The Best Philippines Liveaboard Diving Cruises

Visayas Liveaboard Trips

The Visayas is the central region of the Philippines, stretching from Panay in the west to Samar in the east. There are numerous Philippine liveaboard diving opportunities throughout the whole area.

The island of Bohol is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Philippines, but its healthy coral gardens and excellent wall diving make it equally popular with scuba divers. This is evident from the large number of liveaboard cruises that include it in their itineraries. The little islands that dot its coastline are home to turtles, sharks and pelagics, as well as wondrous macro stuff. [More details on these dive sites: Bohol].

The regional centre of Central Visayas is Cebu, the most populated and developed island in the Visayas. But the most popular dive destination along its coastline is Moalboal, a tiny village in the south west. Here you can dive the famous Pescador Island with its huge biomass of reef fish, and Pangasama Reef where you could be engulfed in a huge cloud of sardines. Elsewhere in the south you will find Sumilon Island and Oslob, where you have an almost-guaranteed chance of encountering whale sharks. [More details on these dive sites: Cebu].

Dumaguete is the largest city in the southeast of Negros and a hub from which to explore several excellent dive destinations. Dauin is renowned as one of the best muck diving destinations in the world, Apo Island is a marine protected area with healthy fish populations, and Siquijor Island is where you can dive a variety of marine environments and find endemic species. [More details on these dive sites: Dumaguete].

Arguably the best dive area in the region is Malapascua. This small island has become renowned as the best place in the world to dive with pelagic thresher sharks. But it’s not all about the fox sharks; there are also manta rays, hammerheads, and several wrecks, and one of the nearby islands hosts a sea snake sanctuary. [More details on these dive sites: Malapascua].

Over in Eastern Visayas is Southern Leyte, an up-and-coming Philippines liveaboard destination famed both for whale sharks and fabulous macro diving. Sogod Bay is the place to be to see whale sharks, the sanctuaries at Napantao and Santa Paz offer superb diving, and Limasawa Island is where you can find the greatest range of critters.

Liveaboard safaris in the Visayas are 6 to 10 nights in duration and offer a variety of different routes all year round. Less experienced divers would enjoy these cruises but some sites are deep and are exposed to strong currents.

Coron - Apo Reef - Palawan Trips

Coron Bay is the main attraction for wreck diving enthusiasts in the Philippines. Few places in the world have such a high concentration of history below the waves. 24 Japanese supply ships came under attack during US bombing raids during World War II and now 12 of them rest in surprisingly good condition on the sea floor. Coron also has some other surprises in store, such as a fresh-salt water lake dive, caves and dugongs. [More details on these dive sites: Coron Island].

Apo Reef is a popular marine park and the second largest contiguous reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef). The walls are decorated with colourful soft corals and the reef is home to dense of schools of fish and hunting pelagics. You can spot reef sharks, hammerheads, and occasional thresher sharks. [More details on these dive sites: Apo Reef].

Dedicated Philippine liveaboard tours to Apo Reef are 3 nights long, but you can also incorporate the Coron wrecks, dugong encounters, and the sites at the northern tip of Palawan on extended trips of 4-7 nights. You can visit all year round and, although some of the sites are quite shallow, several will require advanced experience to dive deep.

Batangas - Bicol Trips

Being a short 3 hour drive, Batangas is the liveaboard port most handily-placed for Manila (the most common arrival point for visitors to the Philippines). Close by is Anilao, a world famous muck diving mecca and self-proclaimed Nudibranch Capital of the World, with new species often being found there. Underwater photographers and macro lovers come from all over the world to dive here and find all the weird and wonderful creatures that live in the shallows. Nearby at Verde Island you can enjoy adrenalin-filled channel dives with big schools of fish and an impressive number of pelagics. [More details on these dive sites: Batangas].

Next stop on the route is Romblon, an area known for its diversity of seascapes and rare critters. You will dive on rich reef flats, walls, caves, canyons and overhangs. The range of shrimp species is particularly impressive so you can imagine how good the night dives are here, when you can take advantage of your torch light to spot them. Further along the Luzon coastline is Ticao Island, near Masbate in the Bicol region. Here you can encounters manta rays, and sometimes spot oceanic sharks such as whale sharks, hammerheads and tigers.

These liveaboard safaris are 7 nights long and run from July to September. Advanced certification and experience of diving in current are recommended.

Transit Trips

At the start and end of the Tubbataha diving season (March and June), most of the Philippine liveaboards reposition between Puerto Princesa and their 'home port' in Cebu, Dumaguete or Batangas. This means they operate one-way transit trips that visit Tubbataha as well as the diving hotspots between the 2 ports. This may include diving in the Visayas and the Cagayancillo Islands, or diving at Apo Reef, Coron, Verde and Puerto Galera. Trips are generally 9+ nights in duration and appeal to experienced divers.