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First time to go diving in Davao? Here are tips on where amazing Davao deep sea sites are and what they can show off.

Tambang, a Davao deep sea diving spot, is also known as “Bibing” locally. It is a small reef along the coastline which is excellent for night diving. The dive spot may reveal pluerobranchs and nudibranchs periodically, as well as varieties of pipefish and sponge crabs loaded with sponges twice their size. The reef covering is visible at a depth of 5 meters. This Davao deep sea diving area, however, needs more time to recover its coral growth.

Just a stone’s throw from that Tambang spot, going about 9 meters deep down the Davao deep sea waters, ask diving guides or instructors where a wall with deep fissures and extended reef edges are located. This spot is alive with Davao deep sea life. For instance, feast the eyes with sights of roaming scorpion and lion fish, a school of shrimps, dozens of trumpet fish, swarming cardinal and hawk fish and some stationary parrot or dormant rabbit fish.

Other Davao deep sea diving locations are what local divers call the Marissa 1, 2 and 3. They are close to the Pearl Farm Resort and convenient to visit. These excellent dive sites may be similar in some respects, like good coral density (visible at a depth of 12 meters), with gliding reef fish, and a plethora of bubble corals. The sites have gently rolling reef slopes and a number of small sandbank walls and undercuts where a number of moray eels venture a peek from their hideouts, sea stars rest, tube worms wriggle out of crevices and, if the timing is right, a company of jellies. This Davao deep sea diving sanctuary is resort-maintained and kept ideal for diving beginners.

Venturing a little further, on the east side of Samal is another Davao deep sea wonder. Officially named Pindawon Wall, this diving site is endowed with a remarkable topography abundant with openings, cliffs, ridges, and slopes. One can glide in and out of these mazes and discover wonderful columns of hard corals and some table corals. If the diver seeks further, natural garden plots of cabbage corals may be chanced upon, and there may even be bonus sightings of magnificent clusters of black corals, ambling razor fish, multi-colored sea snakes, and harlequin shrimps.

The above descriptions of Davao deep sea sites are just samples of how divers actually saw them. If a description can paint such words, what more an actual visual?

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Davao is naturally endowed with the wonders of the deep that are mostly found exclusively in its waters. So here are some deep sea Davao dive sites that dive enthusiasts should never miss.

Davao waters shelter one of the best underwater sceneries along its coastlines and in many specific spots around it. Various Davao dive sites are mostly coral reefs swarming with multicolored tropical fish, perfect for scuba diving and snorkeling. Davao sea features are often characterized by such, although some unique underwater Davao dive sites hide more interesting sights if the diver only ventures further to more segregated locations. These are nature’s surprises to persevering seekers; like the legendary Linusotan coastline, and the celebrated Kaputian coastline along the eastern and western boundaries of the province.

If one should by any chance linger around the northeast tip of Samal, by all means do drop by the Ligid Caves in Ligid Island. It’s spelunking adventure at daytime while night time is best suited for diving at the west part of the island. This is one pleasure of Davao dive sites dive buffs should never miss: wonderful school of golden sea cucumbers thickly populating the reef areas, broken only by sudden flashes of powerful color displays from soft, waving corals, playful hydroids and basket stars.

About 15 meters down some Davao diving delights are rolling carpets of leather corals. Some more depths below (ask dive instructors or guides for details on this) are two popular caves: one leads to a three-pronged passage to a single corridor. Both caves are sanctuaries for tiny reef fish, dark and spongy corals and sponge crabs. In fact, even the caves’ environs are rich with interesting crab species, tunicates, fascinating scorpion and lion fish, amusing sleeping parrot and rabbit fish, among others. This amazing Davao diving delight can also periodically flaunt around morays and razor fish.

The southeastern waters of Ligid island, known as Pinnacle Point—another Davao diving delight—has a steady presence of water current just right for a more taxing dive. Then try to go further south where one finds flourishing ledges of gorgonians, prolific with clinging crinoids. One may also find an unusual number of morays and cave-dwelling octopus peeping out from hiding now and then. Watching curious cardinal fish is also amusing, along with a great throng of butterfly fish, surgeon fish, and some emperor fish.

The many variations of Davao dive sites that span the coastline of the province make Davao among the top ten dive options in the country.

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A quick peek at some of Davao’s best dive sites would evoke three underwater scenes. The first one on the list will naturally highlight Ligid Island the surrounding waters of which are perfect as snorkeling and dive sites in Davao.

The enchantments of these dive sites in Davao are incredible, just like Davao’s small Ligid Island. Especially it’s reef sanctuaries, Ligid’s underwater sea life is what divers’ dreams are made of. This place is at times referred to as “Buenavista” or good vision or view, perhaps reflecting the good sceneries in and around the island, not to mention the panoramic scope of the Ligid horizon. But there’s a beach resort out there named thus, “Buenavista,” and the beauty of the resort has taken to mean the beauty of the island itself.

It’s easy to spot interesting dive sites in Davao. Like, at the sanctuaries of small Ligid island for instance, buoys have been afloat to guide divers to the exact spots of underwater treasures, particularly on the east coast. The site is perfect especially for first-timers who want visibility and amazing sights in shallow waters. Small Ligid affords two discrete surroundings. The northeast area has dense, hard coral coverings with multi-color reef fish. This site reveals trout and parrot fish varieties while the southeast has huge boulders interspersed with sand dunes scattered with shells of diverse sizes and shapes.

Near the southern part of the quaint Samal Island in the waters of Davao is the Mushroom Rock. One of the more stunning dive sites in Davao, this place is said to be a dolphin hang out in favorable times, and other curious sea creatures would periodically join in the fun. The place is so named because of huge limestone formations jutting out or “mushrooming “at the southeast of Samal. However, there are scores of other astounding rock formations underwater similarly “mushrooming” and are among the attractions in this part of Davao.

Finally, there’s the Coral Gardens, a favorite among the dive sites in Davao. It is also called “Linosutan,” perhaps owing much to the network of reefs found there where divers go “in and out” of. But the name is most likely derived from the nearby barrio itself right in front the Talikud Island. Another one of the more convenient dive sites in Davao, it is relatively shallow and shows so much at a depth of 20 meters.

See these three marvelous dive sites in Davao and know what sea life can offer.

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