Diving in the Philippines

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Summer is here as temperatures now climb above 30 degrees during the day, after the pleasant and cool days during the holidays when temperatures fell to  26 to 27 degrees and a cool breeze could be felt in the late afternoon to early evening, allowing a lot of people to enjoy a good run in the early evening and families to stroll around with a light jacket. 

But now, it is time to hit the beach, and for those who know how to dive, it’s time for dive safaris.

Just recently, the Department of Tourism released a press release highlighting the Philippines’ dive destinations.

According to the DOT’s release,  Philippine dive destinations took center stage at the 2026 Paris Dive Show (Salon de la Plongée Sous-Marine), with iconic sites such as Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Bohol, Anilao, Cebu, Puerto Galera, Dumaguete, Ticao Island and Southern Leyte capturing the attention of the European dive market.

According to DOT’s press release, the Philippine delegation generated over P80.15 million in sales leads during the four-day event, marking a 43 percent increase from the P56 million recorded last year. The Paris Dive show, which was held at the Parc des Expositions in Paris, is a key platform to strengthen the country’s dive tourism presence in France and across Europe. 

The DOT sponsored a  90-square-meter Philippine Pavilion featuring immersive underwater photography panels from 12 DOT-accredited dive establishments, highlighting the country’s rich marine biodiversity, sustainability initiatives and conservation-driven tourism programs. 

Southern Leyte’s Sogod Bay dive sites were the Philippine Pavilion’s featured destination, showcasing the region’s growing profile as a sustainable, conservation-oriented and biodiversity-rich dive tourism hub.

International-acclaimed underwater photographer and four-time Wildlife Photographer of the Year awardee Laurent Ballesta also top-billed at the Philippine Pavilion, featuring some of his Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park expedition’s rare deep-sea images captured at depths of up to 150 meters. 

Ballesta also shared insights from his recent Gombessa Expeditions mission to Tubbataha, which documented previously unseen marine species and generated pioneering scientific data. His award-winning series from Pangatalan Island, highlighting reef recovery and ecosystem resilience, also had a premiere at the event to reinforce the Philippines’ national commitment to sustainable tourism development, marine protection, and the conservation of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Philippines regularly exhibits at the annual Paris Dive Show as part of the DOT’s sustained market development and brand positioning strategy to expand the country’s footprint in the French and European markets, while reinforcing the country’s global identity as a diverse, world-class, sustainable and conservation-driven dive destination.

In 2025, the country secured its seventh consecutive title as the World’s Leading Dive Destination at the World Travel Awards, prevailing over 12 global contenders.

One would think from reading the DOT press release that getting to the dive destinations such as Tubbataha, Bohol, Cebu, Puerto Galera, Dumaguete, Ticao Island and Southern Leyte is a simple and easy trip, and that foreign divers are flocking to our country in droves.

Unfortunately, that is not the reality.

As a diver myself, diving in the Philippines is costly and tricky to arrange. Securing flights alone has become more of a nightmare now with the relocation of turbo prop aircraft to Clark. Imagine the amount of luggage we divers need to haul from Manila to Clark.

Avid divers, to be honest, do not travel light, simply because we need specialized diving gear and equipment, and  prefer to bring our own dive gear for our own safety and not rely on what can dangerously be faulty dive equipment from the local resort we visit. 

Some of our essentials are wetsuits, dive hood, masks, gloves, dive booties, fins, oxygen regulator and octopus attachments, a buoyancy compensator vest, a diving knife, an underwater whistle or what we call a hammerhead and even a safety hook for current diving, underwater flashlights and other specialized safety gear such as a safety balloons, and a few others, all of which need to be packed in oversized dive bags.

Likewise, especially if you are into macro photography, the diver  needs to bring their  specialized underwater cameras and lighting accessories that have to be carefully packed in big clunky cases that are shock-proof and water-resistant. 

Similarly, for  an advanced or nitrox certified diver, or even a technical diver who is trained and certified to dive below the recreational limit of 130 feet, bringing your own equipment is a must, as resorts normally have only the basics for recreational divers.

The only thing divers do not bring are weights and the oxygen or nitrox tanks. We just rent those from the resorts. 

Thus, just imagine the cost of paying for all that excess weight on both an international flight and even more so, on a domestic flight.

The cost of diving, aside from the resort fees, will include the cost of hiring a banca or a dive boat/speedboat, the dive guide and the tank rentals and perhaps renting other equipment that you may have chosen not to bring, or forgot to bring. Even requiring food or snacks for a multiple day dive is an additional cost.

So, reality check, while the Philippines deserves the reputation of having several outstanding dive sites, the DOT still has to find ways to offer better services to paying foreign divers, and not just those that they invite and put out the red carpet and shoulder some of the expenses for.

In the past, local airlines like Philippine Airlines used to offer the sportsman package for those bringing their golf clubs, sporting equipment and dive gear. Such programs need to be in place to attract more foreign visitors. 

And sad to admit, more government effort is needed to control garbage that is regularly disposed off in our seas. To be honest, divers regularly encounter plastic and garbage even in what are supposed to be pristine destinations like Tubbataha.