Cebu – the Underwater Heaven

If you are a diving enthusiast and have not yet visited Cebu, Philippines, you are certainly missing a lot. Diving in Cebu is like heavens for a lover of underwater marine world because the island is so rich in coral reefs, fish and other marine creatures. And not only Cebu, its neighboring islands too offer you a fantastic diving and snorkeling experience. You get superb food and accommodation facilities on these islands because of which your stay becomes truly pleasurable and hence, if you want an ultimate diving experience, you should visit Cebu at least once in life. Here we will enlist some of the best dive spots in Cebu and its nearby islands, though they cannot be described fully and correctly with words and you have to yourself take the experience.

Cebu

The temperature of Cebu waters ranges 27 to 29 degree Celsius, which is pleasant and the water is crystal clear. You can come anytime of the year to enjoy diving. Though the underwater visibility is varying, you can usually expect 15 to 40 meters.

Moalboal – Moalboal is located on the southwestern coast of Cebu and presents wonderful immaculate water, lovely corals and other diversity of marine life. Its beaches are just pristine with white grainy sands and famous spots like Pescador Island and Kagasangan sea flora. Snorkeling is fun here because of the ease it offers and around 2500 species of marine creatures, including 70 species of giant clams, and others like barracuda, parrotfish, lionfish, angel fish, pipefish, clown fish, blue tang, rainbow fish, silver batfish, jacks, puffers, banner fish, wrasse and many others!  

Mactan

Mactan or Maktan is just a few kilometers from Cebu and has a jaw-dropping variety of diving sites.

Shangri-La Marine Sanctuary – This sanctuary is spread around the northeastern coast of Mactan Island near Cebu. It is home to a fantastic array of marine giants like barracuda, lionfish, parrotfish, huge schools of jacks and silver batfish and what not! You will be amazed to watch the healthy and abundant corals here. All types of divers – newbie and hardcore – can enjoy here because of corals occur everywhere – from shallow depths to steep slopes.

Thresher Point – Thresher Point is located on the northern end of Olango Island, just across Mactan. It is near the fishing village of Tengo. Here you can get the chance to view some of the native Thresher sharks – usually 4 meters long! They can be definitely spotted here and you have to dive up to the depth of 40 meters. So, only advanced divers are recommended to undertake this dive. But this is also a great spot for learners.

Marigondon Cave – This is one of the most exciting diving spots of Cebu and is located along the coast of Mactan Island. It is about 25 minutes away from Scotty’s Dive Center. It has a roof of about 29 meters and floor of about 40 meters and it opens first into a big cavern. With a small alcove on your right and the main tunnel opening forward to the left, you are amazed to see a treasure of large boulder looms on the right. Main attractive feature is the unrestricted room it offers for divers.

Talima Marine Sanctuary – The celebrated Talima Sanctuary is like a gem of Cebu. It is calm, serene, away from the Cebu population, off the west coast of Olango Island. Here you can see a plummeting deep wall rich with tropical fish and at 18 meters you can also see a shipwreck. Marine life is varied here, which include frogfish, pipefish, triggerfish and razorfish, inhabiting amongst a rich coral slope.

Enjoy this amazing video: courtesy: Rems Production

Malapascua

If you have decided to devote your entire time to diving and snorkeling around Cebu, don’t miss the Malapascua Island located across a shallow strait off the northernmost end of Cebu. It has a variety of diving spots like reefs, wrecks, coral dives and sandy muck dives, wall dives and what not! According to some divers, this is the best diving site of the world.

Monad Shoal – This is an underwater island famous for thresher sharks! Besides, you can watch giant mantas, and other pelagic giants like eagle rays and devil rays.

Gato Island – As such Malapascua is famous for Thresher sharks, but divers leave it remembering Gato for its sea snake sanctuary. It has minimum five dive spots with a tremendous diversity of marine life, including cuttlefish, sea snakes, nudibranchs, seahorses, porcupine fish, smashing mantis shrimp, scorpion fish and frogfish. Schools of big-mouthed mackerel and squids can also be seen away from the reef. Then there are whitetip sharks, cat sharks and bamboo sharks. Because of the diversity like rocky island, underwater rock formations, swim-through’s and overhangs, you can see an amazing variety of corals here. Gato has interesting points again to visit like Whitetip Alley (for whitetip sharks), Guardhouse (pigmy seahorse, spider crabs, cowries, the beautiful Spanish Dancers, nudibranchs, painted frogfish, lionfish), Nudibranch City (nudibranchs, scorpion fish and hermit crabs), the Cave (variety of crabs, lobsters, and cardinal fish, puffer fish, bamboo and cat sharks) and many more, along with a lot of wrecks, like Lighthouse Wreck, Dona Marilyn Wreck, Tapilon Wreck and Pioneer Wreck.

Warm sunshine, warm people, clear blue waters, delicious and wholesome tropical cuisine and fruits like coconuts and bananas, and a comfortable accommodation which can give you 24-hour view of the sea – what else will you want for your next holiday? Cebu is ready with all this to welcome you with open arms. It is a truly refreshing paradise for those who are bored with their routine life. So, don’t miss it; plan your next trip to Cebu.