From Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet...

"Anilao, Batangas is an easy 2 hour drive from Manila and has a large number of diving-dedicated resorts.

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. "
Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet, 2007

Rating:

"Among my dives THIS is really the best! So many stone fishes around there anywhere you look there's alot more. In this dive site is where I saw the prehistoric frogfish! You might also see sharks together with the current. If you would like to go here you should be there early about 7-8am. You wouldn't recognize that you are going deeper since it's in slanting formation. So beautiful that you would really come back and you will feel in love in it and you will start to shout "MAINIT!" This dive site is really addictive. So colourful marine world! You would see all those long fishes wandering around. Those sword, trumpet and flute fishes are just passing by you. Tunnel and cave-like formation."
Zhiela A. Santillan, 2006

"Birthplace of SCUBA diving in the Philippines ... lots of macro stuff."
Shank, 2006

Rating:

"Diving here is great specially when it's already the safety stop. Our safety stop here is fantastic because there's a valley like coral formation there and only one diver can pass through it. There are alot of small species good for underwater photography. Colorful corals and lots of colorful, small fishes swimming around you. Current here is unpredictable and sometimes strong, but it's worth it. Sharks can be seen around if the current is strong. Lots of moray eels. Mainit Point and Beatrice are both really fantastic. "
Zhiela A. Santillan, 2006

For an article on diving Puerto Galera, from a dive operator in the area, go to the Puerto page.

From Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet...

"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."
Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet, 2007
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"While it's generally not on anyone's list of the best places to go, I found Puerto Galera to easily be as good as Yap, the Red Sea, and other similar places (I might even add Palau) when it comes to coral health and the variety of small and unusual animal life. When added to how inexpensive accommodation, food, and diving are, it is a very good deal.
My recommendation for accommodation/diving would be the El Galleon Hotel, and the Asia Divers shop right at the hotel."
Alan Gurevich

"In september 2007 I spent 2 weeks diving; first one week in Puerta Galera Atlantis resort and the second wonderful week at Dumaguete Atlantis resort, both were fabulous with 4 dives a day if you choose ( no extra charge!) and 5 star accomodations at both resorts. Every dive lasted almost an hour and marine life is abundant, divemasters very professional and competent. Just GO !!"
Martha, 2007

"Puerto Galera diving resort is one of the best in the world."
Merlin Atayde, Canada

"Fantastic diving, super low cost, wonderful nightlife."
Darren Cate

"The diving at PG is varied and increasingly good, due to conservation in my experience. It is a great location for those looking to do more advanced diving courses, eg divemaster, as the proximity of many dive sites (circa 10 minutes) enables you to undertake more diving quickly than you could in many other resorts"
Anthony Bidulph

"Simply amazing site."
Paul C. Pelicano

"In my opinion Puerto Galera offers some of the best diving the world has to offer, I have had the experience of diving with some of the most amazing speices of fish there. Sea snakes, Frog fish, Trigger fish, Giant Turtles (green Back Hook Billed) Sweet lips, Giant Groupers, Tuna, Baracudda and with white tip reef sharks and even with a 5meter thresher shark."
Dave Bell,2008.

"Subic Bay lies north of Manila, once an US Naval base, the restricted bay was opened to recreational divers in 1992. There are several wrecks at diveable depths with the battleship USS New York being the most visited. Overgrown with corals, and despite the usually murky visibility, one gets a sense of history as the twin barrels of its giant guns loom out of the depths as you descend.
Spanish era gun boats as well as Vietnam era jet fighters are among the historical wrecks that can be visited by both recreational as well as technical divers."
Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet 2007

"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 "
Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet 2007

"Located in Sablayan, Occ. Mindoro. Has very beautiful corals and fish. Not crowded and well protected area. Very reasonable price both accomodation and hotel. Visit Feliz del Mar for overnight stay."
Pete Madrigal, 2008.

Apo Island comprises a protected coral reef surrounding a volcanic island in the Visayan Sea, Negos Oriental province.

Getting There

Negros Oriental lies south of Manila. The flight from Manila to Dumaguete takes about an hour. From the airport in Dumaguete it is about 45 minutes drive (25 km) along the coast to Malatapay. Apo Island is a further 30 minute banca (a motorized outrigger boat) ride from Malatapay, the "mainland" (what does that mean in a country which is a collection of islands?) of Negros Island.

"Dauin/Apo Island, only 20 min from the Dumaguete City Airport is one of the easiest places to reach from Manila or Cebu City. The coastline on the southeastern side of the province of Negros Oriental is host to many dive centers and resorts. The beach of Dauin itself is fast gaining popularity as a muck diving site where photographers can find Blue-finned Lionfish, dragonets, several species of octopus (including the famous mimic), bobtail squid, snake eels, ghost pipefishes, cockatoo waspfish and sea horses. Several areas have been declared marine reserves and, for a small fee, allow divers to explore their protected reefs. Masaplod Sanctuary has a sloping reef of intact hard corals. It was delightful to see so many varieties of juvenile fishes in residence while Apo Island, the area's most popular divesite, is where the bigger pelagics such as immense schools of jacks, humphead wrasses and several colonies of clownfishes can be found. The local officials had implemented an strict No-Gloves-while -Diving policy a few years back and despite the heavy number of divers that visit the island, unbroken fields of both soft and hard coral still cover the reefs that surround this small island. "
Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet 2007

"The diving is excellent with a selection of walls dropping away from a convenient 5 m or so to 25 m and deeper. Highlights of the diving include: turtles, drifting through shoals of several hundred large jacks, myriad (tons, lots, even more than you are thinking of) clownfish among the anemones of "Clownfish City" in the fish sanctuary, fields of grass eels, lots of coral in good condition, and many more tropical fish than I shall ever remember the names."
Simeon Warner

"Great corals!!!!- both hard and amazing soft ones. BIG schools of fish. Lots of turtles. Also a lot of big fish. Mainly driftdives. This small island is a divers paradise!!!"
JoC

Rating:

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Tubbataha Reef Marine Park is in the middle of the Sulu Sea. It has a very high density of marine species. The site comprises pristine coral reef with perpendicular walls, extensive lagoons and two coral atolls. It is reached by liveaboard from March to June (the nearest inhabited islands are 128 km away). Sea temperatures are from 25-27 ^oC. Currents can be very strong.

Getting There

Liveaboards visit Tubbataha from Manila and Cebu City. Dive operators include Dive and Let Live and Expeditionfleet Liveaboards.

"Almost in the middle of the large body of water that separates the island of Palawan from the rest of the Visayan Islands lies the Tubbataha Marine Park. Hands down, this is the best diving the Philippines has to offer. Marine biologists believe that this area is a major nursery for the underwater inhabitants of the Philippine waters. So important is this Sanctuary that it was declared a world heritage site by the UNESCO.

It's distance from any large body of land means no runoffs of silt so visibility can be in excess of 50 meters. The fact that the diving season here, done exclusively from liveaboards, is only during the dry months from March to early June also contribute to the clarity of the water.

Several small islands and their surrounding reefs make up this marine Park. North Tubbataha and South Tubbataha have rich sloping reefs that drop abruptly off into the deep blue and the walls are a banquet of colorful sponges, huge basket corals and a myriad of sea fans and gorgonians.

When it comes to fish life, think BIG. Big schools of jacks and barracudas, turtles and sharks are quite common. Time your visit around the new or full moon and Manta rays are almost a given. Hammerheads, Leopard and Guitar sharks and White tips sleeping in the cracks and crevices as well as huge tunas patrol the walls. Basterra is infamous for the dreaded El Presidente, a downward current that washes off the reef top . "
Yvette Lee Expeditionfleet 2007
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"Only diveable between the months of March to early June. Mostly wall drift dives. Lots of pelagics such as tunas, schools of jacks, baracudas, whale sharks and reef sharks, hammerhead and grey reefs. Manta and eagle rays, turtles and reef is very colourful. "
Aquashik

"Lots of Pellagics, schools of hammerheads, barracudas, mantas and a whole lot more ... Great Vis! "
Shank

" Breathtakingly beautiful with an array of different corals and sea creatures which some can only be found there."
Paul C. Pelicano

"Moalboal/Pescador Island is where the local Cebuano city dweller visits on the weekend. The white sands of Panagsama Beach contains the most number of Resorts, dive operators and restaurants and is the jump off point for Pescador Island, less than 20 min away across an azure sea. Between 4 to 10 metres, expect to see a sloping reef filled with both hard and soft corals and the requisite reef fish, but it is the drop off and the sponge covered walls that extend down to about 55m that pique the diver's interest with lots of cracks and crevices to explore, and overhangs to swim through. It is the larger pelagic fishes like Tunas, Napoleon wrasses, white tip and even hammerhead sharks that are seen here. This diving profile can likewise be applied to the whole area, from Copton and Tongo Points. "Yvette Lee, Expeditionfleet 2007
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"I recently spent a week visiting Cebu, which was time and money well spent. I inadvertently timed my travel to Moalboal in mid-January, allowing myself a few days to check out the fish and coral at Pescador Island and the Panagsama Beach house reef. However, the highlight of the visit was more on dry land, the area being a backpacker haven, with a fan-cooled room (outside bathroom) at Mollie's Place costing me 100 pesos (US$ 2) a night. The food, however, was superb. I feasted on the freshest fish and superdense homebaked Swiss-German wheat bread and omelettes at giveaway prices. As luck would have it, I caught the Sinulog parade in Cebu City (third Sunday of January) and the charge of the Mardi Gras atmosphere was unparalleled. Also, where in the world can you get 25-peso (US 50 cents) fresh mango shakes and enjoy a complete a la carte dinner for 4 for merely 500 pesos. Pssssst....Cebu is where the action's at! Forget Manila and Boracay, the latter being overrated anyway. "
Mercedes Reyes
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"Moalboal: Deep wall with whalesharks, sharks, turtles and many other species, also close to Pescador Island for some of the best diving in the world."
Graham Winter
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"I have made about 30 dives in Moalboal Cebu, and 4 in/near Malapasqua, Cebu. I don't think there have really been hammerheads or whale sharks at Moalboal for a long time, though you will spot a couple of small sharks and an eagle ray that buzzes house reef / the wall. The wall is the easiest and best shore diving you could ask for (well, if there's a storm, which is rare, do watch the tides to plan a comfortable entry and exit). There are tons of lionfish at Pescador, good soft coral and black coral. Sunken island is a real standout, despite the sometimes ripping current. (two sherbet-colored, meatloaf-sized spanish dancers...wonderful large sponges with sealife in them...rocks with eels...and other nice surprises.) There are more types of corals, anemones, sea fans, gorgonians, etc. than you can count. One year there were a lot of salps and venus' girdles; these are drifters, but Moalboal caught a huge "crop."
Malapascua really does have thresher sharks; even in really bad chop, one came in, when the dive center said there would likely be none. As of 4 or 5 years ago, Malapascua was definitely more primitive for the money, and the water is brackish. However, I've seen things there (boat dives, in or near the sanctuary) that I couldn't identify even with a very good guidebook; huge variety of nudis. Moalboal has (or had) in theory, a clean drinking water system (the local expats drank it) but it was compromised a few years ago, leading to some severe illnesses. So don't let the more cosmopolitan aura trick you into eating or drinking carelessly. The drive between Moalboal and Malapascua is scenic, though long. The public water-taxi (boat shuttle) from the Cebu mainland to Malapascua is a small open boat that rides low in the water, especially when some of the occupants are big westerners with SCUBA gear."
Joy Sabl, 2007

"Moal Boal was definatly worth visiting. Not just great diving but fantastic snorkeling as well!"
JoC

" Just got back from Moalboal, Cebu. The diving is great, however, the rest of the trip was less than stellar. Moalboal is a huge reef with wall diving galore. Plenty to see. Dives are $20 +/- a few dollars depending on the dive shop and whether or not you pay cash.
Nothing to do in Moalboal when the diving is over. Prices are a little more expensive than I expected but that can be explained by the locals driving up the prices in order to stick it to the tourists as much as possible.
The nearest ATM is in Carcar which is a 1.5 hour bus from Moalboal back towards Cebu city. Allied bank next to a Jolibee restaurant on the corner. Your best bet for shopping might be here too.
Getting there? From Cebu airport take a taxi to "South Bus Terminal" and use the meter (about 150 Peso). Bus to Moalboal is 2.5 hours and only 89 Peso. On my way out I caught an economy bus back to Cebu for only 49 Peso ($1.25 US) at about 5:30pm.
Have fun. Hope this helps."
Area 51 Diver

"Moalboal House Reef. In front of Mollie's Place Garden, Excellent for snorkling, it has steep drop offs of 30 meters. I only went diving for 18 meters. It has beautiful marine life and many colorful corals.
Pescador. Pescador has the best Marine life and there are alot of varieties of different kinds of fish.
White beach. Snorkeling is a great sport to do at White beach and you can play volleyball with your family and friends on the beach. You can also enjoy barbecues and do karaoke.
Just pack your sunblock lotion wherever you go."
Mollie's Daughter, 2008.

From Sheldon Hey, Dive the World...

"Just got back from Cebu in Philippines, diving at Moalboal, down the south west coast of Cebu – June 2007 – low/rainy season in Philippines.

The diving was a little better than I’d come to expect from the Philippines. The diving is mainly wall dives down to over 50 metres, with the shallows being fringing reefs close to shore. All dive sites are 10-15 minutes boat ride only. The coral health at dive sites such as Tongo Sanctuary was excellent, and the coral colours and diversity at White Beach was second to none. Pescador Island is supposedly the flagship dive site, with stronger currents, the chance of seeing pelagics, and a very nice cavern. Whale sharks supposedly make regular appearances here too.

However, when I dive there were more fishing boats than fish. Indeed, how can one expect to see big fish action or large quantities of fish, when there are twenty fishing boats sharing a dive site the size of a rocky outcrop? The fish life was the disappointing aspect to diving here. The largest fish one regularly encounters is a parrotfish (no, not a bumphead, but a normal sized one!). This I have come to expect from diving in the Philippines, where the sheer weight of human numbers and fishermen, means that the seas are raped down to their limits at all times.

Still, I must say that the coral life does make up for the lack of fish to some degree. The locals are trying to change the habits of their culture and have declared two sanctuaries where fishing is prohibited – Tongo and Ronda Sanctuaries – I have never seen smaller marine sanctuaries in the whole of my life (max 100 metres long), so it is unlikely that this initiative will make any difference at all. Still, a step in the right direction, I suppose.

I dived with Neptune Divers and they proved to be pretty average. As for Moalboal itself, well apart from the many dive centres, there is an adventure centre which offers river climbing, kloofing (canyoning), mountain biking, horse riding etc. They seemed a reasonable outfit and the trip was good fun, but again don’t expect the same safety standards – there were no lifejackets provided for the river nor safety helmets – something that would be illegal in most developed and many developing countries.

There is no beach in the central shore area at Moalboal. The only beach is at White Beach, a kilometre to the north. This looked quite nice when viewed from the dive boat, but I do not know anything about the accommodation there. I stayed at Cabana in the centre, which was US$ 50 per night. It has okay seaviews, and cable TV with air-con, shared pool, no internet - an okay resort, if a little overpriced by SE Asian standards.

During my visit in low season, there was perhaps twenty ‘western’ divers in town. Apparently in high season it gets very busy and there are several music / pool bars to hang around at. The dining at Moalboal was surprisingly good. After gotten used to the appalling menu choices, and cooking abilities at all other places that I have visited in Philippines, it was a pleasant surprise to find a restaurant that in Indian, Thai and Indonesian cooking, including vegetarian and vegan options. Too many times have I left restaurants in the Philippines, totally disgusted by the American-inspired junk food menu options, and atrocious chef abilities. This is one of the biggest reasons for not travelling to Philippines, along with the pollution, smog, incessant noise and filth from overpopulated islands. Moalboal has these too.

Overall, I’d say that if you are planning a trip to the Philippines and diving in Cebu, Moalboal is worth visiting. However, if you are looking for a quiet piece of untouched beach paradise, go to another country."

"Malapascua Island, off the Northeastern Coast of Cebu has Thresher Sharks and Manta Rays that regularly visit the cleaning stations on Monad Shoal in the early morning. Further out, there are several wrecks, including a Japanese warship that lies upright with the shallowest portion at about 40 meters and the Dona Marilyn, a passenger liner that went down in a typhoon over 20 years ago and is conceivably the most beautiful wreck in the Visayas due to the profusion of dendronephtya and black coral bushes that cover most of the ship. Gato Island meanwhile, is a marine Sanctuary. There is an 80 meter long tunnel that cuts through the Northern tip and divers will find the walls covered with yellow sponges and all kinds of shells. The immediate surroundings contain huge boulders and ledges where nurse, white tip and bamboo sharks congregate for a midday nap."
Yvette Lee Expeditionfleet 2007

"The best dive sites ever! Beautiful mandarinfish on twilightdive, threshersharks and mantas at Monad Shoal, hammerheads and whitetips at Gato Island! It truly was AMAZING!"
JoC

From Sheldon Hey, Dive the World...

" I visited Malapascua in July 2007 as part of a Cebu diving package. It is possible to dive here together with Moalboal, though they are at opposite ends of Cebu Island. Malapascua is a 3.5 hour drive north east from Cebu City, followed by a 45 minute boat ride (P 5,000 round trip by private taxi transfer). Whereas Moalboal is 2.5 hours in the opposite direction, so it is a fairly long transfer between the two, but very possible. Getting to Cebu is very cheap - Cebu Pacific have flights from Manila or Clark to Cebu City (P 3,600 return).

The main reason that divers visit Malapascua is to see their famous thresher sharks on Monad Shoal (season all year round, but best time of day is early morning). I dived their twice and was lucky both times, with manta rays showing up there too. The visibility was not great at 15 minutes so photo opportunities were limited, but the encounter is well worth it.

Malapascua also has pretty good macro life too with frogfish, lots of seahorses, anemone shrimps, porcelain crabs, pipefish etc, and a muck dive with robust ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, baby cuttlefish, red octopus, and many mandarinfish. The area’s most famous dive site is Gato Island, which is a sea snake sanctuary, complete with white tip sharks and a cave and tunnel or two. Pretty much all the diving is close to the tourist area and the water temp is 30C, so it’s comfortable diving all round.

However, at 4 out of the 5 dive sites that I visited there were absolutely no reef fish whatsoever, due to recent dynamiting, and at three of those four, dead fish littered the sea floor. The local divers told me that this is a constant problem here. It really is a sickening sight, made worse by the fact that you are required to pay a marine protection levy, which is clearly going into someone’s back pocket, and not on conservation where it is badly needed.

I appeal now to all Malapascua dive operators to engage your local island community in active and inclusive reef protection plan. Your local people know that their livelihoods are dependent upon diving tourism. What they don’t understand is that their island’s reputation as a world class dive destination is in jeopardy due to inaction from all interested parties to stamp out the selfish and insidious crime of blast fishing. The inclusive (make it in the financial interests of the locals – pay them well) and active plan of providing physical security and inspections at all reefs is one that has proven effective at many destinations worldwide. Indeed it has often proven to be the only option.

As for the dive operations – I dived with Thresher Shark Divers – a UK owned and staffed centre. They are a very competent and professional outfit. By Philippine standards their dive boat is good. It has a toilet, a dry area, and sun and shaded areas – real luxury in this part of the world. They also have first aid and oxygen on board – wow!! Pretty impressive for a PADI centre to be meeting standards. My only complaint about the centre was their lack of availability of fresh water for rinsing kit, but especially for cameras. Dives are about US$ 30 but get cheaper if you buy multi-dives.

I was booked into Sunsplash Resort. I sincerely DO NOT recommend this resort. It costs P 2,500 for an air-con non-beachfront room. The resort has no hot water, no electricity during the daytime, salt water that stinks of sewerage (it makes the user and room smell of the same when used, too), and no soap. When I asked the resort to fix the water, they said they could supply fresh water, but we’d need to pay extra. I then asked the resort why they felt they should charge over US$ 50 per night for a room with no useable water supply or electric for seven hours a day; they were unable to answer this question, so I moved out! Just what is one paying for?! I moved into Cocobana next door, where you can negotiate a cheap rate at reception on arrival (approx. P 1,000 for beachfront bungalow).

None of the resorts on the island offer fresh water in the guest rooms. I have stayed at many small beach islands in Asia and many remote parts of Africa, all without any readily available fresh water. All resorts have been able to provide fresh water by whatever means. I do not understand why the resorts on Malapascua can not do that, especially since fresh water is available by boat from the mainland, only 45 minutes away. This issue is a serious drawback for visiting Malapascua.

The dining on the island again was particularly good by Philippine standards. Good variety, food preparation and cheap prices away from the beach area. Nightlife, forget it.

Enjoy your time when visiting here, but do be aware of the problems with diving here when you make the choice."

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