Luzon (Anilao)

If there was one place in the philippines that can say it is the home of local philippine diving, i think it would have to be Anilao. If you are a filipino and you scuba dive most likely you've gone to Anilao, If you took your open water course in manila or anywhere in luzon most likely your first taste of real open water was Anilao as well; it has been a main staple for the manila divers and will remain for a long long time to come.

Anilao is a small town located in the province of batangas It is flanked by the bigger cities of Batangas and Bauan on either side. Though small and for the most part undeveloped, Anilao has a large and continuously growing diving community which shows no sign of slowing down. and resorts and diveshops sprout up like mushrooms lining its rocky shores.

Anilao's popularity stems from its distance being only an hour and a half from manila it is easily accessible to the weekend warriors and being less than two hours by boat from both verde island and puerto galera, anilao boasts of a diverse mix of diving for all levels of diving enthusiast.

That being said, I must also mention that anilao has been a marine protected area since the 70's and diving has kept this strict adherence to conservation alive over the years. It is a town, built by diving and has given so back soooo much to philippine diving as a whole.

Not too long ago Anilao was merely a local's secret spot if you will. Resorts were filled with local guests and foreigners always looked over it as they passed through to the more popular puerto galera.

Today though as the philippine diving industry is starting to boom internationally it is hard to over look anilao and all its splendor. This is the one place in the philippines that i can say really has alot for everybody. And no matter what your skill level, or interests may be Anilao more than likely will be able to satisfy your need for underwater adventure.

For those who like the bigger animals, anilao has little in terms of the bigger animals.  Sometimes  sharks, rays, and the occasional whaleshark or bigger animal could be spotted while diving but your chances are slim.  On the other hand  good-sized schooling fish like trevally and barracuda are not unlikely to spot . These are found at the more advanced sights with good currents and some deeper reefs (eg.mainit point, bahura kanto, mapating larry's garden and twin rocks).

If nice easy diving and colorful soft and hard corals are your thing then anilao satisfies this hunger to the fullest. Being right in the middle of the coral triangle, anilao boasts of some of the widest diversity of coral life you can find on a dive. Good sized hard corals like brain, table and staghorn corals are on almost every dive. Mix this in with an array of soft corals, large sponges and gorgonian fans and you can have the most picturesque dive you can ask for. the greatest part about it is that it doesnt end there.

For those with a keen eye and a love for critter photography, anilao delivers critter diving equal to the best critter diving in the world. Sights like the more recently discovered "secret bay", and the anilao classic "basura" offer critter diving equalling the shores of dauin, and even lembeh in indonesia. Critters like the frogfish(the giant, clown and the hairy), wonderpus, flambouyant cuttlefish, and lately even the pinnacle of critter diving the rhinopias have been spotted on a regular basis off the shores of anilao and have been photographed on a regular basis.

This plus the fact that Anilao has a wide variety of resorts and dive operations to suit all tastes and budgets make anilao one of the best all around diving destinations in the philippines. Yes it cannot offer the thresher sharks of malapascua, and the millions of sardines at pescador island but if your looking for a no frills, easily accessible diving destination then i have to say anilao is it!...

Photo by Lee Allan Black

For more information email m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net