Diving in the Philippines

The Philippines is an island nation located in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. These islands are home to spectacular scenery, pristine beaches, incredible sights and lively cities. Dramatic drop offs, wrecks, caves and a richly varied marine life also guarantee fabulous diving. Combined with the renowned Philippine hospitality and warmth, an unforgettable dive holiday awaits.

Regaldive's programme in the Philippines is very flexible. With so many islands to choose from we have helped narrow down the search and suggested some of the best diving islands and destinations including, Malapascua, Palawan, Dumaguete, Puerto Galera and Alona Beach. How you choose to spend your visit in this delightful country is entirely up to you.

The dive sites of the Philippines are home to some of the best and most diverse marine eco-systems in South East Asia. Scientists believe that Southeast Asia is where most of the Pacific's marine organisms evolved before they spread out to colonize other oceans. There are over 500 species of hard and soft corals and innumerable varieties of fish and large pelagic. The diversity is astounding and caters to all levels of dive enthusiast. Dive Safaris are popular, where a boat takes you to different areas for diving by day, and returns you to your resort at night.

With flights into Manila and Cebu the islands of the Philippines are easily accessible. For whichever island appeals, you will be met at the airport and privately transferred to your resort. Whether by flight, jeepney or banca boat there will always be sights to enjoy. In order that guests can experience the best of the Philippines, Regal dive can arrange accommodation and diving on a number of islands. These resorts have been hand picked, not only for their comfort and surrounding scenery but most importantly, for their proximity to incredible dives sites. Whilst out of the water guests can relax on some of the best beaches in the world, enjoy the local markets, festivals and sights or even spend a night in the exciting and bustling capital.

scenery, ranging from limestone cliffs, thermal lakes and underwater caves. Jacques Cousteau described this area of the archipelago as “the most beautiful place I ever explored.” With over 1,800 islands, pristine beaches, world-class diving and a diverse wildlife you will understand why.

This meandering reef features different species of tunicates, sponges, seastars, sea cucumbers, turtles and cuttlefish. An aggregation of giant clams are located at 12 meters. Several species of damselfish, wrasses, groupers, fairy basslets, emperors, parrotfish, snappers, butterfly fish, flying gurnard and cardinal fish are among the inhabitants of the reef. Those that burrow in sand include sand perches, lizardfishes, flatfishes, stingrays and certain wrasses. During the day, a large aggregation of jacks can be found in the inner reef slope. Fusiliers, barracudas and tunas roam large areas around the island while a number of reef-associated

This Japanese freighter measures about 152 m long and lies almost upright. This is a beautiful wreck dive experience. More or less intact, this huge sunken ship usually offers good visibility of about 20 meters and ideal diving conditions. In the cargo rooms Japanese staff cars and trucks can be found. This wreck provides shelter to batfishes and substrate for the ubiquitous bivalves. Fusiliers, trevallies, barracudas and rays are occasionally sighted. Max. depth: 40 meters on the bottom. The deck level lies between 22 and 28 meters.

Famous for its dramatic drop-offs down to about 400 m. The steep walls are well covered with corals, sponges, tunicates, nudibranchs and slugs. The coral formation is magnificent at the plateau. Green and hawksbill turtles and multitude of fish including damselfish, butterfly fish, batfish, surgeonfish, snappers, fusiliers and trevallies are usually seen. Strong currents increase the chance of sighting mantas, great barracudas and sharks. This reef is also known as the Apo Reef Natural Park.

This freshwater lake is surrounded by limestone cliffs and served by a hot spring. Water temperature varies from 27-40 oC. The transition between cold and hot water is abrupt. The meeting of water types is visible. There are numerous shells on the bottom, shrimps on the walls and a few rabbit fish in the shallow area. The scenario is splendid and will surely be enjoyed by divers and non-divers. The coastal town of Coron is also worth a visit.

Malapascua is a tiny, picturesque island just off the northern tip of Cebu. You can walk around the whole island in a few hours or simply relax on the white sands of Bounty Beach. From this magical island, you can catch a glimpse of the elusive thresher shark at Shark Point, one of the few places in the world where there are regular sightings of these shy and unusual creatures. Be dazzled by the colors of the mandarin fish on a night dive or get your macro lens ready for an up close encounter with a pygmy seahorse at Gato Island. With great wreck dives including the Donna Marilyn and idyllic day trips also on offer this diving destination cannot fail to excite.

Set your alarm clock for 4.30 am and get up to take a 20 minute boat ride to the sunken island of Monad . The island has a diameter of 1,5km and starts at a depth of 12m then drops off to 45m.Shark Point is where you will see the thresher sharks. Occasionally hammerheads and manta rays are also spotted. This dive site is well worth the early start!

You reach Gato Island in 40 minutes by boat. Fishing there is not permitted so underwater life thrives. This is a good place to swim through caves and look for sleeping sharks. The macro life here is terrific and seahorses, pipefish and many different nudibranches are often spotted. The fan corals provide the perfect environment for the camouflaged pygmy seahorse.

A typhoon in´82 sank this cargo ship and sent 6 of its crew members to the grave. The wreck is 90m long and laying on its starboard side on a sandy bottom. There are a good variety of corals, lionfish, scorpion fish, and batfish here, along with occasional sightings of nurse shark, white tipped reef shark, eagle ray and stingray. This dive is to 32m and because there is so much to see, Nitrox is recommended.

Dumaguete is a small city situated on the south eastern tip of Negros one of The Philippines larger islands. Negros is a beautifully lush and tropical island and is well known for it’s sugar cane production in the north and the coconut plantations in the south. Dumaguete is a very friendly place and is known as a university town because seven universities and colleges are situated here.

Negros and Dumaguete are becoming increasingly popular with tourists, due in part to the ease of access and also due to the diverse range of activities available. Close to the city are trekking in tropical forests, waterfalls, hill climbing, golf, and dolphin and whale watching in Bais Bay. Still, the main reason why people come here is for the incredible diving, especially to visit the famous Apo Island. There are daily flights to Dumaguete from Manila and there are also several fast ferries each day from Cebu.

The main attraction in the area is Apo Island, one of the best known Philippines diving destinations. Apo is a tiny marine sanctuary (the island itself covers just 72 hectares) that is teeming with fish and beautiful corals. There are ten dive sites around the island and each has something different to offer from exhilarating drift dives at some locations to gentle shallow dives over hard and soft corals at others. At Apo Island there is a huge variety of fish species, crustaceans and nudibranch. The schools of jacks can sometimes number over 2,000 fish. For both micro and macro lovers this is truly blue heaven. Apo Island is just 30 minutes away from the dive centre at Pura Vida and usually you will do 2 or 3 dives here on a day trip.

The house reef is located just in front of the resort and is ideal for shore dives. The sandy bottom slopes down from one to twenty meters and there is also a 12m long steel boat wreck to be found. There is a large variety of rare species on the reef. This is an ideal place for training and the perfect environment for great night dives.

Just around the corner from the dive center is a fantastic diving spot. Seahorses, ghost pipe fishes, frog fishes, different kind of lion and scorpion fishes and nudi branches are very common. The area referred to as Eel Garden is also rather unique. This is an excellent place for photographers and night dives.

A beautiful marine sanctuary which can be reached by boat in ten minutes. You will encounter big schools of fish here. Huge snappers, sweetlips, stingrays and different kind of scorpion fishes are common at this dive site. Sightings of large turtles are also typical at Masaplod.