WellBeach Dive Resort – Local Dive Sites up and down the coast, it’s your choice
Scuba Diving site information for Apo Island and surrounding dive sites on the Negros Oriental coastline.
The Negros Oriental coastline is rich in its marine ocean life, Wellbeach Dive Resort is blessed to be slap bang in the middle of the coastline, and directly across from world famous Apo Island Scuba Diving site information
At present, Apo Island is home to over 650 documented species of fish and estimated to have over 400 species of corals.
Most of the Philippines’ 450 species of coral can be found here, from tiny bubble corals to huge gorgonian sea fans and brain corals. Visitors and tourists pay a fee to enter Apo Island and to snorkel or dive in the marine sanctuary there.
These fees are used to keep the sanctuary clean and in good condition.
Apo Island Dive Site Information
Apo Island – Boluarte Dive site
Named after the iconic Boluarte Rock of Apo Island, the dive site is composed of a slope with soft and hard corals where you can dive in either direction. There are also gas bubbles emerging from the sand nearby at 18 metres, Turtles, sea snakes, trevallies, and passing bump head parrot fish can be seen here.
Apo Island Coconut Point Dive site
One of the best dive sites in Apo Island. Entry is at the northern side of the island fronting a small group of coconuts near the shore line.It is usually a drift dive going heading westwards. The coral slope is filled with colourful feather stars, hard and soft corals. A lot of fish such as parrot-fish, red tooth trigger-fish, snappers and trevallies can be seen at the beginning of the dive.
A school of jacks are quite often gathering near a sandy slope in the middle of the dive, depending on the strength of the current.
Apo Island – Largahan Dive site
Largahan is located at the northwest side of the Island. It is also the exit point for divers coming from Coconut Point. The cliff offers an easy dive with soft and hard corals such as tube anemones, black corals and others. There is also a sandy area near the end of the dive where you can see gas bubbles emerging.
Lookout for turtles, sea snakes and also bumphead parrot fish.
Apo Rock Point West Dive Site
Rock Point West is located on the southern tip of the island. Similar to other sites the slope starts to go down at 7m, all the way to 30m. The interesting part is between 5m to 18m where you can see beautiful coral formations, along with juvenile sweetlips, sea snakes, turtles, and fire clam shells. Current can occur sometimes, but you can easily go with the current. Make sure to bring inflatable signal buoys.
Apo Katipunan Dive Site
This great dive-site can be done in both directions depending on the mild current. In the shallows you will see the best soft coral gardens of the island between 5 and 10 meters deep. For that reason it is the best snorkelling site of the island. After seeing the turtle area in front of the village you can see here the colourful soft corals. Bottom composition throughout the dive is more or less the same with nice hard corals between 10 and 18 meters deep.
Apo Chapel Dive Site
The dive site is right in front of the main docking area of the island which is close to the only chapel on Apo Island. The dive site has a small wall that starts at 5m going down to 25m. Along the wall, you can find some nudibranchs, as well as leafish, frogfish and ribbon eels, especially near the small cave at 18m. A beautiful coral garden can be found at the 5m plateau on top of the wall.
Masaplod Sur Dive Site
South of the Masaplod sanctuary is a small area of corals on a sandy slope. It is an excellent site for photographers who want to find new critters. Highlights vary depending on the season from seahorses to ghost pipefish, small school of snappers and sometimes even turtles.
Mojon House Reef
Located at Wellbeach dive resort. Please review the Mojon House reef in our menu above for all information.
Rockpile Dive Site
About 10 minutes south of the dive centre is the latest addition to our dive sites, Rockpile. This artificial reef consists of small steel pyramids, cars, and steel crates and is home to many critters like Frogfish, ghost pipefish, seahorses, and even harlequin shrimps have been spotted here. The site is also next to a dry riverbed where large boulders and rocks are gathered together and form a perfect shelter for fish, crabs, eels and urchins.
Panabolon Dive Site
Part Corals, part artificial reef, Panabolon offers a simple dive with interesting highlights such as leaffish, blennies hiding in wine bottles and other critters. At the end of a late afternoon dive, you will be able to see a couple of mandarin fish displaying their act of love in full colour. The sandy slope is going down to 17m.
San Miguel Dive Site
A small and very old artificial reef composed of truck tires. The tires are overgrown with soft and hard corals which provide a good hiding place for many creatures. It is an excellent site for a relaxing dive and looking for critters such as frogfish, ghost pipefish and even harlequin shrimps. Maximum depth is around 20m.
Mainit Dive Site
It is one of the larger sanctuaries on a Sandy Slope with big coral blocks all around, lots of soft coral formations, and big schools of fish like barracudas, sweetlips, surgeonfish, and snappers. Usually, a drift dive all the way through with an underwater hot spring source at the end of the dive at 5 meters. Maximum depth is around 18m.
Apo Island Dive Sites
One of the highlights in the area is the world famous Apo Island. Our day trips going there usually start at 8:30 a.m. with 2 or 3 dives all around Apo island. There are different dive sites ranging from beginner level to experienced levels. The well-preserved condition of marine life in Apo makes it always an unforgettable dive experience. From fascinating soft coral gardens to sea snakes, turtles schools of jacks and barracudas, Apo island has it all. Depth ranges from 5m down to 30m.
Masaplod Dive Site
One of the oldest sanctuaries in the area is the Masaplod sanctuary. Only 10 minutes away with our boats, this sanctuary boasts of its rich marine biodiversity. Big coral formations in the shallow area as well as in the deep area make it home to schools of small jacks, trevallies, sweetlips, and snappers. You can also see stingrays, nudibranch, triggerfish, big turtles, and groupers. Sandy slope is going down to 21m.
Ginama Point Dive Site
Ginama means man-made. This huge artificial reef consists of numerous truck tires which have been there for more than a decade. Completely inhabited with corals and sponges, this site is an excellent hideout for frogfish, unique shrimps and colourful nudibranchs. A seagrass area is also nearby where you can spend some time in looking for other special things. It is also a great dive site for night diving. Maximum depth is 20 meters.
Dauin North and South Dive Sites
Only a 5-minute boat ride away is the Dauin Sanctuary. This huge coral reef is home to different kinds of anemone fish, small barracudas, turtles, groupers, and many other colourful fish. The shallow area is a beautiful hard coral garden which is also nice for snorkelling. Because there is not much current present in this area, it is an ideal site for Open water divers, refresher courses and Orientation dives. Max Depth is 18 meters.
Car wreck Dive Site
Another great dive site for macro lovers is the car wreck. In this sandy area, you can find robust ghost pipefish, unique crabs, sea moths, moray eels, and other interesting creatures. Two Carwrecks are located between 24-28 meters, surrounded by concrete pipes and steel boxes. This makes it a perfect hideout for many creatures. The sand slopes may seem lifeless, but you may be surprised by the creatures that can be found there. Flash-lights and Nitrox are recommended.
Banka wreck Dive Site
Just around the corner is a special treat waiting for you: Seahorses, ghost pipefish, sea moths and frogfish are not uncommon in this sandy area. Down the sand slope at 28m to 30m rests an old Philippine made outrigger boat also known as the Banka wreck. Although there is not much coral life to see, you will be surprisedbyh the unique marine diversity that is living there. The perfect site for macro lovers, photographers, advanced and nitrox divers.
Bonnet’s Corner Dive Site
Named after our very own Crew member, Bonnets corner is a dive site only for the macro enthusiasts. The site consists of sand alone, and no corals. However, in this site, some of the most unique creatures have been spotted, such as mimic octopus, wonderpus, blue-ring, and mototi octopus. Other creatures such as flamboyant cuttlefish, snake eels, and frogfish can also be seen there if you are lucky.
Sarah’s Place Dive Site
One of the oldest Sanctuaries in the area, Sarah’s place is made out of old truck tires which over the years transformed into a beautiful reef. Schools of yellow snappers, frogfish, nudibranchs and Seahorses are commonly seen. The maximum depth is around 26m.
Luca Sanctuary Dive Site
The closest sanctuary to the resort is the Luca sanctuary which is accessible by a short walk. Here we have a great combination of sand and beautiful coral blocks that make this site very interesting. You can see several stingrays, snappers, eels, morays, groupers, different kind of frogfish, as well as colourful shrimps, and anemonefish. It is an excellent dive site to start your underwater adventure with us.
Mojon – Wellbeach Dive Resort House Reef.
Mojon house reef is just outside of WellBeach dive resort in Dauin, approximately 22 km south of Dumaguete City, and just north of Malatapay, it is an ongoing project with some volunteers and sponsors from around the world.
The project was started a couple of years ago and has grown in both popularity and size, many of the scuba visitors to the resort enjoy doing a night dive here, and capture so many micro and much fish and critters at night on camera.
At WellBeach dive resort they are making the moulded reef concrete balustrades, they are then taken via boat to the sanctuary, lowered into the water and anchored into place.