Boracay: One of Asia's Most Popular Scuba Diving Areas
Scuba Diving in Boracay
Boracay is home to currently more than 15 topnotch diving schools with most of them offering PADI-certified courses. Boracay is considered by diving enthusiasts as one of Asia's most popular diving locations.
You do not have to go far from the main island itself to enjoy the beauty of Boracay's spectacular tropical marine life, which is appealing not only to regular divers, but also to those of you who enjoy underwater photography.
There are several excellent Boracay Island dive sites. The more popular ones for both beginners and advanced divers can be found along the western coast of Boracay Island mostly fronting the 7-km long White Beach:
- Angol Point - the reef here is shallow and is a good place for beginners who are just learning to dive. You can find a variety of tropical fish and snakes around this location.
- Coral Garden - this is also ideal for divers who are just starting out. There's a variety of tropical fish and the coral garden is outstanding.
- Wreck Camia - this dive is for the more advanced divers due to its depth. There's an artificial wreck down at around 30 meters to simulated wreck diving.
- Lobster Rock - as the name implies this dive is next to a large rock which rises about 10 meters high. There's also an abundance of tropical marine life here.
- Virgin Drop - a drop or drop-off in diving is a sea wall or underwater cliff that literally goes straight down to the bottom of the ocean floor. In this scuba diving site, the drop-off could go as deep as 50 meters at some stage. This dive site is definitely only for the more advanced -- and adventurous -- divers.
- Friday's Rock - the beauty of marine life in this dive cannot be overemphasized. It is a sight that's awesome to behold, and can be an unforgettable scuba diving experience.
- Diniwid - this dive starts off with a gentle slope, but drops to more than 20 meters at some point. This dive has a rich coral garden and would appeal to the more seasoned diver.
- Baling Hai - The sea depth at this dive site could go as deep as 20 meters. This dive is more for the advanced diver.
- Punta Bunga - This site has a very deep drop, as much as 50 meters, and should only be attempted by the more advanced divers.
- Santosan - the shallow depth can be perfect for the beginner and those taking basic diving courses.
- Yapak - although many say that this is the best dive site is Boracay, it is a dive that should be attempted only by the more experienced diver as it goes down to more than 65 meters.
Local diving schools in Boracay have formed an association known as the Boracay Association of Scuba-diving Schools or BASS with the major objectives of representing its members and promoting scuba diving as a sport and livelihood, and Boracay as a major diving destination in Asia.
Local diving schools offer a wide variety of scuba diving courses and instructions which caters to the need of all diving enthusiasts from the beginner level to the most advanced certification available. If this is your first time in Boracay, or in the Philippines, for that matter, and would like to enrol in any of the diving courses offered there, it would be advisable for you to ensure that the course is suitable for you and that the diving instructors are well qualified.
There are some 10 diving schools in Boracay which offer PADI accredited scuba diving courses. PADI is an acronym for Professional Association of Dive Instructors, an international organization which regulates the quality and professionalism of diving courses offered to the public.
You can find a list of PADI accredited scuba diving schools from the PADI website at www.padi.com.
Things To Do: Scuba DivingSirenna's comments:
updated on Sep 4, 2005, in VirtualTourist:
Definitely an activity worth trying while you are in Boracay. Experienced divers should try the wreck, and the wall dive at Yapak. White Beach Divers come highly recommended - they are a nice friendly crowd. They offer courses in English and German. They can also film your experience for you - a nice souvenir to take home.
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