BALICASAG ISLAND

Balicasag Island Dive Sites

BLACK FOREST

A steep slope with lots of coral bombs and a “forest” of black coral starting at 25 but mostly below 40 meters. Giant Trevallies and Tunas cruise by in the blue occasionally, this is also where we spot the whalesharks most often. Keep an eye open for the barracudas and the big-eyed trevally or jacks that have made residence here. On the slope itself, surgeonfish, groupers, triggerfish and loads of macro life can be seen. Normally this dive has a bit of a drift making it a very relaxed and easy going to just cruise along the coralscape.

Divers' heaven

A bottomless drop off that delivers all the goods. This is most diver’s favorite place to dive in Bali- casag. This dive site features a wide variety of fish and marine life.

There are lots of resident green turtles and you most definitely want to look out for Jose, the local yellow margin triggerfish. Hid- den in the coral lure some reef stonefishes and for the macro- lovers there are dragonets to be found in the shallows.

Cathedral

The wall has big overhangs, ledges and gaps. On a bright day, light is reflected in- side the cathedral and produces a magnificent effect. In the many overhangs you can see yellow bucket sponges and on the walls there are plenty of big and colorful sea fans. You will see barracudas and angelfish swimming around everywhere, and if you are lucky some frogfish hiding on the wall. In the shallower waters, there are snubnose drummer schools. Off the wall, one will meet the big-mouth mackerel and close to the wall are many golden sergeant fish, midnight snappers, pyramid butterflyfish, as well as the one-spot snapper.

RUDY’S ROCK

A drop-off with a unique character. This dive site has many small caves and crevices where you can catch the beauty of school of jacks. Lots of soft and hard corals and large turtles are often seen in this site. A bit undervalued but the eccentric landscape really makes this site a place worth to visit.

RICO’S WALL

This is another huge drop- off with some small caverns and ledges. Large groupers live near the bottom wall and can be seen at 20 – 30 meters. They are very shy and don’t seem to like the sight of divers. The coral diversity on the wall is absolutely insane here, it looks like being the spectator of a live surreal painting at times. There are also large schools of surgeonfish and anthias swimming along. In the blue any- thing can cruise by, mantas, tresher sharks and even whales were seen here.

BALICASAG ISLAND