5 Dive Sites In The Philippines Packed With Marine Life

The Philippines is home to a handful of diverse and stunning dive sites with a vast array of marine life of all shapes, sizes and colours. Prepare to be blown away by the clear waters and vibrance of the marine life which awaits you there!

Mantigue Island

This underwater sanctuary is rich and thriving with marine life. This is the spot to find a sea turtle or two- divers are almost guaranteed to spot a sea turtle on their dive. Aside from turtles, divers can encounter ribbon eels, trumpetfish, pufferfish, boxfish, parrotfish, frogfish, barracudas, batfish, sweetlips, and even rays and blacktip sharks.

How to get there: From Mahinog, a boat ride to the island takes around 20 minutes.

An aerial view of Mantigue Island

Paliton Wall

Paliton Wall drops up to 40 metres and is covered with colorful corals and fans, offering a large overhang and caves. Here, divers can spot a vast variety of marine life from giant frogfish, ornate ghost pipefish and Spanish dancers among the corals. There is certainly plenty to see here and no lack of colour.

How to get there: From Paliton Beach, Paliton Wall is just a short boat trip away.

An Ornate Ghost Pipefish, which can be seen at Paliton Wall

Secret Bay

Secret Bay is no longer a closely held secret but has become popular muck diving site. The spot is home to a considerable amount of marine life creatures such as mimic octopus, wonderpus, pipefish, seahorses, frogfish, and many others.

How to get there: Secret Bay is reachable from Anilao and you can take a jeepney to the Mabini town or Anilao pier.

A mimic Octopus, which can be seen at Secret Bay

Agojo Reef

Agojo Reed is a diver’s paradise with a depth of over 46 meters and average visibility of 28 to 30 meters, Agojo Reef. There is no lack of corals in the Agojo Reef – from the shallow area to the depths of 50 meters. If a diver is keen to spot a Dugong, also known as a sea cow, they are often found feeding around the area of the reef, so this is a great place to go to to find the gentle giants.

How to get there: Agojo reef is just a short boat ride from San Andres.

A dugong which can be seen at Agogo Reef

Doña Marilyn

One of the most beautiful wreck dives of the Visayas, Doña Marilyn is a 98 meter long ferry that sank to depths in 1988 near Malapascua Island. Healthy corals have made the wreck their homes, attracting tiny glass fishes and colourful sweetlips, scorpion fishes, batishes and nudibranchs. The exotic marine life is topped with sightings of blue-spotted stingrays and even the beautifully spotted majestic and intricately spotted eagle ray.

How to get there: The site is not far from Malapascua Island and many dive schools and liveaboard companies take diver’s via boat from the shores of Cebu.

Eagle Ray, which can be seen at Doña Marilyn

To read more, do check out our Discover the Philippines e-Newsletter series here!

The Phillipines has plenty to offer for all divers, so do consider this prime diving location bustling with marine life as your next travel destinations to fully immerse yourselves in the tropics and experience all the diving adventures that the Philippines has to offer to you!