Dumaguete, Negros Oriental

Located in the southeast corner of Negros Island, near the southern tip of Cebu Island, Dumaguete is one of the Philippines’ most coveted dive destinations. Dive sites are found mainly along the coastline of Dauin, 20 minutes from Dumaguete. This stretch of coastline has 21 dive sites where you can search for the weird and wonderful. Expect exceptional muck diving, a variety of coral reefs, and several luxury dive resorts facing the beach. Dive resorts in Dumaguete offer a day trip to Oslob, in the south of Cebu, where you have the rare opportunity to snorkel alongside the world’s biggest fish, the whale shark. There is also a wide variety of other marine life to see, including blue spotted stingrays, red snappers, scorpionfish, peacock groupers, and batfish. Visibility generally ranges from 10 to 12 metres.

A 30-minute boat ride from the dive resorts will bring you to Apo Island, known for its abundant coral gardens, schools of fish, sea turtles, and sea snakes. At Coconut Point, Apo invites adventurous divers to try an exhilarating drift diving experience over a sloping wall where you can spot marbled groupers, bumphead parrotfish, and green sea turtles. Visibility ranges from 16 to 30 metres.

Snorkelling with a sea turtle at Apo Island The “Asian sardine run” at Moalboal

Getting there The southern tip of Cebu at Santander is just a 30-minute ferry ride from the province of Negros Oriental. Arriving at Sibulan, you can take jeepney to Dumaguete City in another half hour. However, most travellers start from Cebu City and simply take the hour-long flight to Dumaguete

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