ANILAO BATANGAS - Only 140 km south of Manila, Anilao's proximity makes it a popular destination for weekend diving trips. Even excursions are ideal in this southern town where resorts are situated within short boat rides to excellent dive sites. Diving is mainly in coral slopes and shallow gardens among sandy patches. Choose from any of the 24 dive sites between the coast of Anilao and Maricaban Island. The most popular site is the Cathedral (average of 60 ft.), a roofless cavern with a blessed cross flanked by two large sea mounts. Ideal diving season is from November until May.

Favorite divesites in the area include Cathedral Rock, a pinnacle that rises from the bottom at 120 ft to 45 ft., hundreds of Damselfishes and Sergeant Majors envelop the divers as they approach. The pinnacle itself is covered with crinoids and anemones with resident clownfishes.

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 anthias gather along the drop- 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 divespot 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 U/W photographers. A close, careful inspection of the brown gravelly bottom reveal seahorses, panda clownfish, banded pipefish, harlequin and robust ghost pipefishes, dwarf lionfishes, scarlet snake eels and even the amazing and engaging wonderpus! Ditto for Twin Rocks. Expect to see black, blue and yellow ribbon eels, rabbit and surgeon fishes as well as 3 different kinds of angelfishes, gobies and jawfishes. See if you can spot the 2 resident soccerball sized black frogfishes. "

Apo Island, Dumaguete

Apo Island is a small volcanic island, 7km off the southeastern tip of Negros Island. it is one of the worlds best known community-organized marine sanctuary.

26 nautical miles off the western coast of Mindoro lies Apo Reef. Part of the National Integrated Protected Area system, this 27,469 hectare atoll is known as a mini-Tubbataha .Apo-mayor or big Apo is surrounded by a pristine reef of hard corals swarming with anthias, fusiliers, surgeonfish and other Technicolor reef fishes. The northeastern side of the island is where divers descend the vertiginous walls to look for the elusive hammerhead sharks. Apo -Menor has its own share of large residents in the form of manta rays and schools of bumphead parrotfish

BALICASAG ISLAND, BOHOL - situated 20km from Alona beach-is one of the very best dives in the Visayas, and also one of the most popular. These days, it is normal to see over a dozen other dive boats originating from all across the Visayas, as well as liveaboard vessels that have increasingly taken to operating in the 'Visayan Safari Triangle'. Virtually anywhere you drop in is sure to be rewarding: the following are just a few of the more popularsites.

Balicasag Island is fringed by a narrow reef about nine to 49.5 meters wide, one of the many reasons why Balicasag Island is a favorite destination of many foreign and local divers. Other than this, the locals exhibit the homegrown Filipino hospitality that makes visitors come back again and again.

You will find hard coral covering the submarine cliffs’ tops and sponges and gorgonians at the base. The Balicasag Island is also home to a huge community of fish.

Here are some interesting places you can check out when you visit Balicasag Island.

Diver’s Haven is a dive site that features a grand array of fish and marine life. Because of the many features of this dive site, it becomes a place of bliss for many divers who visit Balicasag Island. Another interesting dive site in Balicasag Island is called the Turtle Point. This dive site is located on the eastern side of the island. It features caves about 60 to 75 meters down. The dive site is called Turtle Point due to the fact that the place is a haven for turtles. They make the

PUERTO GALERA, ORIENTAL MINDORO

 A little further from Anilao using Batangas Pier as jump-off point, Puerto Galera is a natural harbor with fine beaches, green scenery and sheltered coves. Puerto Galera has grown to become a diving haven due to its marine diversity, complemented by other activities. At least two dozen sites have been identified, each providing good opportunity for photography. Most divers prefer to go to Puerto Galera from March to October.

"Puerto Galera and Verde is a 45 min. banca or 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.

If the Philippines is the "center of the center of marine bio-diversity" the Verde Island passage is the "Center of the center of the center of marine bio-diversity" or the marine equivalent of the Amazon River Basin. This 10 km by 10 km area between the provinces of Batangas and Mindoro has 1,736 species , the highest concentration of marine life on the planet!

Canyons, their most famous divesite, is world class. A series of 3 canyons whose sides are completely covered by pink dendronepthya and whip corals shelter residents that include spotted, oblique, striped and oriental sweetlips. Giant trevallys and batfishes hide among spectacular seafans and barrel sponges while large schools of snappers part their flanks to let a group of beautiful blue-finned travallies and emperor fish pass through.

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

St. Cristopher is one of several wrecks in the area and is home to a photogenic school of batfishes, yellow snappers, maroon frogfish, rabbitfishes and Angelfishes. The same can be said about the Sabang wrecks close by. There is also a seafan in about 15 mtrs of water that are 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 70 mtrs. Schools of trevallies, batfishes, triggerfishes can be seen at the Southeastern most point while hordes of Fusiliers and wide-mouth mackerel , bannerfishes and butterfly fish occupy the west wall. There are also resident banded seasnakes and yellow frogfishes. Humongous seafans and eyecatching tree corals in a wide variety of colors are present throughout."

Bird island (Tubbataha north face): this is a steep wall with overhangs, swim throughs and crevices. Some areas have sand trickling down from above like a waterfall and there is a corner where you feel strong currents coming from both sides. The reef top is quite nice with lots of hard coral heads and sandy areas in-between. There are always several sharks resting on the sandy area. One of them was lying there so quietly getting cleaned by its Remora fish, that the garden eels around it were coming out of their holes!


Malayan Wreck: You can see the remains of a Malayian ship that stranded there from the mooring place. You can have lot of current on one of the corners and lots of fish hanging around there, a large group of dogtooth tuna and even an eagle ray. On the reef you can see moray eels, angelfishes, butterflyfishes and other smaller reef fish as well as some lobsters, starfish and flatworms.


Amos Rock (Southwest Rock): The wall is wonderfully covered with huge gorgonian fans and whip corals and if there is some current this place is just chock a block with large fish! You can see many sharks, mostly white tip reef sharks and gray reef sharks. There are plenty of mackerels, snappers, some large groupers, several Napoleons, some of them real granddaddies and all of them moving in the current - a wild ride!


South Rock: Steep wall with a lot of gorgonian fans, some overhangs. You can see large group of tunas and longface emperors. On the sandy areas there are always a lot of sea cucumbers like the special looking Thelenota ananas.

Tubbataha Reef South Atoll dive sites:

Black Rock: Steep wall not covered with much corals. In-between sandy channels coming from the reef top. There are some sharks patrolling, mostly white tip reef sharks and a few Napoleon wrasses.

Lighthouse islet: Steep wall and a large reef top area. Hard and soft corals, anemones with anemone fishes, lots of anthias.

Jessie Beazeley Reef:

The name of this reef is also written as Jezzly Beazley on some maps. This reef lies about 23 km northwest of the Tubbataha reefs but is not protected as a Marine Park, so fishing is allowed there. The reef there is so small, you probably have visited it in two dives. This place is not sheltered at all, so the dive operators will only stop there, if the weather is calm. The reef is covered with corals and gorgonians and large schools of fish. The southern part of the reef has an extensive reef top. Currents can be strong.

The islands north and south of the Tubbataha reefs:

Arena island, 89 km northeast of the Tubbataha reefs and Cavili close by are small coral islets and sand cays with fringing reefs. Arena has a lighthouse and seaweed farms. Further north lie Caluse and Cagayancillo, both surrounded by reefs. This whole area is not so nice to dive, since there has been a lot of dynamite fishing and large parts of the reefs are destroyed.

Bastera (Maeander Reef) is a sand cay 93 km southwest of Tubbataha south island. The wreck of the Oceanic lies on the east side. Bancoran island, a further 60 km southwest of Bastera, is densely wooded and inhabited.