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Darrell Seale · Scuba Diving / Dive trips / Philippines

Diving the Philippines

Nudibranchs, frogfish, turtles at Apo Island and a whale shark. Nine days on the Philippines Aggressor, a liveaboard, through the Visayas, August 2023.

  • Aug 2023when
  • Liveaboardabout nine days
  • Macro + turtlesand a whale shark
A whale shark seen from below off southern Cebu, Philippines, August 2023

The Philippines sits in the Coral Triangle, the part of the Indo-Pacific with the greatest variety of marine life on the planet. For divers that means two things: healthy reefs and walls, and an almost endless supply of small, strange creatures for anyone who slows down and looks closely.

In August 2023 I spent about nine days on the Philippines Aggressor, a liveaboard, through the Visayas, the islands in the middle of the country. We started at Malapascua, off the northern tip of Cebu, which is famous for thresher sharks at Monad Shoal at dawn. From there the boat worked south past Bohol to Apo Island, a small volcanic island off Negros known for its marine sanctuary and green turtles, and then to Dauin on the Negros coast, one of the best-known muck diving areas in the country.

Near the end of the trip we had a whale shark off southern Cebu. Between the bigger moments, most of my photos are of the small stuff: nudibranchs, frogfish, seahorses, ghost pipefish and mantis shrimp. All of these were taken with my GoPro.

Big animals

The Visayas are better known for small things, but there were big moments too: two whitetip reef sharks resting under a ledge, green turtles everywhere around Apo Island, and a whale shark off southern Cebu near the end of the trip.

Darrell Seale underwater in the Philippines, August 2023
Me. On a dive in the Visayas, August 2023.
Two whitetip reef sharks resting under a ledge
Whitetips. Two resting under a ledge.
A green sea turtle on the reef
Green turtle. Unbothered by divers.
A green sea turtle resting among hard corals
Another one. Turtles were on almost every dive near Apo Island.
A diver swimming through a cave
Swim-through. Early in the trip, near Malapascua.
Clouds of small reef fish over hard coral
Reef fish. Anthias and damselfish over the coral.

Nudibranchs

The Philippines is one of the best places in the world for nudibranchs, the small, brightly colored sea slugs that underwater photographers love. We found them on nearly every dive.

A green and black Nembrotha nudibranch
Nembrotha. Neon green and black.
A blue and white striped nudibranch
Stripes. August 2023.
Three blue and white nudibranchs on the reef
Three together. A small group on the reef.
A purple nudibranch with orange gills
Purple and orange. August 2023.
Two purple nudibranchs near an anemone
A pair. Next to an anemone.
A yellow nudibranch with purple edges
Yellow. August 2023.

Frogfish, seahorses and ghost pipefish

Muck and macro diving at its best: frogfish sitting still on the reef waiting for something to swim by, seahorses, ghost pipefish hiding in plain sight, and a mantis shrimp watching from its burrow.

A bright yellow frogfish on the sand
Yellow frogfish. August 2023.
A red frogfish among black coral
Red frogfish. August 2023.
A yellow seahorse
Seahorse. August 2023.
An ornate ghost pipefish next to a feather star
Ornate ghost pipefish. Next to a feather star.
A pair of red robust ghost pipefish
Robust ghost pipefish. A pair, drifting like leaves.
A peacock mantis shrimp
Mantis shrimp. Watching from the reef.

On the reef

Between the critter hunts: mandarinfish coming out at dusk, clownfish in their anemones, a porcelain crab, a cuttlefish and healthy coral gardens.

A mandarinfish in the coral
Mandarinfish. Out at dusk.
Three clownfish over an anemone
Clownfish. A family over its anemone.
A spotted porcelain crab on an anemone
Porcelain crab. Living on an anemone.
A cuttlefish over the reef at night
Cuttlefish. August 2023.
A colorful coral reef with a Moorish idol
Coral garden. With a Moorish idol passing by.
The bow of the dive boat heading toward an island
Between dives. Moving between sites off Bohol.

On land: Palawan, Boracay and Puerto Galera →

Good to know

  • Best known forThresher sharks at Malapascua, turtles at Apo Island, muck diving at Dauin, walls around Bohol
  • StyleReef, wall and muck diving; a liveaboard links the islands
  • Who it suitsAll levels; a paradise for macro photographers
  • GatewayCebu (Mactan–Cebu International Airport)
  • My tripPhilippines Aggressor, August 2023

Want to dive the Philippines with a group? Dive Outdoors in Redding, California runs a trip to Atlantis Puerto Galera, 7–14 Aug 2027.

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