dive sites
boracay philippines

Dive Sites - Diving Philippines

Why not join Extreme Sports Cafe on a scuba diving trip in the Philippines...

First class dive sites surround the island of Boracay, and our 5 star IDC centre offers state of the art facilities, instruction and equipment. Voted as one of the world's top ten paradise beaches, Boracay is a beautiful, relaxing place to unwind, leaving the stresses and strains of Europe behind. Boracay still retains it's charm and relaxed atmosphere and offers visitors the perfect combination of comfort, culture and, great diving of course.

Yapak
Wall from 35-60m
This can truly be a world class dive. It ranks with the walls in the Caymans and the Red Sea. Caves and overhangs house an amazing abundance and diversity of marine life, including sharks, schools of barracuda, tunas, surgeon fish, sweetlips, napoleon wrasse, groupers, jacks, large eagle rays, sea snakes, and giant barrel sponges. Only for advanced divers, good air consumption is a must as strong currents and a dive through the blue require a rapid descent.

Managuin Island
Remote island, walls to 70m
Offered as a day trip, the dive sites of Managuin Island can only be described as world class. Many divers rank these dive sites second only to those of Tubbataha Reefs, the best diving in the Philippines. It is wall diving at its best with maximum depths of over 70m. Most of the reef-top gently slopes from 10-17m with top quality soft, hard and whip corals harbouring abundant reef and pelagic fish life. The wall itself is full of caves and crevices, which contain sleeping whitetip reef sharks and nurse sharks. Many fish are seen on every dive including napoleon wrasse, barracudas, tunas, trevallys, large grouper, and many sharks. Hammerheads, mantas and turtles are becoming common sights on the dive trips, and there are even encounters with dolphins on the surface.

Buruanga
50m drop-off and shallow coral wall
About 30 minutes boat trip, this site is in a spectacular location. Moor up next to the tall limestone cliffs, which plunge vertically to the seabed 50m below. On the wall you'll find massive gorgonian fans, large grouper, rays, sweetlips, tunas, sharks, and barracuda. See if you can find the two swim throughs. Then work your way up to the most beautiful safety stop imaginable, a wealth of life keeps you amused while you explore the upper reaches of the wall.

Black Rock
A conical pinnacle to 40m
Just off the coast of Panay, 30 minutes beyond Buruanga, Black rock is a wall dive with a depth range of 7-40m. The long wall hosts a good array of smaller fish and plenty of larger fish deeper down. batfish, snapper, sweetlips, jacks, trumpetfish, cornetfish, soldierfish, squirrelfish, damsels and cardinalfish, are all around the area. Dog Drift 30m wall with caves and holes. This gentle drift dive is 20 minutes from Boracay, great during the day, it is even better at night. The colours are awesome, and the juvenile batfish, sleeping turtles, corals and anemonies all provide a beautiful, surreal picture, which will stay with you forever.

Tubbataha Liveaboard (Check out our liveaboard pages...)
Instead of us telling you about Tubbataha, lets see what UNESCO has to say:
" The Tubbataha Reefs, in the middle of the Sulu Sea, lie in the richest biogeographic area of the world. This reef is home to one of the world's largest assemblages of marine life, per unit area."

A World Heritage Site, Tubbataha is uninhabited and isolated, and as a result free from the damage that many more accessible dive sites have experienced. UNESCO also says:
" Tubbataha is a unique example of an atoll reef with a very high diversity of marine species", and that "the site is an excellent example of a pristine coral reef with spectacular 100m walls, extensive lagoons,…".

Many big fish come here to breed, and common sightings include: black and white tips, mantas, eagle rays, hammerhead, tuna and turtles.

The season is a short one, from March to June.

Coron Wrecks
The best wreck diving in Asia.
In September 1944 Admiral "Bull" Halsey, commander of the US Third Fleet, sent reconnaissance planes to photograph the Calamain group of islands in the North West Philippines. After studying the photos, his navigators realised that many of the 'islands' had moved since the previous day, and he new he had found a camouflaged Japanese fleet. At 9am on the morning of September 24th, 180 warplanes from Taskforce 38 began their attack on the Japanese fleet,18 ships were sunk.

The wrecks now lie in and around Coron Bay, a region of outstanding beauty and wildlife, 200 miles west of Manila. These ships represent the best wreck diving in Asia, with most between 100m to 200m long and many lying upright between 20m to 45m. Visibility ranges between 10m to 25m and is always best on neap tides.

Sangat Island Reserve is an eco-resort and is right in the middle of the greatest concentration of the wrecks. Staying at Sangat gives you the unique opportunity to dive the wrecks without a two hour boat trip from Coron every day. Most of the wrecks are only a ten minute boat ride away. The resort is the perfect island hideaway, with its clear waters, white beaches, tropical forests and a fascinating variety of flora and fauna, all in an ecologically sound resort.

Accommodation is in one of ten exclusive cottages, built on stilts, using local architecture and local materials, they come with complete ensuite facilities. Be lulled to sleep by lapping waves by the Beachfront Cottages or the local wildlife around the Cliffside Cottages. Or, for that extra special holiday, try the Secluded Villa with it's own private beach.

The beach-side restaurant serves fresh seafood delicacies, fruits and vegetables, all caught or picked that day. The chef is a genius, offering a variety of cooking styles from east to west, with the emphasis on freshness and health. All meals are included.

“ I'll never forget my first sight of the Irako as her massive bow loomed out of the blue.”

A whole Japanese WW2 supply fleet, all lying upright between 25m and 45m, in excellent condition, surrounded by amazing island scenery in an out of the way location. Need we say more?

Malapascua Threshers
Welcome to Shark Central
If you want to get close to sharks and mantas, then Malapascua is the place for you. One of the best kept secrets in South East Asia, the island is beautiful, secluded, quiet and offers some very different diving.

The primary reason for most visits to Malapascua is to dive with Thresher sharks and a variety of rays. Thresher sharks normally inhabit deep water and are very rarely seen…, until now. On Malapascua you can dive with these beautiful 4 metre long sharks every day. Monad Shoal just off the island is a 'cleaning station' for mantas and threshers, and you are likely to see 6 or 7 on every dive.
The dives to Monad are in the early morning, and with the biggest and fastest boat on the island we are invariably the first ones at the dive site. After returning to the island for breakfast, a full days diving is offered to other great sites. Gato Island is nearby offering seahorses, bamboo sharks, frog fish, giant cuttlefish, turtles and great caves. Slightly further afield are some very interesting wrecks and walls.
Malapascua is in its infancy as a tourist destination. Facilities are a little more basic than at some of our other destinations, but still comfortable, great fun and above all safe. The main reason for visiting the island is the sharks and rays, so we offer 5 day trips combined with another Philippine location, usually Boracay. We have found that this is long enough to see lots of sharks and check out the best of the other dive sites.

Remember, make the most it, it's not every day you get to dive with these beautiful creatures!

Thresher sharks normally inhabit deep water and are very rarely seen….until now. We have found an island where you can dive with these beautiful 4 metre long sharks every day. Monad Shoal just off Malapascua is a 'cleaning station' for mantas and threshers, and you are likely to see 6 or 7 on every dive. Needless to say, the island is also beautiful and a great place to just do nothing.