Housereef

Travel Time: a few minutes by utility boat>
Depth: 30 - 60 feet
Skill Level: Novice to Advanced
Description: Located just in front of the resort and with exceptionally easy access. Ideal for beginners and experienced divers. The reef flat is 5 – 8 meters deep and the wall goes down to 50 meters.
Sea Grass Areas: This is one of the few places in Cebu where seahorses can be seen in the wild. If one looks closely and carefully, he may get the chance to see and photograph these rare and elusive animals.
The Wall: Parallel to the shore, the Alegre Housereef alone is 800 meters long and 6 – 45 meters deep. It is highly recommended because of its easy accessibility and abundance of colorful tropical fishes, delicate and intricately shaped soft and hard corals, and other marine life. This reef has a resident barracuda, which is blind in one eye; many giant clams, and is often visited by green turtles which can sometimes be seen during the dive. Large black and red snappers, surgeonfishes, angelfishes, triggerfish, parrot fishes, wrasses, groupers, sweet lips, jacks, schools of fusiliers and other colorful fishes abound. In the small caves in the bottom, one can sometimes see the shy big groupers. This spot is ideal for night diving and photography.
Fish Feeding Station: Experience schools of black snappers, surgeonfishes and smaller reef fishes swarming around you as you feed them with bread or fish chomp 13 – 18 meters from the surface.

NORTH OF ALEGRE

Libas Point
Travel Time: 15 minutes by utility boat
Depth: 30 - 50 feet
Skill Level: Novice
Description: A small coral garden 10 – 15 meters wide at the top which has a wall that drops to a depth of 25 meters before settling on a sandy bottom. Along the wall are lots of soft and hard corals, sponges, sea squirts, bivalves, schools of fusiliers and other small reef fishes. Sea turtles and occasional eagle rays are also sighted.

Nipa
Travel Time: 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 65 – 100 feet (20 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advanced
Description: A wall littered with intricate and delicate fan corals surprisingly still in pristine condition. Yellow anthias and other small reef fishes cavort along the coral formations. Cactus like tubastrea corals and colorful sponges also dot the area. At the bottom of the wall are small caves and holes in the wall were groupers make their homes. One particular cave is like a small tunnel – a swim through – that exits in another part of the wall. Jacks, barracudas and occasionally small tuna species and other pelagic fishes are sighted

Capitancillo Island
Travel Time: 50 minutes by banca
Depth: 30 – 130 feet (10 – 40 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advanced
Description: A small island of coralline limestone with a lighthouse. It is named after Capt. Cillo, an American Navy captain who beached his vessel in the island during the war. The island has very little sand on its beaches and is sparsely vegetated. It is uninhabited but is used as a rest stop by local fishermen and for drying their catch and repairing their nets. The profile is a shallow edge leading to the drop-off, with many soft corals growing on the walls. Black corals are easy to find. There are many aquarium and reef fish, and the wide range of pelagic visitors includes jacks and occasional white tip sharks. There are small caves on the drop-off.

Nuñez Shoal
Travel Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 65 – 130 feet (20 – 40 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: The walls are dotted with pocillopora and mixed colonies of dainty acropora corals. A traditional fishing ground for the fisherfolk of Cebu and Leyte.

Ormoc Shoal
Travel Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes by banca
Depth: 65 – 130 feet (20 – 40 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: An underwater sandy plateau rimmed by cactus like tubastrea coral and mixed colonies of intricate acropora, montipora and digitalia corals.

Calangaman
Travel Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes by banca
Depth: 80 – 100 feet (25 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advanced
Description: An extremely beautiful island surrounded on all sides by powdery white sand beaches with lush foliage and coconut trees. Snorkeling and the natural beauty of the island are its main attraction. The place is ideal for divers and people who just want to relax and enjoy the sun. The sandy portion of the reef offers one the chance to see lots of stingrays. With some luck, one may also get to see thresher sharks and eagle rays.

Kimod Shoal
Travel Time: 2 hours by banca
Depth: 65 – 100 feet (20 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: A small underwater mountain with patches of soft and hard corals. Opportunities for sighting silver tip sharks.

Monad Shoal
Travel Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes by banca
Depth: 80 – 165 feet (24 – 50 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: A sunken island with a diameter of about 1.5 kilometers. It has a beautiful plateau 20 – 25 meters from the surface. The island is dotted with small caves. Along its steep walls are lots of soft corals, sponges, anemones, nudibranchs, sea whips, sea fans and other marine life. An early morning dive guarantees an 80% chance of seeing thresher sharks. Mantas are also sighted along with them during the months of June to January.

Malapascua Lighthouse Wreck
Travel Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes by banca
Depth: 16 – 28 feet (5 – 8 meters)
Skill Level: Novice
Description: This is a small wartime Japanese landing craft that sank sometime in 1943. It lies in an upright position at a depth of 5 – 8 meters. The vessel is almost completely destroyed by past typhoons. It offers an ideal spot for snorkelers as well as novice divers who want to experience very simple wreck diving. The wreck is also known to house the rare Mandarin fish.

Tapilon Wreck
Travel Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 60 – 100 feet (20 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: A 30-meter long steel hulled Japanese cargo ship, which was sunk in the war. The wreck, which lies on a sandy bottom at a depth of 20 – 30 meters, is heavily encrusted with colorful soft corals and is a beautiful spot for diving. Visibility is about 10 – 15 meters and underwater current varies from slight to moderate. The ship is broken into four sections as a result of torpedo attack. Most part of the ship have been salvaged. It is perfect for macro photography as it is home to black coral, scorpion fish, lionfish and frogfishes as well as nudibranchs and flatworms.

Doña Marilyn Wreck
Travel Time: 3 hours and 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 60 – 100 feet (20 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: A passenger liner that was sunk by a typhoon in 1982. Totally encrusted by coral. Probably the most beautiful wreck in the Visayas. Slight, nutrient-filled currents provided for a lavish growth of dendronepthya corals in deep shades of maroon and purple. At least two dives are recommended to fully appreciate this 90-meter long wreck.

MV TransAsia Korea Wreck
Travel Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 60 – 100 feet (20 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: A passenger liner that sunk just before Christmas 1999. It is in pristine condition with corals just beginning to encrust on it. It lies on its side with the shallowest portion lying 20 meters from the surface. Anchor, rudder, keel, one propeller, and the bridge section are easily seen. The cargo bay still holds the remains of a truck, a forklift and cases of San Miguel beer. Seeing the 25-meter long tear at the hull, one could not help but imagine the impact as the ship ran aground and the marvel at the miracle that all the passengers survived the tragedy. At least two dives are recommended. Visibility is from 10 – 15 meters.

Isla de Gato
Travel Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 16 – 100 feet (5 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Advanced
Description: The silhouette of Isla de Gato resembles that of a seated cat. This is a small limestone island abutting straight out into the sea. Gato is one of the most successful marine sanctuaries administered in Cebu. It is one of the best dive sites in the Visayas. The island had in the past been a breeding area for sea snakes.
The Wall: A dive along the wall of the island (5 – 30 meters) offers the very fascinating scenery of a lush and colorful soft coral garden sporting the rich, deep hues of the warm colors of the spectrum. Here you see lots of small nudibranches, big cuttlefish, colorful crinoids, and reef sharks. In the ledges under the big rocks you will find white tip reef sharks and some sleeping nurse sharks.
The Tunnel: Just below the warden’s station is the portal of an 80-meter long tunnel that cuts through the island. This tunnel is actually a cave, which the waters have carved into the limestone. The portal lies about 5 meters deep. It takes you through the island and exits at a depth of 15 = 20 meters. Into the tunnel, you can surface in the cathedral and look at sleeping bats clinging in the ceiling. In the cave are small holes in the walls where spiny lobsters could be observed. Scores of yellow sponges and tubastrea coral litter the cave. Pearly lipped oysters and shells of different shapes and colors are everywhere. Large decorator crabs and occasional banded sea snakes are also sighted. Divers have to be very good with their buoyancy though as the floor is littered with spiny sea urchins.

EAST OF ALEGRE

Talong Island (Tulang)
Travel Time: 1 hour by banca
Depth: 45 – 130 feet (15 – 40 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advanced
Description: Big table corals are a major feature of diving around Talong Island, whose name means “eggplant” in the native dialect. The island has a white sand beach leading down to long slopes festooned with corals of all kinds, including heavy growths of hard corals. There is a wide variety of reef fish here including big parrotfish. Best season is during the summer months of March through early June where underwater visibility can sometimes be 30 meters (100 feet).

Quatro Islas
Travel Time: 2 hours 40 minutes by banca
Depth: 6 – 150 feet (2 – 45 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to advanced
Description: A cluster of for beautiful islands, namely: Himoquilan, Daquio, Apit and Majaba. Himoquilan and Majaba are excellent for snorkeling and diving or just plain island hopping. They have very shallow coral gardens with lots of colorful reef fishes starting at 4 feet deep at low tide. The walls have wide variety of marine life such as nudibranches, barracudas, Moorish idols, large tunas, schools of jacks, colorful sponges and colonies of intricate corals.

SOUTH OF ALEGRE

Buyog
Travel Time: 10 minutes utility boat
Depth: 30 - 50 feet
Skill Level: Novice
Description: Just south of Alegre. This is a slope with some big coral mounds and gardens between sand patches. The variety of fish is big but the fish themselves are not particularly large. A very easy dive.

Hilutungan Island
Travel Time: 2 hours 30 minutes by banca
Depth: 10 – 60 feet (3 – 20 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to advance
Description: A world class marine sanctuary. It offers a tremendous biodiversity of marine life. A virtual paradise of exotic colors and clear tranquil waters. Schools of batfish and surgeonfish swim with divers. Jacks, groupers, barracudas, trumpetfish, sweetlips and needlefish abound in addition to the numerous damselfish, wrasses, basslets, blennies, gobys, angelfish, anthiases, parrotfish, triggerfish, etc. Excellent for underwater photography and video.

Nalusuan Island
Travel Time: 2 hours 15 minutes by banca
Depth: 20 – 60 feet (6 – 20 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advance
Description: Groupers and jacks abound. One could feed the schools of batfish by hand. Underwater statues bring another dimension to diving. Hundreds of blue spotted eagle rays on the sandy portion of the sea floor. They can be seen nesting on the bottom or gliding just above the floor. If approached slowly, one can get to a few meters from these shy creatures before they make their hasty retreats. Also excellent for underwater photography.

Tingo
Travel Time: 2 hours by banca
Depth: 30 – 120 feet (10 – 40 meters)
Skill Level: Advance
Description: A wall littered with sea fans, tubastrea corals, sponges and soft corals. Provides excellent opportunities to sight big marine life, although diving conditions can be considerably more challenging on the drop-off. Several divers have experienced difficulties in the surges here even when tides are supposedly favorable. Tresher sharks of are seen (40 – 50% chance) early in the morning.

Caohagan Island
Travel Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes by banca
Depth: 30 – 100 feet (10 – 30 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advance
Description: Small coral gardens scattered along the sloping sea floor. Lots of guardian eels, anthiases, fairy basslets, gobys, orioles, wrasses, etc.

Tambuli
Travel Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes by banca
Depth: 30 – 130 feet (10 – 35 meters)
Skill Level: Novice to Advanced
Fish Feeding Station: A very easy dive. Thousands of sergeant majors swarm around you for feeding. A truly memorable experience. Airplane Wreck at 22m set near some nice cabbage corals.

Olango Bird Sanctuary
Travel Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes by banca
Description: Olango Island supports the largest concentration of migratory birds found in the country. It hosts 48 out of the 77 species of migratory birds in the East Asian Migratory Flyway. The island also have 42 resident bird species. Egrets, terns, plovers, sandpipers are just some of the migratory birds that congregate here every year. These winged creatures travel between summer breeding grounds in Siberia, China and Japan and warmer climates of Australia and Indonesia, stopping in Olango to recharge in between their long flights. From July to November and February to May, thousands of waterbirds and shorebirds including the rare Asiatic dowitcher and the endangered Chinese egret, take to Olango Island for shelter and food. The onset of high tide is a good time to observe the birds. The current brings in food, drawing the waterfowls to forage at the water’s edge. Here, nature turns in awe-inspiring performances. Egrets glide, broad wings flapping slowly and legs stretched out beyond the tails. Terns somersault and nose-dive for a good catch. A good place to do photography, snorkel, kayak, picnic, meditation, etc.

Stilts Restaurant
Travel Time: 2 hours by banca
Located in Barangay Caw-oy in Olango Island. It offers no set menus – just the delicious surprise of the freshest seafood possible, served just the way you want it. A new sort of gastronomic pleasure - the kind that makes you want to linger and talk about the experience long after the meal is over.