The Apo, Bohol And Other Great Dive Sites
Have you been dreaming of a perfect dive vacation these days?
Close your eyes… Feel the cool sea breeze blowing your hair. Taste and smell of seawater while the sun shines brilliantly on your skin as the yacht cruises on the calm and crystal clear sea waters towards the islands that contain pristine and vibrant coral reefs. Ready, 1, 2, 3 dive! And fill your senses with the breathtaking view of the underwater world. Now, open your eyes, and stop dreaming, because all these can be true here in Infiniti Liveaboard.
M/Y Infiniti has been cruising the Philippine seas for several years now. With their expert and skilled dive masters onboard, keen on keeping your diving experience safe and fun, a week full of excitement is guaranteed!
Since the country has been blessed with incredible diving spots rich in biodiversity and colorful coral reefs, we explore many islands to dive, cruising northern and southern every year.
Let’s take a look and talk more about the Southern Route on this blog.
The Apo, Bohol and Islands – Southern Route
At the Yacht Club in Mactan Island Cebu, we welcome our guests onboard from there on the first day. Orientation briefing, knowing each other, making new friends, gearing up, and chilling onboard as we wait to cruise at night towards our dive destinations. 7days with Infiniti Liveaboard crew, 5days diving, 17 fantastic dives.
PAMILACAN ISLAND
Pamilacan Island is a small island located in the Bohol Sea in the Philippines. It is known for its beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters, and diverse marine life. If you’re a diver, then you’ll definitely want to add Pamilacan to your list of must-see dive sites. One of the best ways to experience diving in Pamilacan is with Infiniti Liveaboard. This luxurious liveaboard boat offers comfortable cabins, delicious meals, and access to some of the best dive sites in the area.
The island has something for everyone. From shallow coral reefs to fantastic drift dives, there is a wide variety of marine life to see. Some of the most popular dive sites include the “Spanish Tower,” a gentle wall down to 30meters covered with colorful soft corals and fish. The area is also home of turtles too. Another site is called the “Haunted Island”, usually a drift site where you can see schools of jacks and barracudas.
ANDA BOHOL
On the southeastern side of Bohol Island lies Anda, a municipality settled on a little peninsula. Not many people have explored the area because of its far-end location. Yet, we discovered that the dive spot is so diverse and captivating that we included it in our itinerary to share our excitement about the place with our guests. It has a wall and a sandy slope topography, where pygmy seahorses and frogfishes settle. There is also a cave to explore in the area. Macro and rare nudibranchs like Netted Miamira Sinuata and Aegires Villosus are spotted here. At the top reef, sea turtles nestled comfortably on the soft mushroom leather corals. Mandarin fish are also visible during dusk dives. The fish bounty is another positive criterion for this dive site.
SUMILON ISLAND
On the third day of diving, we will explore the little Island located at the south-eastern tip of Cebu, Sumilon. The dive sites are perfect for check dives because of their shallow wall and gentle slopes that harness a beautiful coral garden and bounty of life. Sometimes when the current picks up, you can witness some blacktip reef sharks patrolling in some areas and a school of mackerels with glittering mouths feeding from plankton. Creatures like orangutan crabs, mantis shrimps, coral shrimps, nudibranchs, moray eels, octopus, cuttlefish, frogfish, hunting bluefin trevallies, and turtles are frequently sighted. Look out at the blue for sometimes wahoo or massive dog-toothed tuna may pass by.
APO ISLAND
Moving south, we will visit Apo Island, a famous spot for its pristine reefs and volcanic dive site. It harbors most of the coral species found in the Philippines. Estimated at over 400 coral species, an astonishing number considering the entirety of the Philippines hosts 421 species of coral. A must-explore dive sites are called Coconut Point and Largahan Bubble Point. Diving in Coconut Point gives a thrill to every diver because of its drift dive along the feather star-covered reef slope. Swarms of fish feed frenzy during dives while coconut octopuses are busy hunting at the coral beds and sea snakes take the lead on the hunt with bluefin trevallies and longnose emperor fish. Largahan Bubble Point, on the other hand, is a shallow dive site with a unique sandy bottom. Sulfuric air bubbles ventilate on its black sandy bottom while snake eels, devil fish, and stargazers hide and wait for prey. Frogfish, longnose filefish, turtles, nudibranchs, cuttlefish, ghost-pipefish, and a school of bigeye jackfish can be spotted while diving around the island.
BALICASAG ISLAND
Located off the southwestern end of Panglao Island in Bohol, it abounds with a stunning display of marine diversity and undisturbed nature. In 1989, it was declared a marine sanctuary for its competent ecosystem.
Its underwater life captures exuberant divers from different countries, left speechless and astound. The large school of jackfish with feeding mackerels, lazy giant frogfish, friendly turtles, reef walls and caverns teeming with life, sum up a very memorable diving week.
