The Philippines hosts some of the best dives sites in the world thanks to the sheer diversity of our marine life. Our warm waters are home to wrecks, ocean walls and reefs that are teeming with coral, small marine life and even whale sharks, thresher sharks and manta rays.
Wreck Diving Malapascua
This island off Cebu’s northern tip has, over the years, become more and more popular among diving enthusiasts. Cebu is home to three wreck dives in the area including a ship.
Coron Bay
Wreck diving enthusiasts can wriggle their way through at least ten Japanese WWII warships at Coron Bay. Most of the wrecks in this world-class diving spot are about 45 minutes to 2-hour boat rides from Coron Town. There are a range of opportunities for beginners and experts alike as depths of the wrecks range from shallow to very deep.
Whale sharks and Thresher sharks
Apo Reef
This is the largest atoll-type reef in the Philippines. These crystal clear waters are home to 285 species of fish and 197 species of coral. You’re practically guaranteed to sight large fish, such as white and black tip sharks, reef sharks, jacks, tuna and even creatures to brag about like the hammerhead, whale shark and manta ray.
Tubbataha Reefs
Get on a liveabord from Puerto Princesa to this World Heritage site. It’s a protected marine reserve that’s often compared to the Galapagos Islands. This natural wonderland has hundreds of seabirds and fish, including mantas, whale sharks and all kinds of large marine life.
Donsol
This is one of the few places in the world where you can get up close and personal with the majestic whale sharks. From February to May, visitors can enjoy whale shark spotting tours or even swim with these gentle giants.
Balicasag Island, Bohol
Considered to be one of the best dive spots in the Philippines, Balicasag Island is ringed by a pristine reef that drops to an impressive underwater cliff as deep as 50m. Soft and hard corals, barracuda and wrasse can be spotted here. And if you visit between December and March, you might even spot the occasional whale shark.
Cabilao Island, Bohol
These waters of this island are home to seven species of shark and the famous pygmy seahorse. Although at only 8mm, you’ll have to keep those eyes peeled to spot one as it camouflages itself in the surrounding red coral.
Crocodile Island, Boracay
Fifteen minutes from White Beach is a small uninhibited islet, that’s perfect for beginners. It’s calm shallow reefs hide underwater canyons and caves teeming with tropical marine life.
Yapak Wall, Boracay
The most famous of Boracay’s dive sites. It’s off the northern tip and is a soft-coral-covered wall running from 30m to 65m. Close encounters with grey reef sharks, groupers and giant trevallies are common here. The choppy waters make this an advanced dive site.
Pescador Island
Pescador offers some of the most spectacular diving in Cebu. The waters have excellent visibility of up to 50m and are usually teeming with fish. The main attraction at Pescador Island are the swirling mass schools of sardines.
Manta Bowl
Book a dive from Donsol for the Manta Bowl. This is an advanced dive down 17m to 22m to a manta ray cleaning station, where mantas converge for the cleaner wrasses to remove parasites from their skin. Whale and thresher sharks may also be seen here.
Monad Shoal, Malapascua
A fifteen minute boat ride will take you to a thresher shark cleaning station. Located on a plateau at a depth of 25m, this is where thresher sharks line up for their daily morning scrub
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