Scuba Diving in Bohol: Its 3 Best Dive Destinations & Top Dive Sites of Each!
Bohol, right in the the heart of Central Visayas in the Philippines, is an ideal alternative (or add-on!) destination from Cebu for many reasons.
But we would like to emphasize that the beautiful island of Bohol itself is a standalone destination, both on land and underwater.
On land, the well-planned tourist highway allows you to visit several attractions in just a single day, like the iconic Chocolate Hills where its viewpoint allows you to see thousands of little hills.
But for us divers, our travels brings us to Bohol’s underwater playground!
The island has a stunning 261 kilometer (162 miles) long coastline with over 75 islands — all surrounded by crystal-clear waters and filled with amazing marine life.
It can be a bit overwhelming to start researching where to dive in Bohol, so we’re here to help you narrow it down.
First, we’ll cover getting to Bohol and diving conditions there and then we’ll tell you what we think are the best places to dive in Bohol!
Getting to Bohol
Tourists usually reach Bohol one of two ways: either from a 5-hour direct international flight from Seoul in South Korea or a 1-hour domestic flight from Palawan, Davao, or the country’s capital city of Manila (the jumping off point for dives in Anilao and Puerto Galera).
If you’re coming in from Cebu, there’s no need to take a plane since Bohol can be reached via a 2-hour high speed boat ride.
Although the city of Tagbilaran is where you set foot first in Bohol, most divers end up visiting the neighboring island of Panglao.
This is where most big dive shops are located and is the jumping off point for dive safaris and inter-island adventures!
Like Cebu, Bohol has a well-established diving industry with several dive shops servicing each of the major dive centers.
The beauty of Bohol is that it’s also a great jumping off point for a longer island-hopping trip.
If you want to explore other dive destinations in the Philippines, Bohol has many domestic flights to other destinations where diving is equally great — or even better!
Diving Conditions in Bohol
At each of the major Bohol dive spots, you will quickly realize that the conditions are downright excellent for diving!
Aside from varied underwater topography and the diversity of marine wildlife, the waters are also so pleasant!
The water temperature in Bohol is tropically warm, typically ranging from 27°-29°C (80°- 84°F) and rarely dropping below 25°C (77°F).
Moreover, Bohol has some of the clearest waters in the Philippines!
Its underwater visibility averages around a clear 30 meters (100 feet) year-round, except during the typhoon season that happens usually around the end of the year.
The Best Dive Sites in Bohol
There are over 30 dive sites that can be explored in Bohol, making it a perfect dive destination for all levels of divers: there’s something for everyone here.
The best dive sites are primarily concentrated in 3 major islands off of Bohol, namely:
- Panglao,
- Cabilao, and
- Balicasag.
Dive Sites in Panglao Island
Let’s start at Panglao Island, since this is usually the first stop for scuba divers in Bohol!
Most resort hotels and dive shops are found in the narrow strip of Alona Beach; from there, you can explore 18 dive sites in the vicinity!
Alona House Reef
Location: Right in front of Alona Beach
Level: Open Water & Up
Type of Diving: Reef and wall diving
Max Depth: 25 meters (82 feet)
If you have not dived for quite some time, then the house reef of Alona Beach is the perfect place for a refresher dive!
After reviewing all the skills, you can start diving in the shallow sands at 5 meters (16 feet), eventually leading to a reef crest filled with corals at 8 meters (26 feet) deep.
For more experienced divers, there’s still plenty to see too: this isn’t just a site for beginners.
You can make a direct descent to the limestone ledge and go wall diving alongside corals, sea fans and reef fish.
Keep an eye out for the likes of moray eels, lionfish, batfish and an assortment of anemonefish, including Nemo himself (or should we say clownfish).
Garden of the Eels
Location: Beside Alona House Reef
Level: Open Water & Up
Type of Diving: Reef and slope diving
Max Depth: 30 meters (100 feet)
Although this dive site is located right near the Alona House Reef, it offers a totally different topography.
Instead of a vertical wall, you can dive following a steep coral slope that ends in a sandy seafloor at 30 meters (100 feet) deep — and this where the highlight of this dive can be found, the garden eels!
However, as you reach the seafloor, you have to move in slowly as the main characters of this dive are relatively shy!
When you have the correct slow approach, you can see them partially protruding out from their burrows in the thousands.
But as you come in closer, expect that they will retreat beneath the sand; they’re quite tricky to photograph, so this is a sight to enjoy more than capture on camera.
Note that to dive to 30 meters where the garden eels are, you’ll have to be certified as an AOW diver to be able to safely reach that depth.
If you are into macro photography, then prepare your camera rigs!
The site also boasts a handful of little critters like frogfish, spider crabs, and shrimps, plus a diversified population of nudibranchs and flatworms.
This is the kind of dive you could repeat over and over again and see something different each time!
Doljo Point
Location: Western coast of Panglao
Level: Advanced
Type of Diving : Drift and deep diving
Max Depth: 35 meters (115 feet)
Located on the west coast of Panglao Island is a haven for advanced, experienced divers: Doljo Point.
This site is perfect for drift diving, as you’ll glide along a mild to moderate current.
Eventually, the current will lead you to two vertical ledges sitting on top of each other, the highlight of the dive.
The first ledge drops off to 20 meters (66 feet) deep; it is slightly bordered by a small coral slope that leads to the second ledge, which drops off further to 35 meters (115 feet) deep.
While drifting along the wall, keep an eye to the blue: you can often see all sorts of schools of fish!
Species you might see include snappers, fusiliers, barracudas, and even occasionally large schools of Spanish mackerels.
More Dive Sites in Panglao
Other notable dive sites in Panglao are:
- the underwater tunnels of Arco Point,
- the Habagat Wreck,
- the vertical limestone wall of Danao, and
- the shallow coral enriched shelf of Momo.
Dive Sites in Cabilao Island
Seldom does an island have a shape like a shark tooth — and also have sharks to boot!
Well, that’s the case of Cabilao Island: sharks (and not just their teeth!) do live in this part of Bohol.
Cabilao’s sharks are the main reason why so many divers are willing to travel 54 kilometers (33 miles) north of Panglao Island — they want to see these big boys of the deep!
Lighthouse
Location: North coast of Cabilao island
Level: Advanced
Type of Diving: Deep, drift, wall and potentially shark diving
Max Depth: 35 meters (115 feet)
On the west coast of Cabilao Island is its beautiful lighthouse: it doesn’t just guide seafarers, but has also become a reference point for scuba divers!
This dive starts a hundred meters right in front of the lighthouse, hence the name of the dive site.
While descending, you’ll be taken along a moderate to strong current until you reach the reef slope.
Take note that while there is a common entry point, the bearing of your dive will depend on the direction of the current: this will be determined by the divemaster and boat captain to ensure you have the safest dive possible.
Although there are variations in exploring the Lighthouse dive site based on the currents and what that means for your dive path, there is one common dive objective on everyone’s wishlist: to see hammerhead sharks!
In the old days, seeing hammerheads passing by the reef ledge was common. But today, it is far from a guaranteed experience.
What is guaranteed is that you will see a coral-filled ledge interspersed with red sea fans and all sorts of incredible life nestled in its nooks and crannies!
Balay Reef (House Reef)
Location: South of the Lighthouse
Level: Open Water & Up
Type of Diving: Cave, wall and reef diving
Max Depth: 30 meters (100 feet)
If you’re frustrated because you weren’t able to see any sharks at Lighthouse, don’t fret.
There’s another site in Cabilao where shark sightings are almost guaranteed: the Balay Reef (which translates to House Reef).
Located south of the lighthouse, the mild current of Balay Reef will take you to see 5 small caves and a wall.
Although this site is teeming with corals, what will get your attention are the whitetip reef sharks!
To spot them, take a peek inside the small caves, as they are often found swimming and cruising inside it.
3 Coco
Location: West coast of Cabilao Island
Level: Open Water
Type of Diving: Reef diving
Max Depth: 25 meters (82 feet)
Going further south from Balay Reef, you’ll find another dive site that’s worth visiting on Cabilao Island.
Like Lighthouse, this dive site gets its name from navigational reference back in the day, due to its three coconut trees standing on the shore.
As soon as you begin your dive at 3 Coco, you will start by hovering over a vast coral expanse from 5 meters (16 feet) all the way down to 25 meters (82 feet), going deeper by following the gentle reef slope.
Here you can see table top corals, massive brain corals, and cabbage corals; all that coral is interspersed with a lively assortment of reef fish like damselfish, anthias, and triggerfish.
You may also see some turtles here!
More Dive Sites in Cabilao
Other noted dive sites in Cabilao Island are:
- the gorgonian beds of the Fallen Tree,
- the current-driven walls of Looc, and
- the large overhang of Cambaquiz.
Dive Sites in Balicasag Island
There are over 100 marine sanctuaries in Bohol, but the epitome of its efforts towards environmental protection is Balicasag Island.
Located 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) southwest of Panglao island, the marine life in Balicasag island has flourished to its fullest!
A strict regulation on the number of divers and dive boats is implemented daily to ensure that the marine ecosystem here stays healthy.
As a result, you’ll probably want to plan your dives on Balicasag a little more ahead of time than other places in Bohol, due to the fact that it can reach capacity.
Black Forest
Location: Northeast coast of Balicasag Island
Level: Open Water & Up
Type of Diving: Reef and deep diving
Max Depth: 40 meters (131 feet)
In the tropics, you seldom see black corals dominating a shallow reef — this type of Cnidaria tends to prefer deep water.
But in Balicasag island, there is a spot where the lovely coral called Tubastraea is abundant, which makes for a stunning sight.
👩🔬 Nerdy marine biology note: although Tubastraea is named sun coral, ironically these corals do not need sunlight to thrive, as these corals aren’t the symbiotic kind that hosts zooxanthellae (the algae that feeds the coral).
With its tree-like structure and gorgeous dark forest green color, the abundance of Tubastraea at this Balicasag dive site gives it its name: the Black Forest.
Starting from the shallow portion of the reef slope all the way down to its deepest section at 40 meters (131 feet), the sun corals are flourishing.
Diving in Black Forest will never be monotonous, as the reef is absolutely teeming with a healthy population of batfish, surgeonfish, Moorish idols, several species of angelfish, and a lot more!
Diver’s Haven and the Royal Garden
Location: North coast (Royal Garden) and South coast (Diver’s Haven)
Level: Open Water
Type of Diving: Reef diving
Max Depth: 30 meters (100 feet)
The Black Forest is considered the prime spot for diving in Balicasag, but don’t worry; after you explore it, there’s still way more to see in Balicasag!
Whether you proceed northwards or southwards, two nearby dive sites are absolutely worth your bubbles!
North of the Black Forest is the Royal Garden. Here, large barrel sponges are widely distributed amongst an assortment of hard and soft corals.
On the other end, if you go south of the Black Forest, you can explore the equally beautiful Diver’s Haven.
Diver’s Haven is shallower than Royal Garden (the former is about 18 meters deep, while the latter is as deep as 30 meters deep), but there’s still a ton to see.
The fusion of both hard and soft corals is absolutely mesmerizing, and the fact that it’s not a particularly deep site makes it a great choice for Open Water divers or for a shallower repetitive dive later in the day.
Turtle Point
Location: West of Diver’s Heaven
Level: Open Water
Type of Diving: Reef diving
Max Depth: 30 meters (100 feet)
The sea turtle population in Balicasag island is thriving — you’ll surely see them on many of your dives here.
But if you want to see their diversity and in numbers, then nothing beats diving at Turtle Point!
The beauty of Turtle Point is that while you can see different species of sea turtles (mostly green sea turtles, but also others), the underwater topography is beautiful too!
You can encounter turtles on the coral-rich plateaus as well as near the impressive vertical limestone drop off, locally known as Rico’s Wall.
Other Dive Sites in Balicasag
While there are other dive sites in Balicasag Island, the reason why we featured and grouped together these dive sites for you is that this is where the signature “university of jacks” often passes by.
Yes, note that we are using the word “university” and not school, which gives you an idea how thick and massive this gathering of trevallies are!
Some other dive sites in Balicasag worth looking into are:
- the beautifully-lit gaps in the coral wall at Cathedral
- hard and soft corals and small caverns at Rudy Rocks
