The Philippines

More than 7,000 islands make up this archipelago, with most of the diving taking place south of the capital city, Manila

Much of the diving is concentrated around the central islands known as the Visayas, but the nation’s most popular resort centre is Puerto Galera.

Situated just a short hop from the main island of Luzon, Puerto Galera offers good quality general diving. The reefs have deteriorated somewhat over the past decade (notably at the site called Coral Garden), but there’s still enough fish life and even a few wrecks to keep divers occupied.

This is the place to come if you want to combine good, varied diving and the exotic nightlife that comes with a fully-fledged resort strip. You get all sorts here, from macro photographers to full-on technical divers.

To the south, there’s good diving around the islands of Bohol and Cebu, where it’s possible to stay in small tourist villages which hug the coast, such as Moalboal or Panglao Beach. Basic liveaboards are available for safaris to quality offshore sites such as Apo Reef and Tubbataha. As with many parts of Indonesia and the Philippines, dynamite fishing has taken its toll on many areas. But that which remains is more often than not spectacular, with soft and hard corals, anemones, crinoids and tunicates vying for every available inch of space.

The Philippines is even gaining a name for itself as a macro destination. Revered Japanese photographer Yoshi Hirata has been discovering promising new sites in Cebu, and European snappers are praising Puerto Galera for its array of frogfish and nudibranchs.

Some of the best shore-based diving is concentrated around the island of Palawan. As well as some impressive reefs, there is Coron Bay, with an array of Japanese Second World War wrecks to rival Chuuk Lagoon. The ships were sunk in 1944, when part of the the US fleet embarked on what was at the time the longest-distance air raid in history – their target was 350 miles away. At Coron Bay, 18 Japanese ships were sunk, some of which were rumoured to be carrying gold (which has never been ‘officially’ recovered). Visibility here is typically low – visitors have likened it to UK-style wreck diving with warm water!

Diving explorers, including Ron Holland formerly of Borneo Divers, have been on expeditions to the Sulu Sea and the Tawi-Tawi region in the extreme south of the Philippines. Those reefs which have not been dynamited are said to be amazingly rich, but the region is currently too politically unstable for any sort of travel.


Key dives

Canyons, Puerta Galera: Current-fuelled reef dive, sweetlips, barracuda and white-tip reef sharks
Cabilao Island: Hammerheads at 45m (if you’re lucky) and a spectacular coral wall
Coron Bay: First-class wreck dives in a lush tropical setting


Foreign office advice

Terrorist and kidnap threats are greatest in Mindanao, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and the Sulu Archipelago, all of which are off-limits to tourists. Travellers are advised to take particular care in Manila, throughout Palawan and at coastal resorts and tourist centres throughout the nation.

Reader's verdict:
‘The diving in the central Philippines is easy and laid-back, just like the beach towns,’ says sports diver Peter Knee, who backpacked around the country, hiring ‘quite impressive’ dive kit from local centres. ‘I did a tour from Puerto Galera in the north, down to Cebu and Bohol in the Visayas. Puerto Galera was great fun, but it was really more about the nightclubbing scene. I reckon the best diving was at Cabilao island off Bohol, where we saw hammerheads at 45m. The dive features a steep wall and some massive gorgonian fans.’