Dive The Philippines
Ooh the Philippines, I can not stress how much I advocate anyone to dive the Philippines. I came to this beautiful country in search of whale sharks and adventure underwater. WHAT initially was supposed to be a month excursions ended up lasting eight months and gave me a large amount of knowledge regarding the best locations to dive in the Philippines.
Be an ethical traveler
First off, I have to say that I found the country simply by googling “whale shark migratory patterns, December.” What popped up first in my search was Philippines, my next search was “Ethical whale shark, Philippines.” Everyone knows if you want to ride a whale shark and touch them and overall just disrespect the sea’s lumbering beasts— you go to Oslob. Here you can find thousands of screaming Chinese tourists, whale sharks being fed, and an overall disdain for humanity. So BEFORE I even start on my recommendations, let me say do NOT go to Oslob if you have any care for ethical travel, it is akin to riding an elephant in Thailand. So, be conscientious when you dive the Philippines.
Ok, we covered where not to go. Let’s move forward with information you want to hear!
Dive Leyte, Philippines
Leyte is a historical location which was the landing point of MacArthur’s liberation of the Philippines from Japanese during WW2. So, obviously it made sense that as an American, my landing in the Philippines needed to be Leyte. I had been in communication with Peter’s Dive Resort for a few months and the rates were not only affordable, but the likelihood of naturally seeing a whale shark in its own habitat and unbothered by humans made my wetsuit wet.
So flash forward to landing in Cebu and a few hour ferry ride to Leyte, followed by an hour van ride, I arrived at the cute little resort.
Amenities
The resort staff was amazing, Francine was so sweet, and every day I got a massage from Miss Banji for about 10$. My accommodations in “the princess palace” overlooking the bay was great, my only complaint was and still is instant coffee. Ugh, that is NOT coffee, so if you are like me, and need your cup of jo’ I recommend you bring a bag or two and a French press. As I sit here in Indonesia I do not regret towing that device a few hundred miles.
Diving in Leyte
As for the diving, the resort does usually 3-4 dives a day and they are ALL awesome. I did every dive site and can say you will be blown away by the undisturbed corals, the abundance of fish and of course the mother-fucking beastly whale shark. You have a high chance of seeing one of these on a dive, however every Friday they resort does a snorkel adventure and you have pretty much a guarantee of seeing one. You can watch my youtube video about my hunt for the whale shark and see what it entails.
Leyte is probably my top recommendation if you are looking for wildlife. The dive staff was awesome and I will one day return to see my friends Jordan and Ting-Ting. If Flo is still there, he is a French asshole— who I love. So if you see him, be sure to reiterate that statement.
Dive Bohol, Philippines
Next stop on my Groovy dive expedition is Bohol, Philippines. Let me tell you, Panglao is one hell of a party city. If you want to bump and grind after you dive then this is the place for you. The most sought dive location is certainly Balicasag. Vasayan for “upside down crab,” the crystal clear waters boasts thousands of sea turtles, a jack fish ball, pygmy sea horses and more. The wall dives are awesome and basically any dive you go on will be awesome. Panglao is famous for a reason, I lived there for six months and loved every moment of my stay.
As for a dive recommendation go see my buddy Mustafa at Go Deep Dive Center, the most professional attitude of all of the dive shops and a young man with a lot of experience he will tell you the best dives, teach you any course you want to know, and maybe tell you he remembers me. I still bother him from time to time.
Dive Siquijor, Philippines
Of all of the islands which I loved the most, Siquijor is the natural wonderland of the Philippines. Famous for witch craft and magick, the island lays claim to the most beautiful shore diving in my opinion. I did probably thirty plus dives in my time on the island, mainly with my amazing friend and instructor Babs Dim and Bozidier of Dive Point Dive Center.
Siquijor is an hour and a half ferry from Bohol so it is extremely easy to get to. For accommodations check out Gold Sky Seaview with Kuya Gladwin. I stayed in every room in that little hotel and recommend the front two cottages. I had him bump up the speeds while I was there, so wifi is actually pretty decent. The wildlife you can expect to see while diving Siquijor is: Nudi, ribbon eel, orangutan crab, mushroom coral ghost shrimp, mushroom coral pipe fish, porcelain crab, frog fish, scorpion fish, Banded pipe fish and of course TURTLES friendliest hawksbill and giants green sea turtle, pupper fish, trumpet fish, barraccuda.
Dive with Babs
When you dive with Babs, ask her to show you all the creatures. A turtle hit me in the face with its flipper, so you know she’s really good at finding sea critters. This dive location is also where I finished my dive master and learned so much from my time in Siquijor. I will have another blog all together on what to do in Siquijior, however, let’s limit this blog to diving.
Dive Moalboal, Philippines
So, I will say more so about staying in Moalboal. I dove Pescador island in the Philippines which was beautiful and filled with beautiful reefs. During the same day I did the sardine run, which was really quite beautiful. The sea was filled with fish shit there were so many sardines. Great visibility…clouded by fish poo!!
However the company I went with I would recommend avoiding. I kind of stumbled into the dive shop, so I did not really do my research. The boat was overheating, no life vests, just overall a bit unprofessional. So for Moalboal just avoid Blue Orchid and choose another dive shop.
Accommodations
I recommend staying at Soul Traveller’s Guest House with my wonderful friend and fellow Virgin Island’s inhabitant, Jo. Her smile alone will let you know you are I the right place. Stunning sunset and phantom swimming makes her location one of my favorites.
Coron
Alright, all of the previous listed are totally fine for amateur divers, but…when you dive the Philippines and you like deep sea wrecks and a bit of a challenge and history then head over to Coron. Coron was the epicenter of some intense military battles and bombing during WW2, meaning 7 war ships are sunk and just ready for exploration. Of the seven, I was able to dive three with my friend, Selim, of D’Divers in Busuanga Bay: Akitsushima, Kogyo maru, and Okikawa.
Not only were the rates affordable, but I got to have two great divers as guides. D’s is a busy shop, for me to be the only diver on board that day day kicked ass. The down season meant I had two good looking European divers all to myself on largely empty wrecks, oh ya and a boat. It sucked…lemme tell ya.
The Landscape
Coron’s topography is different from most of what I saw, the dramatic and jagged cliffs rise high above enclosed lagoons of picture worthy waters. So if you are with people who do not dive, they will find no shortage of other activities.
Literally, Coron was probably the highlight of my diving in the Philippines— however, I am an absolute history nerd and I love wreck diving. The diving itself is not the best for marine life, but goddamned is it fucking awesome if you love ship wrecks and history. I about jizzed myself when I saw the ghostly bow of the Akitsushima protrude from the darkness.
Otherworldly.
Wrecks hold stories of loss and sadness
As much as I can ooze over how awesome Coron is to dive in the Philippines, we must keep in mind the suffering of the Filipino people during the war and the fact that these ships are cemeteries. So, I highly recommend reading a bit about the war in the Pacific so you can truly have an encompassing passion and understanding of what you are seeing.
Coron is by far the most difficult location to get to, but you can fly into the Coron airport on several different airlines, this is the only place I would recommend planning your itinerary around, just because last minute tickets are fairly pricey.
Also, I did not visit El Nido, but allegedly the diving and scenery is amazing.
The Philippines consists of 7,106 islands…I didn’t see everything
In my review for diving I the Philippines there are still so many places I did not have the privilege to see— Malapascua Island for thresher sharks and also the Tabutaha Reef are both places I intend on visiting when I return. So, in no way is this an exhausted list, it is merely a culmination of eight months of me rambling through the Philippines archipelago towing around a giant dive bag and a French press.
I need to make it to Coron the next time I make it the Philippines. I could almost picture seeing the Akitsushima coming into view as I sank lower into the depths… I got shivers. The history around how it sailed thousands of miles, brought people that ravaged the islands and now lay to rest as a tombstone of a time few are old enough to remember fascinates me. Even though they might have been “bad” people it’s a great point that these were still humans and a respect and reverence is needed for this underwater tomb. Great stuff Aloof, can’t wait to read more
Thanks Steve! Let me know when you want to check it out! I would love to join you in that dive!
Great article
thanks so much for your comment!
Im so glad i met you, as you are such a lovely vibrant person.and we hope to see you vback in siquijor soon🤙🤙🤙
Im so glad i met you, as you are such a lovely vibrant person.and we hope to see you back in siquijor soon🤙🤙🤙