From wide angle to macro, Puerto Galera offers over 40 dive sites along its coast, with great diversity: from relaxed critter diving (haven for photographers!) with an abundance of reef fish, to wonderful drift dives,a couple of small wrecks, and a day trip to the incredible Verde Island. With several inner bays offer shallow coral gardens and sandy patches, while the outer bay walls offer incredibly vivid corals, with canyons, swim throughs, rock formations and a couple of small wrecks with heaps of reef fish.
Puerto Galera offers an abundance of marine life. Divers can find an incredible variety of tropical marine life, in every shape, color, and size. You can also expect to see a lot of beautiful hard & soft corals. The coral reef systems are full of reef fish, nudibranchs, moray eels, octopus, sea snakes, and many other marine animals. Excitingly, divers have been consistently sighting thresher sharks at certain dive sites such as Kilima Steps since 2020
Puerto Galera's dive sites are as varied as the species you'll find there. There are walls, sloping reefs, and the occasional small wreck, muck diving sites, all only a very short boat ride away. Many of the dive sites rank right up there on the 'pretty' scale, offering excellent wide-angle scenery. Of course, no trip is complete without a trip to Verde Island. The Verde Islands dive sites are one of the richest in biodiversity, vibrant reefs, clear waters and abundant marine life that all make this a dream dive destination for underwater photographers. Large schools of big fish, monstrous sea fans, walls and stunning reefs are the rule here and warrant at least one visit per trip!
Here are some of the top dive sites in Puerto Galera:
1. The Wall - Located in Verde Island, the drop off features huge sponges, fans, and a mix of colorful soft and hard coral. You can spot manta rays, eagle rays, barracudas, schools of bigeye jack and tuna.
2. Manila Channel - It is a terrific muck diving site with a nice sandy bottom and some hard coral spots here and there. It also features two walls that are covered with sponges and a variety of corals. Lots of mantis shrimps, nudibranch, eels, and crabs like this dive site. With only a mild current and good visibility, the site is good for all levels of divers.
3. Boatyard - Another fantastic muck diving site! You can spot frogfish, seahorses, velvet ghost pipefish, cuttlefish, nudibranch, and many other macro critters.
4. Coral Cove - This dive site not to be missed as it is home to some very interesting species. Pygmy Seahorses and Ornate Ghost Pipefish are often spotted at the site. And if scuba divers have some luck, thresher sharks might even pass by! Plus, it is also a dive site suitable for all levels.
5. Monkey Beach - This shallow dive site makes all the marine life lovers want to come back again and again. Scuba divers can see a huge variety of marine species. The soft corals are surrounded with eels, turtles, feather stars, Christmas tree worms and countless others. It is also a nice drift dive site.
6. The Canyons - The adrenaline junkie's site of choice during times of strong currents, boasting a thrilling ride with rests in the bowls as you watch in amazement while schools of trevally, tuna, and sometimes barracuda hang effortlessly in the current.
7. The Alma Jane wreck - The dive site is a favorite among wreck enthusiasts, is easily accessible, and is home to several giant frogfish, big schools of batfish, and small tropicals.
8. Shark Cave - Like the name says it, you can expect to encounter beautiful sharks in an exciting cave. The main residents in the cave are the white tip sharks and also blue spotted stingrays. Moreover, around the corals and sponges, you can spot pufferfish, tiny reef fish, nudibranch and sweetlips.
- Water Temperatures: Vary from a maximum 30+ C/86+f in summer to 25C/77f in winter. A skin or shorty wetsuit will suffice in the warmer months, but a 3 or 5ml full suit and a vest/hood is recommended for winter.
- Visibility: Averages between 15-25 meters / 50-80 ft, sometimes offering up 30+m/100+ft in some locations.
- Average Depth Range: 5 - 50m (16 - 164 ft)
