Description of dive sites

Mindoro is recognized as one of the very best diving areas in all of Asia. You can confirm this for yourself several times a day by diving at the dozens of diving sites within a 15 - minute boat trip from Scandinavian Divers. The underwater visibility varies, of course, but is normally at the positive side of 15-20 meters.

One of the most unusual aspects of the diving sites around Mindoro is the rich mixture of hard and soft corals. Furthermore, the big difference between high and low tide gives great opportunities for some serious drift dives!

Below you'll find a selection of some of the sites together with a short description:

 

The Kilemar Drift

Probably the most famous dive on Mindoro that attracts visitors from far away.

At low tide, and at the time of a new moon, you will find some of the fastest water in the Philippines. 

Here it's not only a question of what you see, but also the exhilarating experience of "flying" with the current!

A first class drift dive!

Depth: 18 or 30 meters.

Let's go flying!

Squid

Monkey Beach, Dugong Wall and West Escarcio

These three places are one continuous coral garden.

A great variety of animal species are found among the many different and very colorful corals.

Divers will want to return to these areas again and again.

Depth: 5-25 meters.

Amazingly varied hard and soft corals!

Lionfish

Laguna Wreck, Sabang Wreck, Monkey Wreck, Dugong Wreck and Japanese Wreck/ Boulders:

Seasnake

Blue-spotted stingray

Old cockpit!

All these wrecks, except the Japanese wreck, have been sunk especially for the purpose of wreck diving. The wrecks are the homes for larger fish like groupers, snappers etc. The wrecks vary in size from 20 to 40 meters, and the depth from 16 to 45 meters.

The Japanese wreck is a Japanese gunboat that was sunk by the Americans during the Second World War. The wreck, which is situated at 42 meters depth, has almost disappeared. Only the engine and the propeller remain. Two huge moray eels live here. They like to eat sausages and other delicacies that divers often bring them. Often you will also find a large shoal of sweetlips around the wreck.

Diving at the wreck can be combined with "The Boulders", a collection of large rocks, cracks and small holes. Many sea snakes are found here too.

Depth: 6 - 25 meters

Deep West Escarsio

This dive is often made as a multilevel dive: 10 minutes at 35 meters, 10 minutes at 20 meters, 10 minutes at 12 meters, and a swimming stop (5 minutes at 3-5 meters).

Here you will often be able to see both sharks and turtles.

A real exciting and fascinating dive.

Seaturtle

Clownfish

Shark Caves

White-tipped reefshark

 

If you want a close encounter with sharks this is the place to be!

Two caves at a depth of 27-30 meters are the homes of the blue-spotted stingray and the white-tipped reefshark measuring up to to meters in length

The dive can be combined with "The Atoll", a huge rock at a depth of 15-32 meters surrounded by a great variety of animal life.

Canyons

This is a large area consisting - as the name indicates - of 3 canyons on the bottom of the sea.

The current is often rather strong which attracts large shoals of tuna, barracuda, jackfish etc.

On the best days, a dive at this site will show you the whole spectrum of marine animal life, from lobsters to sharks!

Depth: 20 - 32 meters

Crab

School of tunafish

Fishbowls, The Abyss

Moray eel

 

Stingray

This is a demanding and very deep dive with strong currents.

Fishbowls is a depression in the bottom of the sea formed like a bowl. Here you'll normally find large fish of different kinds; - often sharks.

The Abyss is a large area consisting of many small and medium-sized rocks, and a steep cliff or wall rising from a white sanded bottom. Two huge groupers, weighing about 100 kilos each, live here. They are very shy and will hide in small caves if divers approach. There are also excellent possibilities of meeting sharks! The depth of the Abyss is not - as the name implies - bottomless, but around 35-38 meters.

The Mindoro area offers several other deep and very demanding dives of a similar kind. Those dives are, of course, only for very experienced divers.

Our rinse tanks

 

 

Fairly quiet and predictable, absolutely no current, for those who miss the bathtub. Max depth: 0.5 meters, but then you surely have a bottom time stretching into multiple hours.

Bring videos home!

Don't miss the opportunity to make friends and relatives green with envy when you return home!

We can contract a professional photographer to accompany you when you go diving and record your underwater adventures on video.

Underwater photography

Night diving and other goodies!

We offer, of course, also diving by night, which gives the diving sites a completely different dimension!

You can also to take part in day trips to Verde Island (about 45 minutes by boat), which - like Mindoro - offers outstanding tropical diving.

Furthermore, we offer all PADI diving courses from "Open Water" to "Assistant Instructor" (Please click on Diving Courses on the menu to the left).

Snail

Snail

Overview of dive sites in the vicinity of Scandinavian Divers

Site Depth For Max current
(1-4)

Manila Channel

18m/60'

For all divers

1

Coral Garden

12m/40'

For all divers

1

The Hill

18m/60'

For all divers

2

La Laguna Point

15m/50'

For all divers

1

St. Christopher Wreck

24m/80'

For all divers

1

Sabang Wreck

18m/60'

For all divers

1

Sabang Point

21m/70'

For all divers

1

Monkey Beach

18m/60'

For all divers

1

Ernie's Cave

27m/90'

Advanced

1

Monkey Wreck

45m/148'

TEK

1

Dugong Wall

18m/60'

For all divers

1

Dugong Wreck

25m/80'

Advanced

1

West Escarcio

25m/80'

For all divers

2

Hole in the Wall

14m/50'

For all divers

2

The Canyons

33m/110'

Advanced

3

Shark Caves

27m/90'

Advanced

2

The Atoll

33m/110'

Advanced

1

Fishbowl

40m/130'

Advanced

3

Kilemar Drift

30m/100'

Advanced

4

Kilemar Steps

30m/100'

For all divers

1

Pink Wall

12m/40'

For all divers

1

Sinandigan Wall

30m/100'

For all divers

1

Jap Wreck

40m/130'

Advanced

1

Boulders

24m/80'

For all divers

1

Verde Dropoff

40m/130'

Advanced

2

Mini Canyons

15m/50'

For all divers

4

Sweetlip Corner

55m/180'

TEK

1

Marcus Cave

49m/180'

TEK

2

Mamot Reef

50m/150'

TEK

1

Deep Fish Bowl

55m/180'

TEK

2

Prices

The following prices are for a single dive, and includes boat and guide. Please see "Prices" on the main menu as well.

Equipment rental Price
If you rent all equipment 30 US dollars per dive (1 tank)
If you only need tank and weights 25 US dollars per dive (1 tank)

Prices include boat and guide. Night dives are 6 US dollars extra.

 

All pictures on this page (except the photography picture, which belongs to PADI) are from the Mindoro area and are reproduced here with the permission of Calypso Video and Underwater Photography, Sabang Beach, Puerto Galera.

 


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