June to early October.

How to get there: Bus or private van from Manila to Batangas (about 2 hours) then public fastcraft ferry to Balatero (45-60 mins) or Private Water taxi from Berberabe direct to your resort (about 40 mins).

Apo Reef Natural Park, Mindoro

The second largest contiguous coral reef system in the world, Apo Reef Natural Park covers an area of 157 square kilometres. Being that Apo is well away from any large land mass and effectively in the middle of the sea, the visibility here can be exceptional, and probably what it is most famous for.

There are 3 islands in the park area, with Apo Island the only one you can set foot on; it has a beautiful white sand beach and mangroves, you can visit the Ranger Station and take a climb up the Lighthouse for a stunning view over the small island and surrounding ocean. On the south and south west side of the island is beautiful coral reef busy with fish life, including Whitetip and Grey Reef sharks, big schools of Black and Midnight Snapper, Bluefin Trevally, Pyramid Butterflyfish, Fusiliers and Surgeonfish. On the north side is a distinct drop off, this is where you are most likely to see Hammerheads, but you’ll need a bit of luck to do so. On the reef top you’ll find plenty of Sweetlips, schooling Barracuda and Drummers.

At Menor Island you can see a lot of Whitetips cruising up and down the reef or sleeping on the sandy bottom. Plus, the opportunity to see a large school of Chevron Barracuda, large Napoleon Wrasse, Batfish, Red Snapper and (rather unnervingly during nesting season!) many Yellowmargin Triggerfish.

Other dive sites worth a look at are Apo 29 and the Apo Wreck

Best time to go: October through to going into June, with the best months being March to May. During the period June to September is the Habagat (SW monsoon/rainy season) and seas can be too choppy to get there.

How to get there:

Liveaboard – mostly originating from Batangas and will do a couple of days in Apo, then move on to do the wrecks in Coron.

Land-based – resorts in either north Busuanga (Coron) or west Mindoro (Pandan Island) – land based resorts will offer day trips or possibly overnight trips, sleeping on the dive boat.

Coron, Palawan

Part of the Calamian group of islands, but still part of the province of Palawan, Coron is most famous for its WW2 Japanese wrecks, which were sunk by American bombers in September of 1944 (as part of Operation Hailstone). Whilst most divers will go there for the wrecks, there is a lot more to see and do.

Arguably Coron Island (resorts and dive centres are mostly based on Busuanga Island) is the second most beautiful part of the Philippines at sea level (El Nido being no.1), with stunning karst limestone scenery and deserted white sand beaches makes for a wonderful place to go island hopping.

On the south side of Busuanga island is Coron Bay, and where you will see the majority of wrecks (8). All the wrecks are perfectly diveable recreationally with single tank. Being the wrecks have been there for nigh on 80 years, they have effectively become artificial reefs and are covered in hard and soft corals, big bushes of multicoloured Black Coral and the fish life is pretty good too. The deepest wreck is the Irako, sitting upright at 42m, and was a supply vessel; for technical divers, this is the one of most interest to fully penetrate and explore inside. The Okikawa Maru, an oil tanker, is the biggest at around 160m long, with the top deck at around 12m deep. The Akitsushima is the only true military vessel, a seaplane tender, which lies on her side; you can see the large crane for lifting the plane out of the water, plus anti-aircraft guns and engine room.

Aside from the wrecks, no trip to Coron is complete without a visit to Barracuda Lake, on Coron Island; no wetsuit required! Dive down to 14m and you see the water separation from the upper brackish water at 28c +/- and the fresh water below, fed from a hot spring, at 38-40c! It’s a unique dive!

On the north side of Busuanga island are resorts where you can stay and dive the nearby and further afield reefs. From here you can dive the Kyokuzan Maru wreck, and due to the generally clearer water in the area, the top of the wreck is totally covered in beautiful hard and soft corals.

Also, on the north side of Busuanga is the Philippines largest population of Dugong. You can do day trips searching for them, and there is a very good chance you will see them, either feeding in seagrass beds or chilling out and scratching themselves on the reefs.

Best time to go:

South side of Busuanga island – Diving is possible all year round, with the better months being October through to June.

North side of Busuanga island – Diving is possible all year round, but as it is more exposed than the south side, the sea can be bumpy if there is a weather system. As safer bet as there can be, would be February to End of May/mid June.

How to get there:

Fly – from Manila or Cebu to Busuanga

Ferry – from Manila or Puerto Princesa

Liveaboard: Most mainstream liveaboards will depart from Batangas and go to Apo Reef first, then onto Coron.

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site

The ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of Philippine diving. Tubbataha is the Philippines best example of a complete eco system; this is where you need to go if you want to see sharks, schools of big fish, a very wide variety of reef fish, big walls dropping down to the abyss, plus endless gardens of hard and soft coral festooned with massive gorgonian fans and ginormous barrel and tube sponges. Visibility, particularly at high tide in the morning, normally exceeds 30m.

Only reachable by liveaboard from March through to June, Tubbataha consists of two atolls which rise out of the deep water of the Sulu Sea, plus Jessie Beazley reef, which is also part of the protected National Park.

Liveaboards start and finish in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, or transition from/to Batangas or Cebu at the beginning/end of the season. From Puerto Princesa, the liveaboards depart in the late afternoon/early evening and travel overnight to Tubbataha, ready to start diving the following morning. Most liveaboards itinerary will consist of 4 days diving the two atolls, then a fifth day at Jessie Beazley Reef, before returning to Puerto Princesa.

Each atoll has a small island, both of which are no-go protected bird sanctuaries, so the only bit of land you can set foot on, at low tide, is the sand bank in front of the Ranger Station (all the liveaboards will visit the Ranger Station).

Standout dive sites are:

North atoll

Malayan Wreck – named after the very photogenic remains of a grounded ship on the reef top; around the wreck you’ll see lots of Harlequin and Oriental Sweetlips, plus Whitetip Reef sharks and Napoleon Wrasse. Also commonly seen on the reef top and down the wall are Bumphead Parrotfish, Bigeye Trevally, Barracuda and Whitetip and Grey Reef sharks, and possibly out in the blue, Scalloped Hammerheads.

Shark Airport & Washing Machine – a beautifully busy and colourful reef top and wall. A big school of Bigeye Trevally and Chevron Barracuda are resident here, along with many fully grown Whitetip Reef sharks. Here is frequently a good place to see Reef Manta at cleaning stations.

South atoll

Delsan Wreck – This can be an awesome dive, especially first thing in the morning with current running from north to south; there’s a kind of a dog leg in the wall, creating an up current which attracts megafauna. Again, you have the chance of coming face to face with whopping schools of Bigeye Trevally and Chevron Barracuda.

Black Rock – A stunningly beautiful reef top and wall, buzzing with fish of all shapes and sizes. This is another area commonly visited by Reef Manta looking for cleaning stations.

Beautiful reef, Whitetip and Grey Reef sharks, schools of Bigeye Trevally and Chevron Barracuda and a wide variety of reef fish are pretty much a given, and with a bit of luck, you can also see Whaleshark, Scalloped Hammerhead, Guitar shark, Silvertip shark, Nurse shark, Tiger shark, Reef and Oceanic Manta, Eagle Ray, Marble Ray, Dogtooth and Yellowfin Tuna.

Best time to go: March to mid/end of June. Try and go on a full or new moon, for a bit of current to help bring megafauna to the reef.

How to get there: Fly from Manila or Cebu to Puerto Princesa, to join your Liveaboard.

Romblon

If macro and super macro is your thing, then you should seriously consider a trip to Romblon.

Whilst it is perfectly possible to do ‘normal’ diving on the coral reefs and seagrass areas, Romblon is a real hotspot for a good number of ‘special’ creatures not regularly seen in other parts of the Philippines. Dive Centres in the area particularly focus on macro and super macro and have found an impressive list of creatures. The most sort after being the ‘Holy Grail’ of nudibranch lovers – Melibe colemani – the Phantom or Skeleton nudibranch; along with Melibe engali (ghost melibe), it is very commonly seen here. Whilst the colemani invariably steals the show, there are other wonderful opisthobranchs which can be found on a regular basis, including the butterfly sea slugs (Cyerce nigra, elegans and others). Over 500 species of opisthobranch have been found in the area. Plus, a huge variety of shrimp and crab, living on hosts you would never normally think of looking at to see if there was a special creature living there.

This is the only place in the country where 4 species of Pygmy Seahorse been found – Hippocampus bargibanti, denise, pontohi and severnsi.

In additional to all this, there is a wealth of cephalopods (e.g. Mimic Octopus, Wonderpus, Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Blue Ring Octopus) and special fish species (e.g. Lembeh Sea dragon, Frogfish, Filefish, Blennies, Hawkfish, Dragonets, Pipefish, Ghostpipefish, Gobies).

Best time to go: Possible to dive year-round. January to early June are the drier months.

How to get there: Overnight ferry from Batangas to Romblon, or fly from Manila to Tablas Island and cross over to Romblon Island by boat.

Malapascua, Cebu

Here is the only place in the world that we know of where you can predictably see the Pelagic Thresher Shark every morning, as they rise from the deep to visit cleaning stations.

‘Traditionally’ the Threshers would visit Monad Shoal, which is a large sunken plateau about 40 minutes boat ride from Malapascua, where many cleaning stations are located, at depths ranging from 22m to 35m. You would leave early, around 5-5.30am, go to Monad Shoal, make one dive then be back at your resort having your breakfast by 8.30-9am. During the course of a week’s diving, if you had not seen then sharks then you could consider yourself extremely unlucky, as it is not uncommon to have sightings into double digits on a single dive.

Then everything changed! Towards the end of 2022 for some inexplicable reason the Threshers relocated their cleaning requirements to Kimud Shoal, another sunken plateau another 20 minutes boat ride on from Monad Shoal. Kimud Shoal is much smaller and much shallower, so now the sharks are more concentrated, and can be see all morning, rather than just very early. Even a blind man looking the other way will be able to see Threshers everyday now! And the encounters can be close, really close. Almost all the dive operations go there for 2 dives every morning.

Photographers and videographers will love it also; artificial lighting is not permitted, and the ambient lighting conditions are so much better now at Kimud Shoal.

Aside from the Thresher shark dives, immediately around the island are a series of pinnacles, which offer a good variety of macro life. The Lighthouse dive site is where you’ll see the Mandarin fish doing their thing every evening, and night dives, particularly along the eastern side of the island, where there is a mix of seagrass and sandy areas, can be excellent for crustaceans and opistobranchs, as well as the usual suspects of Stargazers, Pegasus fish, Snake eels and Basket stars.

Further afield, a couple of day trips can be done; Kalanggaman island, which is about 2 hours boat ride away, a beautiful ‘Robinson Crusoe’ kind of island, plus for diving, a long deep wall which is worth a visit. Also, Gato Island, which for the lesser experienced diver can be an interesting adventure by diving through the 100m +/- long tunnel and (hopefully) having whitetip reef sharks circling as you exit.

Malapascua island offers a range of resorts, dive centres and restaurants (one of the favourites is Angelina’s), plus, if you take the time to wander around the small villages, you’ll get to see island life – learn a few words of local dialect – Visaya (also known as Cebuano) – such as Maayong buntag/harpoon/gabii (good morning/afternoon/evening) and the usual friendly welcome to visitors will become even more pronounced.

Best time to go: Diving is possible all year round and the Thresher sharks are there all year too. Visibility will vary during the course of the year, with possibly the clearer water being March to August. Easter time will be really busy, so if you need to go at this time, make sure you book up a long way ahead. Top tip – some of the best dive conditions are in July and August, which is low season, so it will be much quieter on the island and on the dive sites.

How to get there: Fly to Mactan, Cebu. From the airport private van or taxi will take about 4 hours to get to the port of Maya, at the most northern point of Cebu Island. Then it’s about 45 minutes boat crossing to Malapascua. Tip – after dark crossings are not permitted by the Coastguard; if you haven’t left Cebu City by 12 noon, then stay there the night before travelling the next morning, as there is very little in the way of accommodation in Maya, in case you get stuck there.

Moalboal, Cebu

The most popular reason to visit Moalboal is to dive with what’s been termed the ‘Sardine run’, which is a bit of a misnomer as the sardines aren’t running anywhere and have been resident all year round for decades!

Millions, possibly billions, of sardines can be found just off the coast at Panagsama beach. It’s mesmerising to watch the school twist and turn in unison as they move out of the way of your bubbles, plus avoid predation by trevally and occasional tuna or barracuda. If you are really lucky and in the right place at the right time, it is possible to see Thresher sharks hunting on the sardines.

On the Moalboal mainland there is a wall which stretches for a few kilometres, with the top in quite shallow water of 2-5m, dropping down to about 40-50m. Sections of the wall have been split up into dive sites, such as Kasai Village House reef, Talisay, Tongo Point, Sampaguita, Dolphin House and Rhonda. The wall has many fans, soft corals and hard coral outcrops. It’s an easy environment to take your time meandering along the wall keeping one eye out for macro life on the wall and the other in the blue in case a Thresher shark or Whaleshark makes an appearance.

A 15-20 minute boat ride, you’ll come to the small island of Pescador. The wall on the south side of the island is the highlight, with an abundance of small reef fish, including Anthias, Surgeonfish and Fusiliers. There’s a good chance of finding Giant Frogfish perched on a tube sponge, waiting for an unsuspecting victim to pass by.

Going round the west side of the island you’ll come to ‘Cathedral Cave’, it’s not actually a cave, but it’s a little bit of an adventure to explore inside.

Moalboal is also a good place to be based if you want to do a daytrip to Oslob, to see the Whalesharks. See info below.

Over the years Moalboal has grown in popularity for those seeking a bit of adventure, with obviously the opportunity to scuba dive, and many above water activities to do, such as river climbing, canyoning , mountain biking and horse riding in the nearby hill range.

Best time to go: Diving is all year round. Mid October to mid December is normally good, but the best chance of flat calm sea, clear, blue skies, no wind and good visibility is March to early/mid June.

How to get there: Fly to Cebu, then 3 hours +/- by van/car to Moalboal. You can get to Moalboal any time from arriving at Cebu Airport.

Oslob, Cebu

Fishermen in small village of Tan-Awan, in the municipality of Oslob, have had a long relationship with Whalesharks. For decades the fishermen have used the method of catching krill and shrimp, which they put in a mesh bag with a rock inside, then suspend in the water to attract fish, once fish are attracted, they use ‘hook and line’  to catch the fish. Whalesharks are attracted to the area by the smell of the krill and are kind of a pest to the fishermen, as the whalesharks try to get the fishermen’s krill bait ball. There’s an expression in the local language (Visaya/Cebuano) – Samok – which means irritating, or annoying; the expression would be used to tell irritating children to stop misbehaving, it is also directed towards the whalesharks! After the fishermen have finished fishing, they throw the unwanted krill to the waiting whalesharks.

In August 2011, a tourist diver visited the area and had heard about the relationship between fishermen and whalesharks and paid a fisherman to take him out on his boat to see the whalesharks, which duly happened. It was a ‘light bulb’ moment for the fishermen, who realised that taking tourists out on their boats to see the whalesharks made much more money and more easily than fishing. By October 2011 the fishermen started taking divers and snorkellers out to see the sharks and mushroomed in popularity immediately with local and foreign tourists alike.

It is now big business for the fishermen and the wider local community supporting tourism, completely transforming the village, and providing a prosperous economy. The income has allowed a new school to be built, better sanitation and water supply for the locals, plus the opportunity for employment in the tourist industry.

There is no denying this is controversial, as the Whalesharks are being attracted by food, and many people may not agree with the practice; It is obviously your call if you want to go or not. But should you decide to go, there is a 99%+ chance you will see juvenile and adolescent whalesharks, and it’s quite likely you will see 10 plus individuals.

Feeding of the sharks takes place between 6am to 12 noon; depending on the number of tourists, it may finish earlier.

Although there are some basic places to stay in Tan-Awan and simple dive operations, from a diver’s perspective, it is better to go there as a day trip from your stay in either Moalboal or Dumaguete. Aside from the shark dives, there isn’t a great else to see in the immediate area.

Best time to go: The Whalesharks are there 365 days of the year.

How to get there: Van from Cebu City, or from Moalboal or Dumaguete.

Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte

Undoubtedly one of the hidden gems of dive destinations in the Philippines. This little visited destination only has a small handful of dive resorts, but has some of the best land based diving in the country.

Sogod Bay has a wonderful mix of dive sites, which will strongly appeal to coral reef, macro, muck and fish lovers.

The premier dive site, Napantau, has two walls, absolutely covered in life producing a rainbow of colours; if there is a bit of current running from north to south on the first corner or the north wall, it is a veritable fish soup of Anthias, Fusiliers, Drummers and Giant Trevally trying to catch a meal. On the reef top you can look for sleeping juvenile whitetip reef sharks in small caves and you are never too far from being able to see Green and Hawksbill turtles feeding or resting.

Other dive sites definitely worth visiting are Santa Paz Pinnacle, Zack’s Cove, Max Climax Wall, Tangkaan, Santa Sofia, Bunga Bend, Voltaire’s Rock and Little Lembeh.

Also, from November to end of April, sometimes going into early May, is Whaleshark season. Most years the sharks tend to congregate around the southern point of the eastern side of the bay, not far from the village Sonok on Panaon island. Diving is not permitted with the sharks, so if you go on a Whaleshark watching trip you’ll need to take your snorkel.

By comparison to the Oslob Whaleshark experience, this is the ‘natural’ way of seeing them. The dive resorts hire the local fishermen as spotters, and tow them to where the sharks have been recently seen; the spotters will then scour the area and call over the dive boat when a shark has been sighted, for the snorkelers to then jump in for a look. As it is close to the open ocean, you are more likely to see bigger whalesharks than the average size seen in Oslob.

It is a wonderfully quiet place to stay and to dive; the chances are it will be just your dive boat on any given dive site.

Best time to go: Diving is possible all year round. Being Southern Leyte is on the eastern side of the country, it has a bit of a shift in the normal Visayas weather cycle, meaning that summer doesn’t normally arrive until March but can have great weather even going into July and August, which elsewhere is considered rainy season.

How to get there: Fly from Manila to Tacloban and then 4 hours by van to Sogod Bay. Or, from Cebu City, take a fastcraft ferry to Ormoc and 3-4 hours van to Sogod Bay.

Dumaguete, Negros Oriental

If there is such a thing as a ‘nice’ Filipino city, then Dumaguete is it! Being a university city, it has a vibrant and young feel about the place, with many bars, cafés and restaurants dotted along the boulevard seafront. It’s known as the City of Gentle People, and just walking around the city’s markets and streets it is easy to see why. Wherever you go in the Philippines you are never far away from a smile and a greeting being directed your way, but maybe in Dumaguete you’ll get a few more!

Considered to be the macro capital of the Visayas region, the diving areas are located further down the coast from the city in the municipalities of Bacong, Dauin and Zamboanguita.

Along the mainland coastline you will find mile after mile of dive sites with a mixture of darker sand, seagrass and sporadic coral reef, plus artificial reefs set up by the local Municipalities, which in the shallows are particularly good for snorkelling. Although the corals may not be the most picturesque in the country, they are certainly a harbour for a wealth of macro life, and because all the dive sites are designated as Marine Protected Areas, the reef fish life is abundant.

You’ll most definitely encounter plenty of special creatures including Frogfish (Painted, Hairy, Giant, Warty), Seahorses, Opistobranchs  (nudibranchs & shells), Ghostpipefish (Ornate, Robust, Roughsnout, possibly Velvet), Cuttlefish (Flamboyant) , Octopus (Mimic, Wunderpus, Coconut), and possibly Ambon Scorpionfish.

For Coral reef lovers, you will not be disappointed; 30 minutes boat ride away is Apo Island.  In the early 1980s, scientists from the local Silliman University Marine Laboratory worked with the islanders to set up one of the countries first Marine Protected Areas. Today, you can see some of the most wonderful hard and soft coral gardens on dive sites such as Rock Point, Coconut Point and Chapel. And there are so many Green and Hawksbill Turtles, which just don’t bat an eyelid as you watching them munching on algae or sponges.

Currents can be strong on some of the dive sites, such as Rock Point, Coconut and Mamsa Point, but mostly they are lateral currents. So maybe you can buy a t-shirt from the islander ladies – ‘I dived and survived Mamsa Point’!

Dumaguete and the wider area also offers plenty of non-diving activities such as exploring waterfalls, the geo-thermal electricity plant, hot springs, bird watching at Twin Lakes, Dolphin watching tours and the local’s market at Malatapay (Wednesday).

Best time to go: Diving is possible all year round. October through to early December can be good, with March to July being the best opportunity for blue skies, calm seas and good visibility.

How to Get there: Fly from Manila or Cebu to Dumaguete. Or fastcraft ferry from Cebu City, via Tagbilaran (Bohol), or by van from Cebu City to the south of Cebu Island, public ferry over to Sibulan, then van down to Dumaguete.

Panglao, Bohol

Located in the Visayas region of the country, Panglao has increasingly become a centre for tourism; it is now served by an International Airport with flight arriving from other Asian countries.

The main area to stay is on or near Alona Beach, which has an abundance of hotels, resorts, bars, restaurants and dive centres. In the evening the bars and restaurants spread out their tables along the white sand beach and offer a wide variety of local and international food. If you want to have a bit of nightlife after a day’s diving, this is a good place to go.

Bohol mainland offers plenty of ‘above water’ experiences, such as a visit the unique geological formations known as the Chocolate Hills; see the world’s second smallest primate, the Philippine Tarsier, at one of the ‘sanctuaries’; a trip down the River Lobok, which essentially is the perfect day out for Filipinos – an adventure, food, music and the opportunity for a selfie; visit places such as the Blood Compact statue and the Baclayon Church to learn about the Philippines religious history dating back to the 16^th century, go bird watching at the Rajah Sikatuna National Park, where you can see the Visayan Hornbill, Philippine Trogon, Visayan Wattled Broadbill, plus many more birds you never even knew existed!

For diving around Panglao, there are many dive sites surrounding the coastline, but everyone going there will more than likely have at the top of their list a trip to Balicasag island. This small island has a few dives sites around it, such as Rudy’s Rock, Diver’s Heaven and Black Forest, and you will see a vibrant reef with excellent fish life, including the resident huge school of Bigeye Trevally.

Best time to go: Diving is possible all year round. October through to early December can be good, with March to end of May being the best opportunity for blue skies, calm seas and good visibility.

How to get there: Fly from Manila to Panglao. Or fastcraft ferry from Cebu City or Dumaguete to Tagbilaran.

Anda, Bohol

In recent years Anda has become an increasing favourite with divers. Located on the eastern side of Bohol island, Anda is a quiet and unassuming place with a small provincial town – if you want to get away from the crowds, this is a good place to go.

Along the Anda coastline it kind of splits into two areas, to the south of the town is a long cliff, which also continues underwater to form a wall stretching for a few kilometres. From the town and going north the cliff disappears to form a long sandy beach, which is also reflected underwater to form gently sloping sand and sea grass areas.

The wall to the south descends to about 25-30m, giving way to a sandy slope disappearing into the depths. In places along the wall there are some impressive Black Coral gardens, Gorgonian fans and schools of Snappers. If you stick your head into the reef you’ll find a very good selection of macro life, for example Electric clams, Pygmy Seahorses, Frogfish, Rhino shrimps and Mandarin fish at twilight.

To the north, with the sandy slope and seagrass areas is excellent for muck/macro diving, with creatures such as Mimic Octopus, Wunderpus, Flamboyant Cuttlefish found frequently. It’s great for night diving there too.

For days off from diving, all the above water activities listed in the Panglao paragraph can also be done from Anda.

Best time to go: Diving is possible all year round. October through to early December can be good, with March to end of May being the best opportunity for blue skies, calm seas and good visibility.

How to get there: Fly from Manila to Panglao. Or fastcraft ferry from Cebu City or Dumaguete to Tagbilaran.