Philippine Dive Primer
The Philippines is the gateway to the Coral Triangle, the world's center of biodiversity. From the USA this translates into less time (and money) spent of long international flights to get to many of the world's best dive sites. The 7,107 Philippine islands are a diverse mixture of Asian, European and American cultures, making its people some of the world's warmest, friendliest and most helpful who speak English fluently.
Dumaguete City on Negros Oriental is a 45-minute flight from Manila. The Ducomi Pier is a most-memorable dive site with pilings covered in spectacular soft corals and inhabited by so many critters–a sensory oveload! This site has a myriad of sandy sites (muck in other places) featuring rare and fabulous criters, such as the flamboyant cuttlefish, red ghost pipefish, needle shrimp, frogfish in every color, mandarinfish and seahorses. Apo Island, the "model marine sanctuary to the world," and a "speedway" of sorts because of the profusion of schools of fish, has pristine coral reefs and is divable year-round.
The Reefs of Tubbataha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is high-voltage diving. The walls seem to drop off into forever, and you will encounter turtles, sharks, mantas, big schools of fish, big fish, whale sharks and perfect coral gardens. Visibility is often 200 feet. Tubbataha is accessible via live-aboard from March through May
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