Your Guide to Diving Philippines
includes Puerta Galera, Dumaguete, Anilao, Verde Island, ...

Diving Philippines Overview

Philippines Seasonal Dive Planner

There are only two seasons in the Philippines; wet and not so dry. There are still monsoon rains even on summer months from March to June and from there on typhoon it’s season until the December. That said, locals also assert there is a third season, the cold season, when temperatures drop to around 48°F-60°F (9-16°C). It occurs between October and February. Visitors are under the impression that it is always summer but locals consider that to be April to May when average air temperatures are 80°F ((27°C) matched by a similar sea temperature.

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Diving Philippines Reader Reports and Feature Articles

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Latest Reader Reports from Philippines from the serious divers who read Undercurrent All Reader Reports from Philippines	All 10,000+ Reports
Solitude One Report in Philippines/Tubattaha, Philippines "Amazingly healthy reefs and life in a relatively undiscovered location" filed May 19, 2023 by Geoff Fallon (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 7 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
The health of the reefs is absolutely jaw dropping, it even surpasses Cuba. The hard corals are quite healthy with, for example table c... ... Read more
Seadoors Report in Philippines/Tubbataha "Not enough value for the money paid" filed May 13, 2023 by Michael Bode (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 8 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
This was our second trip to Tubbataha after 27 years. We always wanted to go back to Tubbataha because 27 years ago we enjoyed dives th... ... Read more
Aiyanar Resort, Anilao, Philippines Report in Philippines/Aiyanar Resort, Anilao "Much improved since before covid with better food and dive boats." filed May 11, 2023 by Geoff Fallon (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 7 reports, Sr. Reviewer )
Much improved in two ways as compared to my pre-covid visits: the food and the dive boats. The quality of food appears to me to show th... ... Read more
Crystal Blue Resort Report in Philippines/Anilao "Awesome Macro Photo Workshop at a well appointed dive Resort" filed May 10, 2023 by Gerald Canning (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 6 reports, Reviewer )
This was a macro photo workshop sponsored by Blue Water Photo with two excellent instructors in Erik Luka and Dan Bishop. However, one... ... Read more
Atlantis Dive Resorts/Atlantis Dumagette Report in Philippines "This resort met Expectaions" filed Apr 14, 2023 by Mr Brent Woods (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 21 reports, Sr. Contributor )
When I travel to high end resort, especially one half way around the world, I have certain expectations. They are: a competent dive op... ... Read more

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Philippines
includes Puerta Galera, Dumaguete, Anilao, Verde Island, ...

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach

Paul Humann and Ned Deloach have done it again, releasing a definitive identification guide to 1600 extraordinary reef creatures of the Tropical Pacific. with this 500+ page softbound guide, you get upwards of 2000 exceptional photos of shrimp and crabs and stars and worms and lobsters and nudibranchs and slugs and squid and bivalves . . . well, all those invertebrates that move along the reefs of this region without fining, so it seems. There are several photos of some creatures to help you identify them during different life stages, and about ten percent of the book is descriptive copy so you can tie down your identification. Even if you have no plans to go to the tropical Pacific, just to thumb through the pages, gawk at the complexity and uniqueness of these animals, and read a thumbnail sketch will give any serious diver vicarious thrills for endless hours.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Gerald Allen, Rodger Steene, Paul Humann, & Ned Deloach

At last, here's a comprehensive fish ID guide covering the reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The generous 500-page text, displaying 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species, identifies the myriad fishes that inhabit the warm tropical seas between Thailand and Tahiti. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the fish's common, scientific and family names, size, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth range, and geographical distribution. This is an essential book for every diver traveling westward. 6x9 inches.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef
by Neville Coleman.

With 2900 reefs in 220,000 square miles, the enormous Great Barrier Reef has incredible dives -- and some very ordinary ones. If you're contemplating a trip, Neville Coleman's Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea will help you ensure you pick the best. This 176 page book, with good maps and scores of colorful photos, describes the significant sites, the topography and the critters, then rates and ranks them so you can pick the best. Don't even consider a trip to Australia without consulting this. $24.95

Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.

I was trying to pack light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it. This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii, it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages. $39.95.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.