The Philippines sits at the heart of the Coral Triangle — the most biodiverse marine region on the planet. With over 7,000 islands and thousands of kilometres of coastline, the diving here is world class. After 40 years of exploring these waters, including time running a commercial dive operation, here are the sites that have stayed with me.
Tubbataha Reef, Palawan
Tubbataha is as good as diving gets anywhere in the world. A UNESCO World Heritage Site sitting in the middle of the Sulu Sea, it’s only accessible by liveaboard and only during a narrow window from March to June. That remoteness is exactly what makes it special — the reef is pristine, the walls are dramatic, and the pelagic life is extraordinary. Sharks, rays, turtles and schools of fish so thick they block the light. If you only dive one site in the Philippines, make it Tubbataha.
Apo Island, Negros Oriental
Apo Island is one of the Philippines’ great conservation success stories. The local community manages the marine sanctuary strictly, and the results speak for themselves — healthy coral, abundant fish life, and turtles so accustomed to divers that they’ll swim alongside you without a second glance. The diving is accessible for all levels and the island itself is worth the trip. A short boat ride from Dauin on the Negros coast.
Coron, Palawan
Coron is wreck diving at its finest. The bay holds the remains of a Japanese naval fleet sunk during World War II in a single American airstrike in 1944. The wrecks are now encrusted with coral and teeming with life — an eerie and spectacular underwater landscape. The Okikawa Maru, the Irako and the Kogyo Maru are among the most impressive. Visibility can be variable but the history alone makes every dive worthwhile.
Malapascua, Cebu
Malapascua is famous for one thing — thresher sharks. Every morning before dawn, dive boats head out to Monad Shoal where thresher sharks rise from the deep to be cleaned by smaller fish. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can reliably see these elegant, long-tailed sharks, and the experience is unlike anything else in Philippine diving. The rest of the diving around the island is excellent too.
Moalboal, Cebu
Moalboal on the southwest coast of Cebu is famous for one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in Philippine diving — the sardine run. Millions of sardines move together in a massive swirling bait ball, constantly shifting shape to confuse predators. Trevally, barracudas and even whale sharks join the hunt. It’s chaotic, breathtaking and unlike anything else you’ll see underwater. Pescador Island nearby adds excellent reef diving with healthy corals, turtles and outstanding macro life.
Mactan Island, Cebu
Mactan is where many divers in the Philippines take their first breath underwater — conveniently located right next to Cebu’s international airport. The marine sanctuaries around Mactan offer accessible reef diving with caves, walls, and two wrecks, making it a solid introduction to Philippine diving without travelling far. A great starting point for first timers and a convenient base for exploring the wider Cebu region.
Sumilon Island, Southern Cebu
The Philippines’ first ever marine sanctuary, Sumilon has gin-clear water, dramatic drop-offs and some of the healthiest coral in the region. Often overlooked in favour of more famous spots, it rewards divers who make the trip south with outstanding visibility, huge gorgonians and impressive pelagic sightings.
Panglao Island, Bohol
Panglao is Bohol’s diving hub and one of the most complete dive destinations in the Philippines. The house reefs around the island are excellent, the macro life is extraordinary, and the famous Balicasag Island nearby offers wall diving that ranks among the best in the country. Expect healthy hard and soft corals, sea turtles, and occasional hammerhead sightings at the right time of year. Bohol combines easily with Cebu and makes for a natural multi-destination dive trip.
Balicasag Island, Bohol
Just a short boat ride from Panglao, Balicasag is a marine sanctuary with walls that drop dramatically into the blue. The fish life here is extraordinary — large schools of jacks, barracuda, snappers and surgeonfish in numbers that will take your breath away. Sea turtles are a near certainty and the coral is in excellent condition thanks to years of protection. One of the most rewarding single dive sites in the Philippines.
Puerto Galera, Mindoro
Puerto Galera is one of the most accessible world class dive destinations in the Philippines — just a few hours from Manila by road and ferry. The variety of diving here is remarkable — walls, reefs, wrecks, muck diving and drift diving all within easy reach. The Washing Machine at Canyons is one of the most exhilarating drift dives in the country, while sites like Shark Cave and Hole in the Wall offer something for every level of diver. The town itself has a long established dive community and some of the most experienced operators in the Philippines.
Anilao, Batangas
Anilao is the birthplace of scuba diving in the Philippines and remains one of the best macro diving destinations in the world. Just a few hours from Manila, it’s accessible for a weekend trip and rewards photographers and patient divers with an extraordinary variety of nudibranchs, frogfish, seahorses and rare critters. Not a site for big fish action — but for sheer underwater diversity, few places anywhere can match it.
Dumaguete and the Dauin Coast, Negros Oriental
The coastline around Dauin offers some of the best muck diving in the Philippines — volcanic black sand teeming with unusual creatures. Combined with easy access to Apo Island and a relaxed dive town atmosphere, Dumaguete has become one of the most complete dive destinations in the country. A personal favourite for the combination of accessibility, quality and the lack of crowds compared to more famous spots.
A Note on the Southern Philippines
Some of the most extraordinary diving I’ve ever experienced was in the waters of the southern Philippines — areas that are not straightforward to access today for security reasons. The Sulu Archipelago and surrounding waters hold reef systems that most divers will never see. That’s both a loss and, in some ways, a protection. The southern seas remain largely untouched — and perhaps that’s not entirely a bad thing.
Getting the Most Out of Philippine Diving
The Philippines rewards divers who do their homework. Visibility, currents and conditions vary enormously by site and by season. Many of the best sites require liveaboard access. Always dive with reputable operators who know local conditions — the sea here can surprise even experienced divers. The best diving season is generally November to May, with March to May offering peak conditions across most sites.
Browse our full directory of Philippine dive sites and find your next underwater adventure.
About the Man Behind Outdoor Life PH — 40 Years of Exploring the Philippines
I first set foot in the Philippines in 1986. I was an Australian engineer working my way around the world — Afghanistan, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, West Africa — and the Philippines made sense as a base. Central to everything, warm, and with enough going on to keep life interesting between contracts.
What I didn’t expect was that I’d never really leave.
Four decades later I’m living in Silang, Cavite, in a house I built myself, and the Philippines has become less of a base and more of a home — the kind of place that gets under your skin in a way that’s hard to explain to people who haven’t experienced it.
An Outdoor Destination Before Anyone Called It That
When I arrived in 1986, the Philippines wasn’t on anyone’s radar as an outdoor adventure destination. There was no “outdoor scene” to speak of — no adventure tour operators, no organised dive trips marketed to foreigners, no hiking groups posting on social media. If you wanted to explore, you just went and explored.
That suited me fine.
I’d grown up surfing in Australia and arrived in the Philippines already holding a commercial dive ticket. Diving wasn’t a hobby — it was something I did seriously. That eventually led to running a large dive boat here, working with treasure hunters exploring the wrecks and underwater history scattered across the Philippine archipelago. If you know anything about the waters around these islands, you’ll know there’s no shortage of both.
Sailing came into the mix too. I skippered a boat from Cebu to Zamboanga once, a trip that took an unexpected detour through the Dangerous Islands in the southern Philippines. We got a bit lost — which is easier to do down there than you might think — and stumbled across islands so pristine, so untouched, that I’d be surprised if anyone has visited them since. No infrastructure, no boats, no footprints. Just coral, jungle and silence.
That’s the Philippines that doesn’t make it into the brochures.
These days I spend more time on the golf course than in the water, but the explorer instinct hasn’t gone anywhere. The Philippines has a way of rewarding people who are willing to go looking.
Why I Built Outdoor Life PH
After living in Cebu, Zamboanga and Manila before settling in Silang, I’ve covered a lot of ground over 40 years. And the one thing that’s always frustrated me — even now in the age of the internet — is how scattered the information is.
Want to find a good dive site in Palawan? You’ll check five different websites, three Facebook groups and a Reddit thread from 2019 and still not get a straight answer. Looking for a campsite in the Cordillera that’s actually accessible? Good luck piecing that together.
Outdoor Life PH exists because that problem annoyed me enough to do something about it. One place. All the information. No hunting around.
You’ll notice that some listings have less information than others — and that’s actually the point. Many of these places are genuine hidden gems, rarely visited and barely documented anywhere online. Some are hard to access, others are simply so off the beaten track that very little has ever been written about them. We’d rather list them with what we know than leave them out entirely. If you’ve been there and can add to the story, leave a review — that’s how this directory grows.
The Philippines has over 7,000 islands, world-class dive sites, hundreds of hiking trails, some of the best golf courses in Asia, surf breaks that rival anything in the region, and historical sites that most visitors never find. It deserves a proper resource — and after 40 years here, I felt like I was probably the right person to build it.
What to Expect
If you’re planning an outdoor adventure in the Philippines — whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned visitor — my one piece of advice is simple: be prepared for a few surprises.
The Philippines will deliver on everything you’re hoping for. It will also throw in a few things you weren’t expecting. That’s not a warning — it’s half the appeal.
Browse the directory, find your spot, and get out there.
— Peter
