Scuba Diving

Kuya Jom’s Crib: Discover Scuba Diving in Catmon, Cebu

Posted on July 30, 2021

The municipality of Catmon, 56 km north of Cebu City, is an overlooked town, bypassed by tourists heading father north to popular beach destinations like Bantayan and Malapascua. Even most Cebuanos are unfamiliar with what the sleepy town has to offer. Nonetheless, Catmon is slowly revealing its laidback beauty from summit to sea, rewarding travelers curious enough to stop by and explore. In the past year, a low-key dive shop has spread the word about the town’s underwater attractions offRead More→

Discovering the Off-the-Grid Dive Sites of Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental

Posted on June 18, 2019

Despite the short notice, I jumped at the opportunity to join Sawom Dabaw, a two-day dive festival organized by Department of Tourism – Davao Region, Visit Davao Summer Festival, and the Provincial Tourism Office of Davao Oriental, held last June 14 to 15, to introduce the newly discovered dive sites in Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental (pronounced he-ne-ro-so) – the southeasternmost corner of the Philippine archipelago. Participated by 21 scuba divers, the event was co-sponsored by AirAsia, which runs frequent low-costRead More→

Liquid Dive Resort (Liquid Dumaguete): Discover Muck Diving in Dauin, Negros Oriental

Posted on September 6, 2017

Recreational scuba divers are typically attracted to coral reefs teeming with marine life like vibrant coral fish, sleek sharks and amiable sea turtles, but the more you dive the more you’ll appreciate the little guys. Those into macro photography in particular are drawn to barren dive sites of mud or sand in search of unique critters they can observe and photograph. The dark substrate provides an excellent backdrop for strange and colorful animals. This type of scuba diving is calledRead More→

Scuba Diving with Manta Rays at Blue Corner Dive Nusa Penida

Posted on August 15, 2017

Manta photo by Jason Fondis On a recent family trip to Bali, I made a side trip to Nusa Penida, detouring to the largest of three islands 20 km southeast of the mainland, to check out the newest shop of Blue Corner Dive, who I dove with on my first visit in 2013 when I was covering a scuba diving story for an inflight magazine. After opening two shops on the popular jumping off point of Lembongan island (Blue CornerRead More→

Buceo Anilao Beach & Dive Resort: An Underwater Photographer’s Paradise

Posted on July 4, 2017

The birthplace of scuba diving in the Philippines, Anilao in Batangas province has been luring divers from all over the world since the 1960s. Every square meter of this diving destination — only a two-hour drive south of Manila — explodes with a plethora of marine life, the undersea counterpart of the frenetic metropolis. After all, these warm tropical waters belong to the Verde Island Passage, the strait separating the islands of Luzon and Mindoro, where conservationists have found the richestRead More→

Blue Marlin Dive Komodo: Beginner-Friendly Scuba Diving in Labuan Bajo, Flores

Posted on September 26, 2016

Besides being the only habitat of the world’s largest lizard, another drawcard of Komodo National Park and its gateway of Labuan Bajo on mainland Flores is scuba diving to marvel at its pristine underwater realms. Located within the Coral Triangle – the center of marine biodiversity in the world – its churning waters surrounding 29 islands harbor gorgeous coral reefs and sea mounts bursting with a variety of marine life, including pelagics like manta rays and sharks. However, most of its diveRead More→