Dive Southern Leyte, departing Cebu
March to May - 7 days/ 6 nights from 2000 Euros
Sogod Bay is world famous for sightings of whale sharks. These enormous filter feeders arrive here each year to feast on the swarms of plankton that bloom in the warm shallow waters. The area is perfect for both scuba diving and snorkelling but its not just the whale sharks that people come to see. The coral reefs around the bays of southern Leyte & Limasawa Island provide havens for numerous fish species and a whole host of weird and wonderful creatures.
Leyte & Sogod Bay Liveaboard Diving Itinerary
The S/Y Philippine Siren liveaboard yacht departs from Mactan, Cebu to spend 6 days within the Sogod Bay area. Working closely with the local municipalities, who act as "spotters", our dinghies position themselves ahead of the shark so that you may enter the water and are able to watch as it approaches, keeping well away from the head and tail of the shark. The yacht will move to the best areas dependent on the most frequent sightings. The small area of Sunok Bay and the coral slopes of San Ricardo are typically visited and Limasawa Island also sees much whaleshark activity with up to 5 seen in the bay at one time. Only snorkelling is allowed, however whale sharks may also be seen during the dives.
Dive sites vary between steep reefs with soft corals, sponges & black corals to the critter dive hot spot of thePadre Burgos Pier, where seahorses, frogfish, pipefish and mandarin fish can all be seen. The Marine Sanctuary at Napantaw offers stunning soft corals and a great opportunity for over/under photography in the hard coral garden. The walls in Padre Burgos shelter numerous reef fish species, including grouper & sweetlips and within seafans pygmy seahorses are commonly spotted. Occasional visitors to the reefs areeagle rays, meanwhile research is on going to find the manta ray cleaning station that has been reported by local fishermen.
Leyte Dive Site Highlights
Maureen's Place - Padre Burgos. Named for our delightful housekeeper, this site turned up a few surprises. A small banca wreckage, at only 8m depth, shelters sweetlips, whilst on the coral wall groupers, surgeon fish, trigger fish and snappers dart about. Smaller critters including pygmy seahorses, cowries and pipefish are all seen here.
The Pier - Padre Burgos. Simply macro heaven! Below the pier reaches only 6m depth and hours can be spent here discovering new creatures. Zebra snout seahorses cling to the sponges that adorn the pier supports, freckled frogfish blend into the sponges, ghost pipefish sway in the gentle surge and blue ringed octopus lurk in holes. Other creatures commonly found here are devilfish, pleurobranchs, coral cowries, seamoths, a variety of blennies, nudibranchs and at sunset the mandarin fish come out to mate.
Napantaw Reef - Closely monitored by the Coral Cay Conservation, the corals here are very healthy and fishing in the area is limited. Two dives here are needed to fully explore the reef. Soft corals, whips and black corals cling to the wall whilst hard coral formations in the shallow water make for awesome photographic opportunity. You're likely to find pygmy seahorses, see turtles amble by and come across the occasional black tip shark in the shallows.
Gunter's Wall - Limasawa. Black corals, green tree corals and huge barrel sponges, with resident hairy squat lobsters, decorate the gentle reef slope. The shallow reef shelf is full of soft corals in whcih to look for robust ghost pipefish and juvenile filefishes. Turtles, banded sea snakes and barracuda are amongst the most common sightings. We also see seahorses, leaf fish, frog fish and hundreds of Phyllodesmium nudibranchs grouped together.
Crocodile Rocks, Limasawa – A shallow coral garden which turns up little gems such as cuttlefish,nudibranchs and octopus.
Adrian’s Cove, Limasawa – clinging to seawhips divers will often find xeno-crabs at this dive site, as well as many sand dwelling fish such as gobies, jawfish and moray eels.
Limasawa Pier, Limasawa – A superb place to small the small macro species – finds include frogfish, cowries. Whale sharks do come into this area at night to feed on plankton.
Talima Reef, Olango Island & Mactan wall has soft and whip corals where small critters like to hide. The wreckage of a banca can also be found along the sandy reef shelf – a great place to find grouper and sweetlips; whilst jacks and batfish school above you.
Shangri-la House Reef, Olango Island & Mactan - The topography is diverse with a wreck,white sand a mini wall, sea grasses and plenty of healthy coral. Schooling fish can be seen and a few treats such as, giant clam, jacks, and batfish put in an appearance
About Leyte, Philippines
The island of Leyte, in the eastern Visayas, is a mere 180km north to south and just 65km wide. Densely covered with forest and mountains the people here have relied upon the sea for their income. Whale sharks, once fished here for their meat and oils, are now a protected species and local municipalities welcome tourists to the area.
The island of Limasawa is where Magellan held the first christian mass, bringing christianity to the region. Many still visit on pilgrimage however it is Leyte's part in World War II that it is more commonly renowned for. The Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought in October 1944, saw the landing of general MacArthur that is now celebrated annually. Several memorials commemorating the event can be visited in the major towns. It is also believed that the departing Japanese commander hid treasure in the area of Ormoc, however the sunken wreckages of both American and Japanese vessels are beyond recreational diving depths.
March to May - 7 days/ 6 nights from 2000 Euros
Sogod Bay is world famous for sightings of whale sharks. These enormous filter feeders arrive here each year to feast on the swarms of plankton that bloom in the warm shallow waters. The area is perfect for both scuba diving and snorkelling but its not just the whale sharks that people come to see. The coral reefs around the bays of southern Leyte & Limasawa Island provide havens for numerous fish species and a whole host of weird and wonderful creatures.
Leyte & Sogod Bay Liveaboard Diving Itinerary
The S/Y Philippine Siren liveaboard yacht departs from Mactan, Cebu to spend 6 days within the Sogod Bay area. Working closely with the local municipalities, who act as "spotters", our dinghies position themselves ahead of the shark so that you may enter the water and are able to watch as it approaches, keeping well away from the head and tail of the shark. The yacht will move to the best areas dependent on the most frequent sightings. The small area of Sunok Bay and the coral slopes of San Ricardo are typically visited and Limasawa Island also sees much whaleshark activity with up to 5 seen in the bay at one time. Only snorkelling is allowed, however whale sharks may also be seen during the dives.
Dive sites vary between steep reefs with soft corals, sponges & black corals to the critter dive hot spot of thePadre Burgos Pier, where seahorses, frogfish, pipefish and mandarin fish can all be seen. The Marine Sanctuary at Napantaw offers stunning soft corals and a great opportunity for over/under photography in the hard coral garden. The walls in Padre Burgos shelter numerous reef fish species, including grouper & sweetlips and within seafans pygmy seahorses are commonly spotted. Occasional visitors to the reefs areeagle rays, meanwhile research is on going to find the manta ray cleaning station that has been reported by local fishermen.
Leyte Dive Site Highlights
Maureen's Place - Padre Burgos. Named for our delightful housekeeper, this site turned up a few surprises. A small banca wreckage, at only 8m depth, shelters sweetlips, whilst on the coral wall groupers, surgeon fish, trigger fish and snappers dart about. Smaller critters including pygmy seahorses, cowries and pipefish are all seen here.
The Pier - Padre Burgos. Simply macro heaven! Below the pier reaches only 6m depth and hours can be spent here discovering new creatures. Zebra snout seahorses cling to the sponges that adorn the pier supports, freckled frogfish blend into the sponges, ghost pipefish sway in the gentle surge and blue ringed octopus lurk in holes. Other creatures commonly found here are devilfish, pleurobranchs, coral cowries, seamoths, a variety of blennies, nudibranchs and at sunset the mandarin fish come out to mate.
Napantaw Reef - Closely monitored by the Coral Cay Conservation, the corals here are very healthy and fishing in the area is limited. Two dives here are needed to fully explore the reef. Soft corals, whips and black corals cling to the wall whilst hard coral formations in the shallow water make for awesome photographic opportunity. You're likely to find pygmy seahorses, see turtles amble by and come across the occasional black tip shark in the shallows.
Gunter's Wall - Limasawa. Black corals, green tree corals and huge barrel sponges, with resident hairy squat lobsters, decorate the gentle reef slope. The shallow reef shelf is full of soft corals in whcih to look for robust ghost pipefish and juvenile filefishes. Turtles, banded sea snakes and barracuda are amongst the most common sightings. We also see seahorses, leaf fish, frog fish and hundreds of Phyllodesmium nudibranchs grouped together.
Crocodile Rocks, Limasawa – A shallow coral garden which turns up little gems such as cuttlefish,nudibranchs and octopus.
Adrian’s Cove, Limasawa – clinging to seawhips divers will often find xeno-crabs at this dive site, as well as many sand dwelling fish such as gobies, jawfish and moray eels.
Limasawa Pier, Limasawa – A superb place to small the small macro species – finds include frogfish, cowries. Whale sharks do come into this area at night to feed on plankton.
Talima Reef, Olango Island & Mactan wall has soft and whip corals where small critters like to hide. The wreckage of a banca can also be found along the sandy reef shelf – a great place to find grouper and sweetlips; whilst jacks and batfish school above you.
Shangri-la House Reef, Olango Island & Mactan - The topography is diverse with a wreck,white sand a mini wall, sea grasses and plenty of healthy coral. Schooling fish can be seen and a few treats such as, giant clam, jacks, and batfish put in an appearance
About Leyte, Philippines
The island of Leyte, in the eastern Visayas, is a mere 180km north to south and just 65km wide. Densely covered with forest and mountains the people here have relied upon the sea for their income. Whale sharks, once fished here for their meat and oils, are now a protected species and local municipalities welcome tourists to the area.
The island of Limasawa is where Magellan held the first christian mass, bringing christianity to the region. Many still visit on pilgrimage however it is Leyte's part in World War II that it is more commonly renowned for. The Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought in October 1944, saw the landing of general MacArthur that is now celebrated annually. Several memorials commemorating the event can be visited in the major towns. It is also believed that the departing Japanese commander hid treasure in the area of Ormoc, however the sunken wreckages of both American and Japanese vessels are beyond recreational diving depths.
