Dive experience: Required: Tubbataha Trips: Advanced Open Water certification; Visayas Trips: Open Water certification (snorkelers are also welcome).
Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation with air-conditioning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, hot drinks, dives (as detailed in the trips above), 2 experienced English & German-speaking divemasters, 12 litre DIN tanks (INT adaptors available), weights and weight belts, sales tax.
Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment (full set incl. SMB: USD 20 per day), dive insurance, port & park fees (from USD 75 per trip), fuel surcharge (from USD 90 per trip). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash in PHP, USD, EUR or CHF, or credit card (+3.5%).
Optional extras: Soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (USD 10 per day, must be pre-booked), 15 litre tanks (USD 25 per day), round-trip transfers to the boat from local airport. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival. Note: prices of items purchased onboard are subject to change.
How to get there: Dauin (Pura Vida Resort) is the port used for trips around the Visayas. The local airport is Dumaguete (DGT). There are direct flights from Cebu City and Manila. Boarding time is 2 pm, with disembarkation at 8:00 am.
Campomanes Bay, Sipalay, is the port used for cruises to Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Boarding time is 12 noon, and a complimentary shuttle is provided from Pura Vida to Campomanes Bay for guests at 9 am. Disembarkation is at 8:00 am with a complimentary transfer from Campomanes Bay back to Pura Vida provided. Guests should not book a flight from DGT before 12 noon on the disembarkation day.
For more details, including airlines, see our Philippines travel information section. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.
Non-diver rate: None.
Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travellers may choose to share a cabin, or pay a supplement of 80% to occupy a cabin alone.
Dive clubs and group discounts: None.
Whole boat charter rate (per night): 8 paying guests + 1 FOC guest. The complimentary guest may share the Cruise Director's cabin and the common bathroom with the crew.
For scuba divers who prize space, stability, and a genuinely personal touch, the M/Y Gypsy liveaboard is an attractive choice in the Philippine archipelago, visiting Tubbataha, Cagayancillo, Dauin, Malapascua, Bohol and Moalboal. This 80-foot (24m) vessel, completely refitted in 2021, is built around a simple but effective idea: limited guests, maximum comfort. With only just 8 guests on board, the steel-hulled Gypsy liveaboard ensures your focus stays on the exceptional diving, with no crowded dive decks or rushed schedules. It is a floating base camp for those who appreciate the finer details of an expedition.
The design of the M/Y Gypsy speaks to its seagoing pedigree, the result of a thorough rebuild. Spread over 3 decks, the yacht offers over 250 sqm of living space, including a spacious flybridge, tranquil bow and stern lounging areas, and a light-filled saloon. The 4 en-suite cabins, comprising an owner's suite, a master bedroom, and 2 twin cabins, provide private, air-conditioned retreats. The overall feel is one of uncluttered comfort, allowing you to relax fully between dives.
A defining feature of the Gypsy liveaboard is its advanced Seakeeper gyro stabiliser, which reduces boat roll by up to 95%. This technology is a genuine asset for diver comfort, ensuring smoother cruising and a more restful night's sleep at anchor, even when conditions are less than perfect. This focus on wellbeing is matched by a serious commitment to safety, with 24-hour crew watches, comprehensive first-aid and oxygen equipment, and advanced navigation technology like thermal night-vision cameras. The M/Y Gypsy is built for exploration, but its foundation is security and stability.
The experience on board the Gypsy is guided by the extensive local knowledge of the operators, with nearly 50 years of combined experience in Philippine waters. Their passion is evident in every aspect of the boat's operation. When you step aboard the Gypsy liveaboard, you are tapping into this rich seam of expertise. The crew, selected for their decades of experience, deliver the 'Dive with a Smile' philosophy, providing intuitive, friendly service that makes you feel less like a customer and more like a welcomed guest.
Your dive days are structured for exploration and relaxation. With up to 4 dives daily, including nitrox for extended bottom times, and a naturalist guide on hand to decode the marine life, each dive is an opportunity for discovery. The dedicated camera station in the saloon and rinse tanks on the dive deck cater to underwater photographers. Between dives, replenish with international cuisine or a signature diver's massage. The M/Y Gypsy creates a rhythm of adventure and calm that is hard to beat.
The Gypsy liveaboard offers a privileged way to experience the Philippines' finest dive regions. With an almost one-to-one crew-to-guest ratio, the attention to detail is exceptional. This is a boutique liveaboard for divers who value space, quality, and a genuine connection with the ocean. To secure your place on this exceptional vessel, it is wise to plan ahead, as space is limited and highly sought after.
M/Y Gypsy has 4 en-suite cabins in total. 1 Master cabin (double bed), 3 Deluxe suite cabins (each with 2 single beds - convertible), all on the lower deck with portholes.
All the cabins have:
- Individually controlled air conditioning
- Ceiling fans
- Private bathroom with toilet and hot water shower
- Hand basin, towels, toiletries, hairdryer, bathrobe
- Portholes
- Personal safety box
- Reading lights
- Daily housekeeping
- Wardrobe and shelves
- Bedside cabinet and mirror
- Mains outlet 220 volts - 24 hours per day
- European/US-style 2-pin plugs
- TV, video player, and music system
- Minibar fridge
- Bedding and storage space
- Smoke detector
- Fire extinguisher
- Life jackets
No. of bathrooms / showers - 4 / 4 - hot water
Cebu, Bohol & Dumaguete
Trip highlights: whale sharks, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity
Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers
Dive sites and activities: Dauin, Cebu: Moalboal, Santander, Sumilon; Bohol: Cabilao, Pamilican, Balicasag; Siquijor, Apo Island
Day 1
Boarding the Gypsy liveaboard at Dauin marks the start of your trip. As the Visayan sunset paints the sky, you get acquainted with your cabin, the crew, and your fellow passengers. With the dock fading astern, the week ahead unfolds: a deep dive into some of the Philippines' richest underwater worlds.
Core Days
The expedition starts with Dauin's legendary muck diving. Over black volcanic sands, your guide reveals an array of masterful disguises: frogfish lurking motionless, ghost pipefish swaying with the current, and the dazzling flamboyant cuttlefish flashing its colours. Dauin is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, and the muck sites here, across the municipalities of Dauin, Zamboanguita and Siaton, are also home to blue-ringed octopuses, seahorses and a remarkable variety of nudibranchs. After each dive, the Gypsy welcomes you back with comfort and calm.
Switching scales dramatically, the liveaboard reaches Moalboal, where an immense bait ball of sardines pulses along the reef wall, a non-stop spectacle of silver. Nearby, Pescador Island offers vibrant soft corals, swim-throughs and the famous Cathedral site, while the waters off Santander deliver crystal-clear visibility, white sand slopes, seagrass beds and turtles, along with nursery areas for blacktip and whitetip reef sharks. Whale sharks are also occasionally sighted in the mornings. Sumilon Island, site of the Philippines' first marine sanctuary, offers both strong drift dives and gentle wall dives, with huge schools of jacks, batfish and barracuda patrolling the reefs alongside blacktip and whitetip sharks.
The voyage continues to Bohol, with multiple stops across the region. Cabilao Island is renowned for its spectacular wall dives, draped in vibrant soft corals and sea fans, and is famous for the green and yellow giant frogfish that inhabit its slopes. Hammerhead sharks are occasionally sighted in deeper waters. At Balicasag and Pamilican Islands, the Gypsy holds special permits that allow diving in these protected areas, where the turtle population is among the finest in the country and enormous schools of fish gather.
From Bohol, the expedition moves to Siquijor Island, which offers some of the best hard coral diving in the Visayas. The dramatic change in topography from the soft coral-dominated sites of Bohol and Cebu is striking, with crystal-clear waters and an abundance of small critters. Apo Island Marine Reserve provides one of the most successful sanctuary experiences in the Philippines, with drift dives along sloping coral walls at sites like Coconut Point, where giant trevally, blackfin barracuda, schools of big-eyed trevally, and numerous sea snakes can be encountered.
Final Day
On the last day, the Gypsy returns to Dauin. A final breakfast precedes disembarkation, and as you pack your gear, the memories remain: rare critters from the muck, pelagic action from the reefs, and a week that captures the extraordinary variety of South Visayan diving.
Malapascua, Cebu & Bohol
Trip highlights: whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, shark action, dolphins, manta rays, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics
Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers
Dive sites and activities: Dauin, Cebu: Moalboal, Malapascua; Bohol: Cabilao Island, Balicasag, Pamilican Island, Sumilon Island
Day 1
Your adventure begins the moment you step aboard the Gypsy liveaboard in Dauin. As the sun sets over the Visayas, you’ll settle into your cabin, meet the crew and fellow divers, and feel the boat ease away from the dock. This is the start of a dive expedition with the promise of the Philippines’ most captivating marine life just a giant stride away.
Core Days
The journey unfolds as a masterclass in contrast, opening with Dauin's legendary muck diving on volcanic black sand slopes where every dive transforms into a patient treasure hunt. Your guide moves with practiced precision, illuminating the ocean's greatest illusionists - frogfish frozen mid-lurk, ghost pipefish swaying like forgotten fragments of seaweed, and the hypnotic flamboyant cuttlefish pulsing with electric color. After hours of scanning the seafloor for these miniature marvels, the M/Y Gypsy greets you as a floating sanctuary, where warm meals, easy camaraderie, and the gentle rhythm of the boat restore your energy for the next day's discoveries.
From the macro treasures of Dauin, the Gypsy charts a course north to Moalboal, where the underwater world explodes into a completely different kind of wonder. Here, the famous sardine run takes center stage, an immense, swirling bait ball of millions of silver fish that clings to the reef wall like a living, breathing storm. This hypnotic spectacle is mesmerizing for divers of every experience level, offering a rush of pure instinct and movement. Just a short swim away, Pescador Island delivers a more traditional yet equally breathtaking reef experience, with vibrant coral gardens, dramatic swim-throughs, and steep walls patrolled by turtles, schools of foraging jacks, and the occasional whitetip reef shark gliding effortlessly through the blue.
The Gypsy continues northward, slicing through the Visayan Sea toward Malapascua, a name that carries legendary weight among divers for one extraordinary reason: thresher sharks. The liveaboard positions you perfectly for the pre-dawn dives at Kimud Shoal, one of the few places on the planet where these elegant, sickle-tailed predators rise from the abyss with reliable regularity to visit their cleaning stations. Watching their silent ascent is nothing short of hypnotic. Beyond the threshers, the region reveals a wild and varied underwater topography. Gato Island presents a labyrinth of submerged tunnels and caverns where bamboo sharks rest in shadowy crevices and reef fish crowd every corner. As the expedition presses on, Capitancillo and Kalanggaman deliver pristine coral gardens and steep drop-offs bathed in crystalline visibility, with large schools of pelagic fish carving graceful arcs through the ocean.
The expedition then turns south toward Bohol. At Cabilao Island, sites like Current Viewpoint feature sandy plateaus scattered with fan corals where pygmy seahorses, thorny seahorses and ghost pipefish can be found. Whitetip sharks, barracuda and jacks are frequent visitors. Balicasag Island, typically crowded with day boats, becomes a private experience when the Gypsy arrives early, offering encounters with large schools of barracuda and tornadoes of jackfish. Nearby Pamilican Island provides some of the best drift diving of the trip, with seafloors completely covered in soft corals. A final stop at Sumilon Island offers the option of seeing whale sharks at Oslob, along with big schools of barracuda, jacks and pelagic fish passing through the clear blue water.
Final Day
The Gypsy turns southward for the final time, charting a course back to Dauin as the adventures settle into memory. You wake on the last morning to the aroma of breakfast drifting from the galley, your camera housings are already stowed and your gear packed away.
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (8 Days / 7 Nights - 21 Dives)
Trip highlights: shark action, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics
Diving environment: advanced divers, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, wall diving
Dive sites and activities: Tubbataha Reefs: North Atoll, South Atoll; Dauin
Day 1
Dauin is where the journey truly takes hold - the moment you cross the gangway onto the Gypsy liveaboard. As twilight paints the sky over Tubbataha, you'll find your sea legs, stowing gear in your cabin before joining the crew and a small tribe of fellow explorers on deck. The low thrum of the engine signals our departure, the dock slipping into the haze behind us. What lies ahead is a full week beneath the waves, where the Philippines’ most breathtaking marine spectacles await, just a single, trusting stride over the side.
Core Days
Dauin isn't just a dive destination, it's a masterclass in marine disguise. The moment you descend onto its charcoal-black volcanic slopes, every dive becomes an intricate treasure hunt. Your guide moves with practiced patience, illuminating nature's greatest illusionists: frogfish frozen mid-lurk, ghost pipefish swaying like forgotten fragments of seaweed, and the hypnotic flamboyant cuttlefish pulsing with electric color. After hours of scanning the sand for these microscopic marvels, the M/Y Gypsy welcomes you back like a floating sanctuary, a place to trade stories over warm meals, review your macro shots, and let the gentle roll of the boat rock you into complete relaxation.
Diving at Tubbataha's North Atoll is defined by dramatic wall plunges that drop from shallow, sun-drenched coral flats into the abyss. The atoll, the larger of the two, offers legendary sites like Amos Rock, a submerged pinnacle that attracts swirling schools of jacks and barracuda, and Shark Airport, where white-tip reef sharks rest on sandy patches. Strong currents often sweep along the walls, making drift diving exhilarating while bringing in pelagic heavyweights like tuna, grey reef sharks, and seasonal hammerheads. The sheer vertical faces are draped in massive gorgonian sea fans, table corals, and swirling anthias, creating a kaleidoscope of color. With visibility often exceeding 30 meters and water temperatures hovering around 28 Celsius, the conditions are pristine.
Diving at Tubbataha's South Atoll offers a more intimate and rugged experience compared to its northern counterpart. Smaller and triangular in shape, this atoll features steep, terraced walls that drop into deep water, with a shallow lagoon enclosed by a narrow reef rim. The iconic South Islet, marked by a historic lighthouse, serves as a vital bird rookery and adds a dramatic above-water silhouette. Beneath the surface, the diving is defined by pristine coral gardens, vibrant soft corals, and massive gorgonian fans clinging to the vertical drop-offs. The atoll is a haven for large pelagics, with frequent encounters with grey reef sharks, tunas, and schools of jacks patrolling the walls. Turtles are abundant, often resting in overhangs or cruising along the current-swept ledges. Currents can be unpredictable and strong, making drift dives exhilarating while sweeping divers past colorful sheer faces teeming with anthias and fusiliers.
Day 8
The final morning arrives all too soon as the M/Y Gypsy charts her course back to Dauin, and you wake to the gentle hum of the engine and the scent of a last breakfast drifting from the galley. By the time the dock comes into view, your camera housings are already packed, but the real cargo is the memories: rare critters that challenge the eye and pelagic sharks that command respect.
[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].
A typical day aboard the M/Y Gypsy liveaboard strikes a fine balance between the thrill of discovery beneath the waves and the simple, indulgent pleasures of life at sea. It’s a rhythm defined by your own appetite for adventure and the promise of a good meal shared with a small group of fellow divers.
You might wake to the soft light of a Philippine sunrise and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee drifting from the saloon. The first dive of the day is often a predawn affair, a chance to witness the reef as it awakens. For those who prefer a slower start, there's no pressure; a light breakfast of fresh fruit, cereals, and homemade bread is usually set out from around 7 am, giving you the fuel you need before you roll off the dive deck for the first dive. A more substantial breakfast is then served upon your return, setting you up for a day of exploration. Between dives, the Gypsy moves to new sites, offering stunning views of the Visayan Sea or the remote atolls of Tubbataha.
Mealtimes are a social cornerstone of the liveaboard experience. The cuisine on offer is international, with a distinct flair from across Southeast Asia. For lunch, you might find a selection of vibrant salads, hearty soups, or perhaps a plate of fresh sashimi. The crew is known for their generous hospitality, and it’s not unusual to find BBQ dishes and flavourful fried rice as part of the midday spread.
As the afternoon unfolds, snacks and peanuts are always available to tide you over between dives. A cool drink from the bar, perhaps a local beer or a glass of wine, is the perfect companion as you review your underwater photos or simply relax on the flybridge. While specific dishes vary, dinner is an event. The menu might feature a classic Surf & Turf, Brazilian roast beef, or large, succulent prawns, all freshly prepared and served in the comfortable indoor dining area.
If you have specific dietary requirements, it is always wise to inform us in advance, as the crew are well-prepared to accommodate your needs. Life aboard the M/Y Gypsy is more than just a dive trip; it is a carefully paced journey, where the cycle of diving, dining, and relaxing feels less like the natural rhythm of the sea.
