Scuba Diving

Philippine diving is spectacular.

No matter what level of diver you are, diving in the Philippines has something to offer you.  From colorful and diverse corals, pristine reef diving,  fantastic wall diving to beautiful fishes to World- War II shipwrecks, scuba diving in the Philippines will definitely blow your mind.

The Philippines is the Center of the marine biodiversity in the World.  In fact, the Philippines is one of the top three dive sites in the world chosen during the Dive and Travel Awards for 2006 held in Japan.

Among the top internationally recognized dive spots in the country are the Tubattaha Reef in the Sulu Sea; Malapascua in Cebu which offers the chance to glimpse rare Thresher Sharks; wreck diving in Subic Bay; Balicasag island off Bohol; Anilao, Batangas; Boracay Island; Puerto Galera in Mindoro for its colorful corals, strong currents and big fishes, Apo Island off Dumaguete and the surrounding islands of Palawan.

Philippines diving has everything to satisfy the most fussy diver. All you have to do is put your wetsuit on and put your tank together, even then there is someone there to assist you. From here it gets easier. Someone will carry your gear on and off the dive boat for you, help you put your scuba tank and gear onto your back and help you out of the water when you have finished. Sound easy? You bet it is.

Water Temperature.

The water temperature diving in the Philippines, is similar to diving in your warm bath at home! It is absolutely divine.

A balmy 22 C to 25 C during the cooler months of December to March and 25 C to 28 C during the warmer months of April to November.

Water temperatures like these gives you the opportunity of diving in the comfort of lycra skin suits or 3mm wetsuits. When you are use to diving in 5mm and 7mm steamers or even dry suits, this type of diving is pure heaven.

Dive trips.

Dive operations vary from international resorts to small operators situated on sleepy beaches. Diving is done from smaller boats called “bancas”. Liveaboard is mostly done from the Tubbataha region.

Usually the dive centers have a “house reef” - which is a reef accessible from the beach. These dive sites makes for excellent snorkelling or a relaxed dive during the day. The house reef is also perfectly suited for night diving.

Diving conditions.

Diving is done all year around for most areas, but a few places have shorter seasons due to Trade winds. The best diving is done from October to June. April to May is reliably calm throughout the country and is the best time if you have several destinations on the agenda. From December to the middle of May is off-season for typhoons. The wettest months are June, July and August.

Visibility is generally excellent and around 30m (98ft) as an average depending on the season, currents and all round weather conditions.

Both divers and snorkellers should understand the system of the tides and should be either confident with currents, receive training in handeling currents - or seak advice from the dive centers to find sheltered areas or slack tide times where currents a low.

Diving Philippines is everything and more you want it to be. Your expectations will be met and driven further than you thought possible, the possibilities are endless.