Diving in the Visayas

Only a few meters from the beach we find a vertical wall abundant in life. Tempted to simply stop and watch the reef, we find nudibranches, blennies or glass catfishes. The corals are extraordinary and colourful. This is an excellent way to start your safari.

To the South of Maolboal, this small islet is surrounded by an impressive drop off covered in multicoloured corals and sponges. It is not uncommun to see beautiful specimens of angel fish, turtles, nudibranches, clown fish and exuberant fauna. With some luck a school of barracudas or a group of manta rays will join us from the deep blue.

The marine sanctuary of Apo Island is an amazing zone for both marine biologists and pleasure divers. Generally with very clear waters, the reefs in the sanctuary shelter a large number of marine species that we can discover on the 11 major sites. Depths of between 5 and 35 meters, hard and soft coral, multicoloured sponges, jack fish, surgeon fish, damsels, tunas, barracudas and reef sharks. Giant clams, turtles and occasional mantas are often encountered on these sublime dives.

With a depth of just 15 meters, this site offers a magnificent collection of corals, gorgonians and sponges in perfect health. In the heart of this fauna we find nudibranches, starfish, trumpet fish, ghost pipefish, leaf fish and pygmy seahorses amongst others.

Balicasag is located about 1 hour by boat from Panglao. Once again, a vertical wall offers impressive coral formations and schools of fishes: jacks, Spanish mackerel, glassfish... We can see turtles exploring the caves and arches along the wall while butterfly fish and parrot fish patrol the reef.

Rising from depths of over 200 meters the diving at Cabilao Island provides us with some sensational drop offs. Regular marine upwellings provide for abundant fauna such as tuna, barracuda, jack fish and the occasional hammerhead. Finishing our dives in the shallows, the reef tops invite us to discover a extraordinary small fauna such as the ghost pipefish, frog fish, dragon fish...