Puerto Galera, Mindoro Dive Sites - Dive Philippines

Most of the diving is near Puerto Galera (Spanish for “Port of Galleons”), a perfect, natural harbor endowed with a stunningly beautiful tropical topside as well as some of the best underwater scenery in the island. In the gorgeous coves and bays east of Puerto Galera you’ll find more than 30 excellent dive sites within 20 minutes of most diving services.

DRY DOCK	The Dry Dock is a large and steel and plywood construction which was originally designed to lift small boats out of the water.
LALAGUNA POINT	On the edge between Big Lalaguna beach and Small Lalaguna ditto, extends a small wall with a very healthy reef. Starting at 5m, it drops down to 15m where a lush coral slope takes over down to 20m. The wall has cracks and crevices with an amazing variety of marine life: from colonies of Anemonefish to Scorpionfish, schools of Longfin Bannerfish, Sweetlips,Cardinalfish, Triggerfish and hiding Lionfish. Look out for the real Clownfish, there are a few families here.
ALMA JANE WRECK	The wreck of the Alma Jane was sunk in 2003 (but looks about two decades older). Originally a filipino cargo vessel, she was stripped of dangerous objects before sinking and is today a perfect artificial reef standing upright on the sandy bottom.
ST. CRISTOPHER WRECK	St. Christopher is a retired 20m live-a-board dive boat sunk off the end of the El Galleon Pier in 1995. It is also known as Anton’s Wreck. This is good start to begin exploring the reef fronting Small Lalaguna Beach.
SABANG REEF	Sabang Reef is a small area of a ridge line which runs for hundreds of metres both east and west. It is one of the most beautiful of the deep water coral gardens in the area with spectacular Gorgonian Fans, whips and formations of Giant Barrel Sponges.
SABANG WRECK	The most famous dive site in Puerto Galera, the Sabang Wreck is the photographer’s and macro lover’s mecca. At first glance, the three wrecks don’t look too impressive. One small steel yacht, and two wooden boats in different stages of decay.
SABANG POINT	Pristine hard corals adorned with colorful Crinoids cover this beautiful reef from very shallow down to 25m. At 20m, you will encounter a small wall that drops off to a white sandy bottom.
MONKEY WRECK	This is a deep dive and the combination of this with strong currents makes it one for the experienced diver only.
MONKEY BEACH	A coral slope down to 20m makes this an easy dive, except from when currents are running – you can pick up quite a lot of speed here. If you drop in the middle of the bay, you will most likely encounter a wreck at 18m, tilted to the side.
ERNIE’S POINT	Ernie’s Point owes its name to Ernie’s cave, a small cavern in 21m where once lived Ernie the grouper. Ernie moved out many years ago but the dive site kept its name. The tiny cave is at the bottom of a large rocky outcrop, adorned with Sea Fans and often visited by smaller Groupers.
DUNGON BEACH/WALL	From a beautiful hard and soft coral slope, you’ll find yourself on a pretty wall starting at 12m and continuing down to 25m. The wall has plenty of cracks and crevices with Lionfish, Scorpionfish and Porcupinefish hiding in them. The wall is also famous for its assortment of Nudibranchs and Flatworms.
WRECK POINT	The name is derived from the large and unfortunate ship that sunk here in a typhoon many years ago. It is visible from the surface still, and rest in only a meter of water. The shallow parts of the bay are magnificent, the majestic table corals spread to catch the rays of the sun.
WEST ESCARCEO	West Escarceo also has an unusual abundance of Scorpionfish and Octopus, both excellent at camouflaging themselves so watch out! Large Puffer Fish are always seen here, and big Groupers are often spotted.
FISH BOWL AND HORSEHEAD REEF	The rocky reef top is stadium-shaped, and is covered with long whip corals and soft tree corals. It drops off to a sandy bottom in deep water. In the bowl you may see Whitetip Reef Sharks, Sweetlips and Rainbow Runners. Looking out into blue water Tuna and jacks are common.
CANYONS	a world class exhilarating drift dive, this is “the dive” to do in Puerto Galera if you are an experienced diver with a taste for the fast and furious.
HOLE IN THE WALL	the actual hole in the wall is a short tunnel at 12m through a mini mountain that constitutes the dividing range between ebb and tide.
PINK WALL	A big overhang which is approx. 12m/ 40ft long completely covered with pink soft corals, therefore the name,Pink Wall. A great locale for night dives where you can see Moray Eels, plenty of Scorpionfish, Octopus, Sea Snakes,Nudibranchs and the fantastic colors of the wall.
SHARK CAVE	The cave is a large overhang, which happens to be the favourite spot for Whitetip Reef Sharks to rest during the day. The ledge is at about 27m depth and there’s almost always a few sharks hanging out inside the cave.
ATOLL	Rising from 33m to 20m, this huge rock stands upright on the bottom, with an overhang on one side and lots of small crevices on the deep side. Covered in soft coral, fans and sponges the Atoll is very colorful and home to many fascinating creatures.
KALIMA BEACH/STEPS	A fantastic dive for the diversity of the fish and coral found here. Starting in shallow water, the dive site consists of flat areas broken up by small walls – ridges – at all depths, with the deepest one in 30m. The reef is litterally teeming with life, with schools of antheas, Surgeonfish, Angel Fish, Butterflyfish, Parrotfish and all the other common reef fishes.
SINANDIGAN WALL	A rocky slope is broken up by two walls, the bigger going down to 30m where big rocks are scattered on the bottom. Between the walls hundreds of Nudibranchs flourish, as do countless Sea Cucumbers. The diversity is massive.
TURTLE ROCK	The name “Turtle Rock” comes from the shape of a rock at the surface the dive guides use to find the spot, it’s not a notion of what to find on the dive site. However, Turtle Rock is a great dive site for divers with deep diver training.
CORAL COVE	A wonderful dive site for macro lovers. A sloping reef ends in a small wall at 20m that follows the reef along for quite some time.
BOULDERS	The site is covered with different shaped and sized boulders that look like they have rolled from the cliff and have come to rest on the slope, creating swim-throughs and caves and lots of hiding places for marine life.
JAPANESE WRECK	Situated on a flat sandy bottom, all that remains of this WWII Japanese patrol boat is the engine block and propeller shaft with the propeller. Two very large Moray Eels are resident, along with many Sweetlips and a wealth of small invertebrates.
THE HILL (CORAL GARDENS)	The site almost has no current so it is great for snorkeling and dive training. Giant clams, ear sponges, and bigger nudibranchs are only some of the many species you will find in the site.
BATANGAS CHANNEL	Although the site is shallow, the area is abundant with corals, barrel sponges, green coral trees and big table corals. At the local school near the San Antonio part of the channel, you will see seahorses on its sandy bottom.
MAMUDS REEF	Site has an average depth of 24m with a maximum depth of 45m.
SWEETLIPS CORNER	As the name implies, this dive site is has schools of Rainbow Sweetlips with Yellowfun Tunas, Jacks, Emperors and occassionally, some Manta Rays. This dive site is often linked with Markus Cave since they are next to each other.
MARKUS CAVE	Markus Cave has a gentle slop that starts from 40m and ends in about 60m. Has a nice varitey of reef fishes which includes the White Tip Reef Sharks.
MANILA CHANNEL (NORTHWEST CHANNEL)	Hard, stony corals can be found in this dive site which can already be seen at 1m of the water. Also remains of a shipwreck that caught fire and sunk hundreds of years ago can be found here although not much of it is left now. The site is similar to the Batangas channel but with a deeper maximum depth of 80feet. This is ideal for underwater photography and night dives.
ODIES WALL	Also called Odie’s Dingding, this dive site is covered in gorgonian sea fans and black coral trees that are not present in the other dive sites of the area and serves as its main attaraction. Some of the marine animals that can be seen in this area are thorny oysters, triggerfishes, eels and occasionally, manta rays. Good for Nitrox dive.
VERDE ISLAND (SAN AGAPITO WALL)	A wall that extends down until 70m of the passage. This site is marked by the rocks that break the surface. In this area present are banded seasnakes and yellow frogs.
HIBO REEF	Hibo Reef is one of the remote dive sites of Mindoro. The site has strong currents above water but mild underneath. Free swimming reef sharks and hawksbill turtles can be seen in this area. Most of the best picturesque coral can be seen in this area.
TALIPANAN REEF	The top is at 15m/50ft and has a huge diversity of small fish, basket sponges, hard and soft corals. On the north-west face it drops off to over 80m/265ft where gorgonian fans are abound. In the open water shoals of midnight and black snappers and surgeonfish including unicornfish abound together with rainbow runners, tuna, white-tip reef sharks and eagle rays.
WASHING MACHINE (VERDE ISLAND)	A high-voltage dive made over a series of seven shallow gullies with the current taking your bubbles in all directions, and throwing you around like a rollercoaster. Drifting into the canyons you are spun from one side to another in the current. Requires a good guide and some experience of current diving.
THE DROP OFF (VERDE ISLAND)	Pinnacles reach the surface on the East side of Verde Island and drop away to great depths. A vertical reef with some nice gorgonian fans, sea snakes and frogfish and some large pelagic schools.
BLACKFISH CORNER (VERDE ISLAND)	Nice reef dive for recreational and technical divers alike. At recreational depths you’ll be surrounded by heaps of red-toothed triggers dancing amongst the lovely corals. Lionfishes, nudis, jacks and batfish are also on the scene.
SECRET REEF	Reef on a sloping sandy bottom with gorgonian sea fans, basket sponges and black corals. The north face drops from 50m to 65m. Fish life includes shoals of jacks, snappers and batfish. An excellent dive, best at slack highwater, decompress drifting.
THE BOULDERS	Has several big boulders, down to 24m forming overhangs, tunnels and swim-throughs. Big fish are often seen here while stonefish, scorpionfish, lionfish, snappers and sweetlips are common. Great corals and lots of fish including many red-toothed triggers, anthias, and pallet surgeonfish, banded sea snakes and octopus.
CHICKEN FEATHER ISLAND	At the west end of the island is a small caves where whitetip reef sharks are commonly found. You can sit at a depth of 20 m watching hot bubbles rise from the ocean floor. This hot water appears as shimmering apparitions in the water.

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