...Highlights: great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics...
...Diving environment: drift diving, beginner and advanced divers...
Batangas diving offers an easy escape from the capital. Just a 3-hour drive south of Manila, this province on Luzon island has become a go-to destination for local and international divers alike. But convenience is only part of the story. Diving in Batangas gives you access to 2 very different, world-class locations: Anilao and Verde Island. One is a macro photographer's dream. The other delivers current-fed pelagic action. Together, they make a compelling case for spending a week or more in this part of the Philippines.
Anilao sits at the southern end of the Calumpang Peninsula, looking out toward Maricaban Island. Known as the Nudibranch Capital of the World, it has built a quieter reputation as one of the planet's true capitals for muck diving and macro life. When you dive Batangas in Anilao, you slow down. You hover over black sand slopes, searching for frogfish, pygmy seahorses, and mimic octopus. You spend 70 minutes on a single patch of rubble because a harlequin shrimp is dragging a starfish across the frame. That is the rhythm here.
Verde Island is just a little further south, sitting in the Verde Island Passage between Luzon and Mindoro. It presents an altogether different type of Batangas diving. This is current country. Strong flows sweep through the passage, feeding soft corals and attracting bigger fish. Down currents can be a feature, so this is generally for experienced divers. The reward? Schools of jacks, dog-toothed tuna, giant trevally, and whitetip reef sharks.
Both locations can be dived independently as daytrips: Divers in Anilao tend to stay in that area. Daytrips from Puerto Galera dive resorts to Verde Island are quite common too. However, they are also frequently dived in combination by divers on a Phillipines liveaboard cruise that allows you to explore more of the Mimaropa and Bicol region, including Romblon, Masbate, and even down to Malapascua and Southern Leyte.
Dive Site Descriptions
Anilao
Anilao sits at the northern end of the Mabini Peninsula in Batangas, roughly a 2-hour drive south of Manila. From your dive boat on the sea, its appearance is of numerous cute little oceanfront resorts nestled in the jungle of the steeply rising coastline. For many divers, it is the gateway to the Philippines' famous Coral Triangle fringe. But that label undersells it. Anilao has earned a quieter, more specific reputation: one of the world's true capitals for macro photography and muck diving. The diving in the part of Batangas is not about big walls or vast pelagic schools. It is about the small stuff. The weird stuff. The creatures that hide in plain sight on black sand slopes and rubble patches. If you have ever spent a full dive watching a pygmy seahorse the size of your fingernail, or lying motionless as a mimic octopus changes shape before your lens, you will understand why Anilao keeps photographers returning year after year.
Verde Island is south of Batangas Bay in the Verde Island Passage and quite close to Puerto Galera. The island has a number of fun dive sites around its coastline. What brings the marine life here are the currents that sweep through the passage between the 2 large islands of Luzon and Mindoro. Down currents can also be a feature of the diving here, so it is generally for experienced divers.
Drop Off
Off the eastern coast of Verde Island is a huge reef featuring an impressive sheer drop with pelagics in the blue. 2 pinnacles rise above the waves and signal to the dive boat that you are at the drop site. Depending on conditions, a negative entry may be required to ensure you get down to where you need to go, unhindered by surface current. As you get down through the clear water and into the shelter afforded by the wall, reef fish common to the area will envelope you. Anthias, red-toothed triggerfish and butterflyfish seemingly in their hundreds swim around the lip of the wall. Giant trevally, barracuda and dog-toothed tuna all come in from the blue. Smaller delights exist here too with amazing nudibranch variety and pygmy seahorses in gorgonian fans.
On the other side of the pinnacles there is an opportunity to witness streams of volcanic bubbles emerging from the sea floor and rising up to the surface. In addition to the larger pelagics you can also see frogfish and banded sea kraits. You must pay attention to the current at Verde Island and not be alarmed if caught in a down current. Ledges in the pinnacle may afford some temporary shelter, but if the current is sustained then BCD inflation and calmly finning horizontally away from the wall (imagine a waterfall) may be needed.
The Washing Machine
This is another Verde Island site which, as the name suggests, this Batangas dive is not for those of a nervous disposition. The term “go with the flow” could have been invented for sites like this and that really is the best approach. Topographically there is a series of 7 shallow canyons and swimthroughs at about 16m. In low current conditions it is easy to poke around and enjoy the marine life amid the soft corals, sea whips and gorgonian fans. More frequently however the current will push you this way and that, so good buoyancy and judicious use of a reef hook are the order of the day. For many Batangas divers this is as much about enjoying the washing machine effect and the changing directions of your bubbles as anything else. Massive numbers of anthias are all over this site. Also likely to be seen are lionfish, anemonefish, sea snakes and bannerfish.
Verde Island Wall
A lesser-known but spectacular site on the western side of the island. A near-vertical drop coated in colourful sea fans, black corals, and barrel sponges. Currents can be unpredictable, but the marine life is dense: schools of surgeonfish, batfish, and the occasional eagle ray.
How to Batangas
There are many resorts in Batangas that offer shore based diving, however we also offer liveaboard cruises because this allows divers to explore more of the Mimaropa and Bicol region - Romblon, Masbate - and even down to Malapascua and Southern Leyte in Visayas. These spectacular safaris take 7-12 nights, depending on the route chosen, and offer the best way to combine Batangas diving with other world-class Philippine destinations.
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You can dive in Batangas all year round, but the best time of year to visit corresponds with the best weather – mid-November to mid-April is the dry season which experiences most sunshine. Surface conditions are calm, and visibility is 15-20m in Anilao and 30+m at Verde Island. Rainy season and typhoon season runs from May to October, when the seas can be choppy and the visibility drops to 10-15m at Anilao and 20m at Verde. The water temperature is a high of 30°C/86F in June and a low of 27°C/81F in February. The air temperature is 29°C/84F for most of the year, but climbs to 33°C/91F in April. For more details on the climate of Batangas City visit the Meteoblue website.
Currents in Anilao range from next-to-nothing at sheltered sites, to strong at the deeper sites. Currents at Verde Island are very strong and can run vertically too, so it’s best to dive here at slack tide.
Where is Batangas and How Do I Get There?
Review our maps below showing the location of Batangas’ host country Philippines in the world. Here, you will find information on how to get to Batangas.
Reef Summary
Depth
5 - 40m
Visibility
10 - 30m
Currents
Can be very strong
Surface conditions
Calm but choppy in rainy season
Water temperature
27 - 30°C
Experience level
Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites
˜60
Recommended length of stay
7 - 12 days as part of a Philippine liveaboard cruise
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TESTIMONIAL
Stephanie Sales
USA
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