Overview
This 6 night liveaboard adventure takes you to the Visayas region, which is home to some of the best diving in the Philippines. There is a wide diversity of marine life, steep coral covered walls, gentle sloping reefs and muck diving hotspots.
During the tour you will visit and dive the islands of Cebu, Cabilao, Balicasag and Pescador; along with Apo Island marine sanctuary and critter hot spot Dauin. This trip not only offers fantastic macro and the chance to see schooling fish, but also the possibility of some larger pelagic. The shy thresher sharks come in to feed on schools of sardines and whale sharks may also be seen here during July, August and September.
The Visayan sea is rich in nutrients and plankton that supports a variety of important ecosystems. There are several areas of protected mangroves and much of the region is protected by marine sanctuaries. Fishing is still a staple means of income for many Filipinos however, marine sanctuaries such as those enforced at Apo Island, have spurred islanders to protect their marine habitats. Underwater the topography of dive sites varies from shallow sandy fringing reefs to steep walls dotted with seafans and sponges, whilst a couple of small plane wrecks and cars have formed artificial reefs. Marine life is diverse however common sightings include green and hawksbill turtles and schools of barracuda and jacks, whilst redtooth trigger fish, pyramid butterfly fish and blue lined fusileers are seen on almost each dive in huge numbers. Smaller creatures such as frogfish, ghost pipefish, octopus and pygmy seahorses are found at several of the dive sites and of course a wide range of nudibranchs, shrimps and crabs can be found on each reef.
PLEASE NOTE
All dives sites are subject to weather conditions and those visited are at the absolute discretion of the captain and dive guides.
Certification Requirement
As of 1st September 2017, a new memorandum has been put in place by the authorities in the Philippines, who operate the permits on Balicasag Island. This area forms a small part of the Southern Visayas itineraries. In order to comply, we must provide a copy of dive certificates/license for every diver booking onto this itinerary. Please ensure that you send a scanned copy of your certification to divingholidays@blueotwo.com once you have confirmed a booking. Without a scanned copy of guests' certifications, there is a strong risk that the authorities will not issue the permit. This would result in the whole boat being refused dive permissions for Balicasag Island.
It may be possible to combine this trip with 6 nights on board S/Y Palau Siren. Please contact us to learn more about the combined trip discount.
Want to go? Check out availability on this itinerary HERE
