In recent years, more tourists have become interested to come to the Philippines because of the many great diving sites the country has in its 7,107 islands. These diving sites make a good promotion for the country’s tourism efforts geared at getting the Philippine map up high on the pages of world’s best holiday destinations or nature tripping, etc.
People from all over the world have heard of Palawan, Puerto Galera and Bohol to be the perfect destination choices for their diving adventures. And many of them have but amazing feedback on the experience they had from one of the many diving sites in the Philippines.
One such great diving site is found in Panglao Island in Bohol. Panglao Island is a small island rich in limestone and coralline, situated at the southwestern tip of Bohol. Panglao Island is connected to Bohol by two bridges, providing easy access to the island. There are about six diving sites in Panglao Island. Each of the diving sites offer a unique and amazing experience.
- Alona Beach Sanctuary. This is the more popular dive site in the Island which is 5 minutes by boat from Alona Beach. It is a shallow dive of maximum 25 meters on a wall distinguished from the rest by many vertical cuts. Anemones and multi-colored corals spread across the wall teeming with marine life. Small fish, scorpion fishes, frog fishes and nudibranchs provide a great background for the crystal clear waters. Sea-snakes are found in sandy areas. This offers the best site for a night dive.
- Kalipayan. This is the house reef of Alona Beach and is 10 minutes away from Alona Beach by boat. Like Alona Beach Sanctuary, it is a shallow dive (maximum 25 meters) on a wall with some sandy areas. It is also known as the “Happy Wall” and though it can be accessed by boat or banca, it’s an easy swim for the experienced swimmers from Alona Beach. The site is normally calm, without currents. The wall starts at about 3 meters and drops down to about 20 meters where beautiful corals, group of batfishes, lion fishes and a variety of nudibranchs will take your breath away. Soft and colourful coral heads, sea fans, small groupers and juvenile barracudas are permanent sightings to this place. It is also a recommended site for night dives.
- Arco Point at Bohol Beach Club (BBC).This site is located near the exclusive Bohol Beach Club and is accessible by 15-minute boat ride
flickr.com/photos/jvnunag/2197317172 from Alona Beach. Arco Point is also known as the “Hole in the Wall” because of a vertical funnel which one can enter at 9 meters and exit at 18 meters. It is a shallow dive of 25 meters maximum with a sandy area at the bottom. Along the short wall, small groupers, trigger fish, wrasse, butterfly fish, sea snakes and moray eels will catch your attention. The water is normally calm, with little or no current, making it safe for diving at any time.
- Duljo Point. This dive site is the farthest from Alona Beach, about 40 minutes by boat. This is the southwestern tip point of Panglao Island and as such can sometimes have rough with strong currents. Divers will make drift dive on the steep slope over the gorgonians at about 10 meters to a drop off down to 40 meters. The wall is covered with yellowish-green sponges usually found around 15 to 10 m from the reef top, colourful and soft corals and large sea fans. The strong currents may bring around large pelagic fishes like surgeon-fish, jacks, bat fish and trigger fish. Occasionally, squid and reef shark may be sighted, too.
- Napaling.This site can be reached about 30 minutes by boat ride from Alona Beach. This is a dive on steep wall with huge gorgonian fans and black coral growing. This site boasts of a wonderful coral garden ideal for underwater photographers and snorkelers. Dive starts at 5 to 7 meters and then drops to some 20 to 30 meters drifting along the wall. Spectacular overhangs, small caves with soldier-fish and squirrel-fish are fantastic sights to capture on the camera. Whitetip reef sharks are occasionally sighted and moray eels and scorpion fish abound. The water is normally calm with some
flickr.com/photos/waywardmike/4637779015 current but they can be very rough and strong during spring tides.
- Cervera Shoal. This site is accessible by 50-minute boat ride from Alona Beach. This is also known as “Snake Island” or “Spaghetti Shoal”. The name is derived from the large number of black and white banded sea snakes which are bountiful in this site. No corals but the site makes for a nice dive. Large pelagic fish may be occasionally sighted.
