Diving & Snorkelling

Some of the richest and most diverse coral reefs can be found in the Philippines. Being one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world, it is no wonder the country's waters abound with species of fish, shells, various marine invertebrates and other forms of marine life found in the Indo-Pacific region.

All dive sites around Moalboal are in the Tanon Strait, a more than 500m deep channel between the islands of Negros and Cebu. A lot of dive sites are bottomless drop offs, with the advantage that there are no run offs from rivers and the slight current is supporting coral growth.

The diving in the area will blow even the most seasoned diver away. Moalboal offers wall dives with hundreds of types of hard and soft corals, gorgonians, pelagic fish, caves and overhangs. You can expect to see nudibranchs, turtles, Napoleon wrasses, large schools of yellow eyed sweet lips, red snappers, big groupers, leaf fish, frog fish and the unusual ghost pipe fish. Tuna and white tip sharks can be spotted occasionally, as can mandarin fish and the past few years have seen numerous spotting of whalesharks

PESCADOR ISLAND (Moalboal Marine Park) - this enormous mushroom rises from the bottom of the sea at 40 meters and never ceases to amaze with its rich variety of hard and soft corals and seemingly all the underwater creatures of the world.

Schools of lion fish, the occasional frog fish, jacks and Harry, the blue ribbon eel, who lives just outside the famous 'Cathedral' Cave await you here. The entrance of the cave leads to an uprising chimney with holes in the side, which make your ascent an 'enlightening' experience.

SUNKEN ISLAND - If it wasn't for the marker-buoy you would never find it. In the middle of Tanon Strait, this underwater mountain rises from unknown depths to 26m below sea level. A thrilling experience to take the plunge into the deep blue, following the line until the top becomes visible. Because of strong currents, some experience is needed. This is also a great place to look for scorpion and stonefish, as well as big lionfish.

COPTON POINT has a Post Transporter Airplane wreck, which was put there in 1993 and attracts lots of marine life, such as sweetlips, pufferfish, triggerfish turtles and even eagle rays.

Panagsama Beach has a house-reef right in front of the dive-shop, which is great for night-dives. Crabs, trumpet fish, sleeping parrotfish, octopus and squid are often seen here during night-dives.

Snorkelling is probably best at Basdako Beach (White Beach), Pescador Island or in Magpajong. A boat can be rented at Panagsama- or Basdako Beach to go to Pescador Island. You can get to Magpajong by walking from Basdako Beach along the coast to the south for about 20 to 25 minutes. When you see small islands looking like umbrellas you have reached Magpajong.