The Philippines dives twelve months a year, but each site has its own window and its own entry level. Moalboal and Apo Island are open from Open Water, Malapascua now runs its thresher dives shallow enough for the same certification, and Tubbataha is a liveaboard that only sails for about three months.
What follows is organised by the two things that actually constrain a trip: the certification you hold, and the month you are travelling.
The six big dive sites and the level each one needs
Certification is the filter that decides most itineraries. Here is where each site sits.
| Site | Minimum certification |
|---|---|
| Moalboal, Cebu | Open Water |
| Apo Island, Negros | Open Water |
| Malapascua, Kimud Shoal | Open Water |
| Malapascua, Monad Shoal | Advanced |
| Coron wrecks, classic circuit | Advanced |
| Tubbataha, liveaboard | Advanced, logged experience expected |
Moalboal and Apo Island, open from Open Water
Moalboal is the easiest big-name dive in the country. The sardine ball sits directly off Panagsama beach in shallow water, and you can see it while snorkelling, let alone on a tank.
Apo Island, off Negros, is a small marine sanctuary with strong turtle numbers and healthy hard coral. Currents can pick up, but the standard sites are within Open Water limits.
Malapascua and Coron, what the level really changes
Malapascua deserves a correction that many older guides have not caught up with. The thresher sharks left Monad Shoal in September 2022 and settled on Kimud Shoal, a plateau roughly 45 minutes out towards Leyte.
That move changed who can dive them. Kimud sits at 12 to 23 metres with cleaning stations reported between 14 and 20 metres, which brings the dive inside Open Water limits. At Monad the sharks were rarely shallower than 30 metres, which is why the site required Advanced.
The thresher sharks moved from Monad Shoal to Kimud Shoal in September 2022. Kimud is shallower, which means an Open Water certification now opens a dive that used to require Advanced. Guides written before 2023 still say otherwise.
Monad Shoal has not gone quiet, it has changed occupant. It is now the tiger shark site, with sightings measured in roughly one a week rather than one a dive. Coron, meanwhile, is a wreck destination and its classic circuit sits in Advanced territory, as covered in our comparison of Coron and El Nido.
Depths on Kimud are quoted differently by different centres, from 12 to 22 metres depending on who you ask. Take the wide range and confirm with your own shop rather than treating any single figure as gospel.
Anilao and Tubbataha, macro and the liveaboard
Anilao, a few hours south of Manila, is the country’s macro capital. Nudibranchs, frogfish and blue-ringed octopus, dived from shore-based resorts, and it is a photographers’ destination more than a big-animal one.
Tubbataha is the other extreme. It sits in the middle of the Sulu Sea, is reachable only by liveaboard out of Puerto Princesa, and runs six to seven day trips.
What you see month by month
Some of what the Philippines offers is available all year. The rest sits in windows narrow enough to dictate when you fly.
Visible all year
- The Moalboal sardine ball, which is resident rather than seasonal.
- Turtles at Apo Island and Balicasag, off Panglao.
- Thresher sharks at Kimud Shoal, on morning dives, with sightings reported as reliable most of the year.
- The Coron wrecks, which are weather-dependent but not seasonal.
The short windows to plan around
The thresher dives leave early, with boats departing between 05:00 and 08:00. That is a daily window rather than a seasonal one, but it decides what time you get up for a week.
Whale sharks, manta aggregations and the best visibility all shift with the monsoon. As a rule the drier months from December to May give the most reliable diving across the archipelago.
Why Tubbataha is limited to three months
The park sits far offshore and is only accessible in the calm window between the two monsoons. Boats are permitted from roughly the last two weeks of March to the first two weeks of June.
Outside that window there is no way in, at any price. Liveaboard berths for the season sell out well in advance, so this is the one Philippine dive plan that has to be made a year ahead.
What a dive costs in the Philippines
The country remains cheap by regional standards, but the gap with Indonesia and Thailand has narrowed and rates rose again through 2026.
The price of a tank by region
A single fun dive was quoted broadly between 25 and 45 USD in August 2026, depending on the shop, the site and whether gear is included. The Visayas sit at the lower end, Palawan and the remote sites at the upper end.
What moves the number most is boat logistics. A shore dive at Moalboal and a two-hour boat ride to a shoal are not the same product, and the fuel is the difference.
Packages, certifications and liveaboards
Multi-dive packages cut the unit price substantially, typically from five or ten dives upward. If you are staying more than three days at one site, the package is almost always the right purchase.
Open Water certification is one of the cheaper places in the world to get certified, which is why so many people do it here. Liveaboards are the opposite end of the scale and are priced per trip rather than per dive.
What never shows on the quoted price
The rate card is rarely the total. Three lines get added at the counter or on the boat.
- Marine park fees, collected per dive or per day. Moalboal was around 100 PHP per dive, Malapascua between 150 and 450 PHP per day.
- Equipment rental, if the quoted price is tank and guide only. Always ask which one you have been quoted.
- Nitrox, night dives and camera rental, each priced separately.
Budget ten to twenty per cent on top of the rate card and you will not be surprised.
Should you bring your own gear?
Partly. The split between what to carry and what to rent is fairly consistent across the country.
What is worth putting in the hold
- Mask, because a leaking rental mask ruins a week and yours weighs nothing.
- Computer, both for the dive profile and because rental units are not always well maintained.
- Exposure protection if you run cold, since local rentals lean thin.
What rents fine locally
BCD, regulator, fins and tanks are all reliably available and well serviced at established centres. Carrying a full kit across the archipelago on domestic flights with tight baggage allowances rarely pays off.
The exception is a long liveaboard, where your own regulator on a week of four dives a day is worth the excess baggage.
Frequently asked questions
Can you dive the Philippines with just an Open Water certification?
Yes, and more than you could a few years ago. Moalboal, Apo Island and now the thresher dive at Kimud Shoal are all within Open Water limits. Coron’s wrecks and Monad Shoal are the main sites that are not.
When is the best time to dive in the Philippines?
December to May gives the most reliable conditions across the archipelago. Tubbataha is the exception and only opens from mid-March to mid-June.
Are thresher sharks seen year round at Malapascua?
Sightings at Kimud Shoal are reported as reliable through most of the year on early morning dives. They are wild animals, so no operator can promise them, and any that does is selling rather than briefing.
How much does a dive cost on average?
Between 25 and 45 USD for a single fun dive as read in August 2026, before marine park fees and any gear rental. Packages from five dives up bring the unit price down noticeably.
Can you dive with whale sharks at Donsol?
Donsol is a snorkelling interaction rather than a dive, and it is the encounter widely regarded as the ethical one because the animals are not fed. The season is roughly November to June.
Do you need specific dive insurance?
Standard travel policies frequently exclude scuba below a given depth or exclude it entirely. Check the wording rather than assuming, and take a dedicated dive policy if the exclusion applies.
How many days should you allow for a dive trip?
Four days minimum at a single site to make the flights worthwhile, and closer to ten if you want to combine two regions. Leave a day clear before flying home for the surface interval.