Puerto Galera is one of those opportunities for everything from the minute to the massive …. but with an accent on macro creatures & muck … featuring frogfish, ghost pipefish, scorpionfish, lizardfish and countless varieties of nudibranchs. Not far from Manila, it is easy to access great diving here. In addition to the creature world, you have the usual Philippine contingent of colorful coral gardens. For experienced divers, a few of the sites in this area add a nice bit of drama to the package. You can find currents and canyons and walls, some great drift dives and plentiful jacks, barracudas, snapper and sweetlips …. plus passing whitetip and blacktip reef sharks.

Very near to Puerto Galera is Anilao, a Marine Protected Sanctuary. The diving here is also at both ends of the diving spectrum, with great critter life (spectacular macro photography) and some nice currents which bring in big fish and sharks.  The muck diving is regarded as some of the finest in the world, in contention with Lembeh Strait in Indonesia. Rhinopias, mantis shrimp, mimic octopus and blue-ringed octopus are just a few of the attractions which await you. At the other end of the scale are jacks, trevallies, barracudas and plenty of reef sharks.  Corals here are also plentiful and healthy.

Apo Reef is often considered one of the premier diving destinations in the Philippines and best known as a pelagics destination (sharks & huge schools of fish) although it is graced with a superb sea-fan covered wall which is filled with prolific marine life. This Marine Sanctuary (also a UNESCO world heritage site) contains the largest atoll in the Philippines, along with an impressive reef system, the second largest in this island nation.

In addition to the critters in the corals, you find fusilleers, surgeonfish and triggerfish, you get snapper, tuna, groupers, jacks, plus manta rays, white tip sharks, gray reef sharks … not to mention spinner dolphins and frequent passing whales.

There are multitudes of dive sites but probably the most popular amongst experienced divers is Yapak …. known for its sheer walls, enveloped with an extraordinary diversity of coral species, plunging from 30 meters (100 feet) to at least 70 meters (230 feet). The wall has plenty of exciting visitors also – whitetip, blacktip and grey reef sharks, dogtooth tuna, barracuda, groupers, napoleon wrasses and giant trevallies … as well as mantas and eventhe occasional hammerhead.

Please note, conditions can be challenging. This is not for novice divers.   The rest of the diving in the area provides plentiful colorful corals and active reef life and some excellent macro-life sites.

For wreck-diving aficionados, Coron is considered one of the world’s top destinations. 24 Japanese vessels went down here during an American attack in 1944 and roughly half have been found, most of which lie at recreational diving depths. The vast majority of the sunken ships are lying in waters from 12 – 30 meters /40 – 100 feet deep – so are easily do-able for the average diver. Do note, however, that conditions can be challenging, so make sure your dive master knows your qualifications & experience.

Also, while the ships are in exceptionally good condition and make for compelling diving for history & wreck buffs, be aware that normally there’s pretty low viz and marine life is not as extenensive as you’ll see in other areas of the Philippines.  Coron is for those who are passionate about and intrigued by the distinct beauty of this vanquished fleet and its historical significance.

This area has become particularly popular due to the ease of viewing thresher sharks – many up to 6 meters (nearly 20 feet). For a little added thrill, you often see manta rays in the same area. A deep-water shark, the threshers surface early for cleaning so your liveaboard will get you up and out early for the excitement. Their sinewy bodies are a sight like no other.

And, surprisingly, this site which is known for its grand pelagics, is surrounded by diving sites which house some of the best of the critter world (seahorses, flamboyant cuttlefish, pipefish, mandarin fish, ornate ghost pipefish, some wild & wonderful frogfish, even blue-ringed octopus) …. and lots of fish (lionfish, Moorish idols, schooling bannerfish, unicorn fish) … plus squid, octopus, morays and shrimp …. along with turtles, tuna and barracudas.

Nearby Gato Island is home to nurse sharks, whitetip reef sharks and the rare bamboo shark, while Kimud Shoal is known for sightings of schooling hammerheads from December to April.  At Donsol, whaleshark sightings are the claim to fame. This site, usually visited at one end of a Malapascua itinerary, also has a great pass for manta encounters, Ticao Pass. December to May is the ideal season.

Ticao, known as “Manta Bowl”, is the place for gentle giants which are drawn by the plankton bloom from the San Bernadino Pass. Thresher sharks and the occasional hammerhead have also been spotted here.

The area which is often referred to as Cebu (many of the liveaboards leave from Cebu City for certain itineraries) is largely about corals (filled with pygmy seahorses and frogfish), sponges and reef fish …. with a smattering of pelagic dives and walls thrown into the mix. Mactan Island is popular in large part due to the numerous whale shark encounters which it affords. But, you also find some nice walls & steep reefs with soft corals, sponges & black corals plus the critter-dive hot spot at Padre Burgos Pier, where seahorses, frogfish, pipefish and mandarin fish can all be seen.

Moalboal has a number of sites, not the most challenging of Phillipines regions, but lovely diving, Generally known as being great for novice and less experienced divers. The top site in this area is probably Pescador Island, with its more interesting underwater geography, including superb walls, overhangs, drop-offs plus its abundant soft corals and fish life.

Also, around Moalboal & Pescador Islands are sardines schools which attract the occasional thresher shark and whale sharks are frequently seen in the channel.

Sogod Bay is world famous for its sightings of whale sharks and its warm shallow waters. The area is perfect for both scuba diving and snorkeling but it’s not just the whale sharks that people come to see. Sogod Bay is world famous for its sightings of whale sharks and its warm shallow waters. The area is perfect for both scuba diving and snorkeling but it’s not just the whale sharks that people come to see. The coral reefs around the bays of southern Leyte & Limasawa Island provide havens for numerous fish species and a whole host of weird and wonderful creatures.

The Marine Sanctuary at Napantaw offers stunning soft corals and a great opportunity for over/under photography in the hard coral garden. The walls in Padre Burgos shelter numerous reef fish species, including grouper & sweetlips and within the sea fans, pygmy seahorses are commonly spotted.

Widely known for encounters with pelagic fish and reef sharks, the Bohol region offers plenty of barracudas, trevallies, tuna, at least one manta site, and if your itinerary includes Pamilacan, you’ll have whales and dolphins. Between December and June, at Cabilao Island, there are gigantic schools of hammerhead sharks.

In addition to the pelagics, there are, at many sites, lovely corals, beautiful wall dives and active fish life.  Pamilacan boasts particularly good visibility for viewing its expanses of both hard and soft corals and Panglao Island offers macro enthusiasts.

Probably best known for its lush coral gardens and beautiful reef fish (bannerfish, triggerfish), this area also has sites well known for their profusion of big fish and some excellent critter life (especially nudibranchs).

Apo Island is perhaps the best protected marine sanctuary in the Philippines and here you’ll find healthy corals teeming with fish, including red-tooth trigger fish, pyramid butterfly fish, blue lined fusileers and at least 8 species of anemone fish.  The Pier at Dumaguete is adored by many divers for its great critter life.

Atlantis Dumaguete Resort is located in this region and is highly recommended, either as on add-on to a liveaboard cruise or a destination on its own.

Plunging vertical walls and drop offs, shallow reef tops teeming with colorful fish, many sites which are home to stingrays, spiny lobsters, immature manta rays and turtles, and some which present hammerheads, thresher sharks and whale sharks. Dedicated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 due to its rich diversity, Tubbataha Reef offers some truly amazing diving, accessible only by liveaboard.

The Tubbataha reef system on Palawan Island consists chiefly of two atolls (North and South) and the Jessie Beazley reefs. We’re told that 600 different fish species and over 300 coral species are resident here.

Dive sites include Washing Machine, where many shark species can be sighted in the rapid current, the Delsan Wreck, now home to a plethora of reef fish and white tip reeef sharks, Seafan Alley where huge sea fans adorn the reef walls, Staghorn Point which boasts fields of staghorn corals.

Divers can expect to see stunning corals, schools of jacks, numerous reef sharks, marble rays, blue spotted sting rays, turtles, unicorn fish and trigger fish, sea cucumbers, coral crabs, ghost pipefish to sea stars, crinoids with cling fish, pygmy seahorses and hundreds more.