Mactan Diving Vacations
Cebu Scuba Diving Destination
Cebu, one of the most progressive Islands in the nation, is the center of all activity in that area with its international airport and thriving seaport. It is home to a good number of resorts.
Strong currents are the norm in Cebu. Better dives are on steep drop-offs.
Some sites regularly dived from Cebu, such as Capitancillo Island, Talong Island and Cabilao Island offer dramatic drop-offs and good fish populations.
Being south of the ‘Typhoon Belt’, diving is possible all year round.
Dive Sites in Mactan
Mactan Island
Mactan Island is the nearest dive site in Cebu. Minutes away from an international airport, you could be in the water in less than 30 minutes.
Mactan is a long stretch of dive sites from Punta Engaño to Cordova.
There are two feeding areas ranging from an 80ft/27m wall in Tambuli and 15ft/5m in Costabella.
Aside from a long stretch of wall diving, Mactan has a huge underwater cave a short walk away from Plantation Bay Hotel, Marigondon.
The current is very strong and the top most part of the cave mouth starts at 100ft/33m up to 150ft/50m.
Olango Island
Olango Island is sometimes mistaken for Santa Rosa. It has one of the deepest wall dives around.
Baring dive site is along the North-Western side of the Island and the wall starts at 60ft/20m and ends down to about 220ft/73m before disappearing on a gradual slope.
This area is known for strong currents and big pelagic. There are two large resident sharks (hammerhead & thresher) that have been spotted on and off for the last 10 years.
Nalusu-an Island
This is another adjacent small Island that shares the same wall as Baring but is located at the most Southern tip of the Olango reef.
A fish sanctuary was established years ago and this is a very popular place for divers and non-divers. The wall starts at 20ft/7m and drops as deep as 160ft/53m.
The current is mild with great visibility. Corals, fish and pelagic are a common site.
Sulpa
Like Nalusu-an, Sulpa is another small island that is very popular for non-divers as well as divers.
Sharing the same wall of Olango Island, divers would not be able to tell the difference between Sulpa and Nalusu-An Island underwater.
Getting There
Cebu City lies 365 miles south of Manila.
It is an international destination with daily flights from Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.
Cebu is also only an hour’s flight from Manila, and is an ideal jump-off point for the other destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao.
A1 Permalink : Philippine Travel | top of page