Dive site diversity in Philippines

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

Hi Sinbad,
As the other forum members are saying, The Philippines is a big country with one the biggest biodiversity in the world: hard and soft coral as well as macro and big encounters. In Coron, you can find WWII wrecks where you can actually penetrate them; Malapascua is one of the few places where you can see thresher sharks. Whale sharks, depending on the season, in Oslob (Southern Visayas) as well as in Sogod Bay (Southern Leyte). If you enjoy macro then Batangas (Anilao) is your destination. Southern Visayas is quite varied: some lovely reefs around the Balicasag area, Dauin some more great macro (black sand) and in Moalboal there are walls with lots of turtles. In Tubbataha, there are a few small atolls in the middle of very deep water: Drop offs, currents, sharks, rays, coral, fans etc etc
If you need some more information, don't hesitate to have a look to our trip blogs.
Cheers.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Thanks a lot folks. I believe there is some confusion from my use of the term "diversity." By diversity I do not mean how many dive sites are available but how different are those from each other in terms of the marine life you encounter.

This question came about because an LDS that I frequently deal with did their 5th trip to Philippines and the owner was telling me that Bonaire is great diving and also has a long coastline but after a week of diving in Bonaire you wont see anything that you have not already seen. With Philippines you are going to one of the cheaper places in the world and every island is as different from the other in terms of coral, colors and marine life as anything else.

From the responses that I am seeing here and from the way dive packages are advertised, it seems that they are no BSing.

Really? WOW!


Anything else?

 

[elcoralreefdivecenter]

Ive found this video the other day. It shows 10 great dive sites within the Philippines. Obviously this is just an individuals choice yet a very nice compilation (shot in high resolution) of whats out there. For anyone staying in Manila or Angeles, Subic Bay is an easily accessible divers location with plenty of wreck sites and diverse marine life with many of the dive sites suitable for beginners.

 

[Wingy]

I was actually impressed by the diversity of the only place - Sabang - in the PI that I have dived. Have done quite a few trips throughout the coral triangle and PI was the only diveable country in SEA I hadnt dived so was a last minute half hearted trip thinking hmm yep seen a pygmy sea horse, seen a rhinopia, seen a nudi or two...and bless you PI for giving me the electric shells. I was sort of craving something new to see and while there are electric shells around other areas of the coral sea I hadnt seen one nor had anyone mentioned one so I got to see something entirely new which perked my curiosity about what else the ocean holds again.

That shell alone means at some stage, I will go back and see what else is hiding around other parts of PI. In a nutshell...diversity was good. Especially macro stuff.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Electric shells? Is that the same thing as the "Disco Clam"?

How the disco clam got its flash : Nature News & Comment

 

[Wingy]

Yes...thats the one...fascinating creatures - thanks for the link