Batangas is a famous dive haven of freedivers and scuba enthusiasts. Whether you are coming from Manila or any place in Luzon, Batangas will always be the favorite go-to place for this kind of adventure. As a result, there are several dive sites in Batangas that will surely keep the fun going. Here are several list of best dive sites to practice your skills and explore the underwater world!
It’s almost 1 year since I started the journey of freediving and I’m happy to have built a group from what I love doing. I’ve been freediving with Aquaholics Freediving PH and I’m glad to be growing and improving because of these people! Now, I’m going to share with you the dive sites we have unlocked together in Batangas. Ladies and gentleman, or should I say mermaids and mermans, let’s explore the wrecks and reefs in Batangas!
Table of Contents
Getting to know Batangas Province
Famous for pristine beaches, stunning islands, diving sites, mountain climbing and resorts are what the province of Batangas can offer to its visitors. With all these things mentioned, Batangas became a favorite go-to destination for the people living in the nearby provinces like Cavite and Laguna and even in Metro Manila.
The Taal Volcano, which has recently erupted during the month of January this year (2020) is also located in Batangas. For island destinations, some of the favorites are the Fortune Island, Sombrero Island, Punta Fuego and Ligpo Island. All of the marine waters of the province are part of the Verde Island Passage, the center of the center of the world’s marine biodiversity.
As a result, the Verde Island (isla verde) is one of the best diving places in the Philippines. This is why the dive sites in Batangas offers a perfect place for divers and beach enthusiasts.
Manila to Batangas
There are lots of bus-lines that operates 24 hours from Maila heading to Batangas. These buses are stationed in Cubao or in Buendia (near the Gil Puyat station). Some of the bus lines that offers this route are: DLTB, JAM liner and JAC line. The estimated fare is ranging from PHP180.00 – PHP 250.00 depending on which area in Batangas you are going. And the travel time takes 2-4 hours.
Best time to Dive
As we all know, there are 2 seasons in the Philippines and that’s wet and dry season. The best time to freedive and scuba is during the dry season in the summer months from March – June. Clear skies and straight sunlight gives us calm waters to dive and crystal clear water for a better view of the corals and fishes.
The rainy season falls as early as the end of June – February. In this season, the water is murky and the oceans gives huge waves. It’s the worst season for divers.. 🙁 Still, most cases in the months of October – February there are lesser rainfall. Just make sure to plan your dive trips when the typhoon and monsoons are gone for the week.
Best Dive Sites in Batangas
I’ve been freediving at least once a month or every other month in Batangas with my friends and we made it to a point to hack at least 1 dive site for every freediving trip we do. As of March 2020, I have gathered the dive sites in Batangas that you can go to and these are friendly dive sites open for beginners, amateurs and advanced freedivers.
PS: I’ll be updating this dive site guide every-time we hack a new site for you! Keep posted. 🙂
Wrecks in Monte Carlo Resort
In front of Monte Carlo Resort in Mabini Batangas is a famous freediving site for beginners and advanced freedivers. The water is crystal clear and some of the wrecks are visible below.
List of wrecks in Monte Carlo:
- Motorcycles – 6 meters
- Office Table – 6 meters
- Speed Boat – 8-9 meters
- Toilet bowls – 6-7 meters
- Televisions – 6-7 meters
- Volkswagen – 18 meters
Dive Video on Youtube: Freediving in Monte Carlo
Danke Laia’s Coral Reef
A new favorite playground of freedivers is the colorful coral reef in Danke Laia. Here lies a truly one of the most beautiful reef I’ve seen in the Philippines! I personally recommend this to beginners. The colorful reefs and fishes are visible from the surface in as low as 3-5 meters.
What to see in Danke:
- Dan’s Hole – 6-8 meters
- Wooden chair – 5-6 meters
- Cathedral Cross
- Colorful fishes and corals
- Fluorescent corals (perfect for night dives)
Dive Video on Youtube: Freediving in Danke Laia
Wrecks in Summer Cruise
Summer Cruise dive resort has been in the diving industry for more than a decade now. They offer affordable prices for scuba diving and freediving lessons. For rates and prices, you may check them on their Facebook page.
List of things to see in Summer Cruise:
- Spirals – 10 meters
- Boat wreck – 12 meters
- Cross – 15 meters
School of Jacks in Binukbok Viewpoint
For a one of kind experience, try getting an epic shot with the school of jacks in Binukbok Viewpoint! If you’ve seen the sardines run in Moalboal Cebu, here is another way for you to get a shot with black-hole-like form under the water. It’s pretty incredible seeing these fish swim together and create a black form that you can see from the boat. The school of jacks are visible in as low as 4 meters.
Dive Video on Youtube: Freediving in Binukbok
Connecting Cave in Binukbok Viewpoint
We got the chance to hack this freediving site in Binukbok with the help of Sir Daryle of The Real Adventure. Hats off to you sir! Thanks for providing me and my friends the safety measures to dive under these narrow tunnels.
For safety precautions, I don’t recommend this for newbies. This freediving site has 2 tunnel-like caves that connects to each other. You can reach the first tunnel for 10 – 15 seconds from the start of your duck dive. The second tunnel, on the other hand, has to be achieved in about 40 – 50 seconds as the tunnel is long, narrow and very dark in the middle part. If you want to achieve reaching the 2 tunnels from start to end point, a breath-hold of 1 minute should be exercised.
Dive Video on Youtube: Freediving in Binukbok
Now if you’re unsure of your apnea, you may ask for safety service from professionals that will look after you from the start point and at the end point. However, they cannot come with you while you’re diving because again, the tunnels are too narrow it’s almost impossible to fit 2 freedivers. Nonetheless, they can wait at the end point to look out for you and that’s exactly what we did. Thanks for bringing us to this crazy adventure, Sir Daryle!
Dive7000 Resort Diving Sites
Dive7000 in Mabini is another dive haven famous to divers that has been in the industry for quite some time now. I created a separate blog and review about this resort and you may check it through the link below!
Read my Travel Guide here: Dive7000 Resort in Batangas
What to see in Dive7000:
- Buddha – 8 meters
- Castle – 16 meters
- Jetski – 20 meters
- Cathedral Cross – 20 meters
- Helicopter – 24 meters
- Resident sea turtles (biboy and buboy)
Dive Video on Youtube: Freediving in Dive7000 Resort with Aquamundo
Affordable Scuba Rates and Intro to Freediving
Below are recommended groups/resorts if you’re looking for affordable scuba diving and/or intro to freediving:
Book Scuba Diving with the resorts below:
Learn the basics of freediving/Intro to freediving:
Gears from Aquamundo Scuba
For starters, I highly recommend Aquamundo Lalum Fins! To give you a bit of information, Aquamundo is the first filipino brand that engineers water gears. Let’s support local! Here is my review about Aquamundo’s freediving fins. Read here. Don’t forget to heck out the neoprene diving socks of Aquamundo!
Other Gears (Recommendations)
- DIY Neck Weights – contact Coach Dadha Belangel
- Low Volume Mask – Decathlon, Aquamundo, Epsealon (tip: just double check the nose pocket and make sure it’s soft and easy to squeeze for comfortable equalizing maneuvers)
- Leaderfins/Penetrator Fins – contact JRD for affordable and fast delivery of Leaderfins/Penetrator fins
- Gloves and Neoprene Dive Socks – Aquamudo, Decathlon
Help me improve my travel guide! By commenting suggestions in the comment section below, I am very open to new ideas. 🙂 Contact Us for paid promotions and link insertions. For proposals: email me at contact@joansfootprints.com |
NEXT TO READ:
- DIVE7000 RESORT IN BATANGAS: FREEDIVING SITE & TRAVEL GUIDE
- AQUAMUNDO FREEDIVING FINS: BLOG & REVIEW
- SUMMER CRUISE: DIVE SITE IN BATANGAS
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