Philippines

In the very middle of the Coral Triangle, the Philippines is made up of more than seven thousand islands and is home to some of the most biodiverse waters in the world. Water temperature stays between 26 and 30 degrees all year; it is not the heat but the seasonal wind that shapes the planning.

The dry period runs from November to May, and the sea is calmer in those months. June to November is typhoon season, but it does not affect everywhere to the same degree: typhoons mostly strike the east coast, and the stretch between Cebu and Negros is geographically more sheltered. That is why our tours fall on dates in March and in July-August.

Two very different kinds of diving sit side by side in the region. At Moalboal the sardine school off Panagsama beach stays in the same place all year and can be reached from the shore; the walls of Pescador Island, the turtles and the reef life complete it. The Dauin coast of Negros, meanwhile, is a sandy-bottom ("muck") diving site known worldwide: frogfish, seahorses, pipefish, cuttlefish, sea snakes and nudibranchs are what you look for on these flat, sandy bottoms. Apo Island on the opposite shore balances this with its protected reefs and turtles. So macro photography and wide-angle reef diving can be done side by side within the same tour.