Spend a longer time in the Visayas, one of the most beautiful and bio-diverse regions in Asia.

The Visayas are one of the three island groups in the Philippines, featuring incredible macro, stunning walls, whale sharks, and thresher sharks.

This itinerary includes 9 magical nights diving at a different site each day, including the stunning walls of Cabilao, Malapascua's incredible diving including Gato Island, home of the protected sea crate and white tip sharks, Kalanggaman Island with its magical sandbar and nearby islets, and a Malapascua favorite, Kimud Shoal, known for frequent sightings of thresher sharks. Continuing onto Bohol, including Anda, Panglao, and the sanctuary of Balicasag, with a grand finale of diving with whale sharks in Oslob and the reef of Sumilon.

This itinerary is hard to beat if you want to dive into the best spots of the Visayas. Easy cruises each evening will take you from one great dive site to another. This Itinerary departs from our Dumaguete resort making it ideal for a resort extension with no additional transfers or mid-trip interruptions.

Day 1: Embarkation 5 pm
Board the Azores at 5 pm at our Atlantis Dive Resort in Dauin, and enjoy a welcome evening and overnight travel to our first destination.

Day 2 - 9: Possible Destinations

• Cabilao Island, Bohol
  With its shallow topped reefs and nice drop-offs, the island offers an incredible number of critters in the shallows which are a delight to see. However, what really differentiates it from others nearby are the pristine hard corals around the southern coast. The reef offers species such as Scorpions fish, Tunas, Jackfish, Barracudas, Frogfish, and Nudibranchs.
• Gato Island, Malapascua
  One of the pearls of Malapascua and a perfect spot to see both macro and big fish, famous for the chance to spot whitetip and bamboo sharks along tunnels and resting under rocks. The soft coral gardens are home to pygmy seahorses, frogfish, and an array of Nudibranch, and away from the reef is great for squid and bait balls.
• Monad shoal, Malapascua
  Monad Shoal is a sunken island on the edge of a 200m drop-off and is famous as the only place in the world where thresher sharks can be seen daily. Monad Shoal also has a cleaning station where Giant manta rays are also a common sight year round along with eagle rays.
• Kimud Shoal, Malapascua, Kalanggaman Island, Capitancillo Islet
  Kimud Shoal is a sunken island. The top lies around 12-16m and drops down to 200m+, located in the same trench as Monad Shoal, there is a chance to spot Thresher sharks, Mantas, Devil rays, and Turtles. The top of the island is covered in hard coral with the sides covered in soft corals. The east side has some incredible rock formations and due to the drop-off, there is always the chance to see larger fish such as Tuna or Dolphins. 
• Anda, Bohol
  Pygmy sea horses, Bobtail Squids, Barracuda, and Frogfish to name just a few of the tiny critters hiding in the colorful corals around Anda. But don’t forget to keep an eye out into the blue for huge Rays, Turtles, Dolphins, or even the legendary Whale Shark.
• Balicasag Island
  The island starts with a shallow plateau of 6-18m before dropping off to a wall. With hard and soft corals housing Moray eels, parrotfish, and clownfish, to name a few, keep an eye out for the schools of Jacks that swim along the walls.
• Panglao Island and Optional Land Tour
  Panglao Island – Look out for… turtles, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, eagle & manta rays, schooling barracuda and trevally, frogfish, ghost pipefish, pygmy and thorny seahorses, plus many different species of nudibranch, among dramatic walls and reefs.
• Chocolate Hills or Loboc River Tour. A visit to the Tarsiers (Add on optional Land tour) – the world’s smallest primate on both tours.
• Oslob, Sumilon & Apo Island
  We spend the last day diving with Whale Sharks at Oslob. The rest of the day will be spent diving around tranquil Sumilon Island, surrounded by crystal clear waters and pristine white sandy beaches. Look out for… exquisite coral gardens and drop-offs. ‘Might sees’ in this area include manta rays and stingrays, barracudas, sea turtles, snakes, and very occasionally whale sharks and hammerheads.

   

Day 10: Disembarkation at 8 AM
Disembark the Azores straight to our Atlantis Dive Resort in Dauin, where you can stay and explore some world-class muck diving and visit Apo Island.

(*) the itinerary description provided by the boat operator.

The last dive will be on the penultimate day of the trip. Divers are recommended to wait for 24 hours before flying after the last dive.

Sample itineraries and maps are for illustrative purposes only. The exact route and sites visited are subject to change based on local regulations, guest experience, weather, and logistics and are at the Captain's discretion.