Going scuba diving in Balicasag is one of the must‑dos if you’re planning a diving trip to the Philippines. This small oval island near Bohol is a true paradise for lovers of the sport. Surrounded by some of the country’s best reefs, you’ll feel completely at ease on its wall and slope dives where turtles are never missing, along with a wide variety of hard and soft corals and huge jackfish tornadoes, among other fish species. With luck, thanks to its excellent visibility, which can reach 40 meters, a look into the blue might reward you with the majestic whale shark.
We’ve had the great chance to dive in Balicasag many times since 2010 and we don’t rule out doing it many more. Although its popularity has increased a lot in recent years, the introduction of diver quotas means that being underwater is still a great pleasure. So you can come away just as delighted, we’ve put together an extensive guide to diving in Balicasag. Here you’ll find information about the dive sites, prices, tips, and diver‑to‑diver recommendations.
Keep reading and discover everything about diving in Balicasag.
Why Balicasag?
Balicasag is a small island 600 meters in diameter. From the air you can see it’s almost a perfect oval, a shape that gives it its name: bali (crab) and casag (turned over). It’s a coral cay right in the Coral Triangle, the place with the greatest marine biodiversity on the planet and one of the most popular spots in the Philippine archipelago to see beautiful green and hawksbill turtles.
Balicasag Island was declared a marine reserve in 1978. This means that fishing is not allowed in its waters—only water sports, tourism, and marine‑life conservation activities. As divers, this is really important because, unlike other parts of the archipelago, the reefs around Balicasag are not affected by dynamite fishing.
To dive in Balicasag, you need to be a certified diver. You don’t need to be Advanced Open Water—Open Water is enough—since much of the marine life is usually seen at shallow depth and the dives aren’t very complicated. If you have more experience, great, but it’s not strictly necessary.
If you don’t have a diving license yet, you can still enjoy its charms by going snorkelling. We tell you everything in Snorkelling tour to Balicasag.
What you can see when diving in Balicasag
As we mentioned above, Balicasag is a paradise for seeing turtles. It would be very rare not to run into at least a dozen of them. The most common are green turtles, but you’ll also find gorgeous hawksbills.
However, whenever we think about our dives there, two things come to mind: the great condition of the coral—highlighting the huge gorgonians (our favourites)—and the jackfish tornadoes (jacks). It’s very common to encounter massive schools forming a ball that clouds your view and, in addition, they’re often accompanied by sweetlips, mackerel, or barracuda.
We’re suckers for wall dives, and in Balicasag they don’t disappoint. The coral walls go as far as the eye can see and, in their caves, among many other creatures, huge groupers usually shelter from the gentle current.
Not only that—if you like macro life, diving in Balicasag will also spoil you. Thanks to its coral walls, full of countless nooks and crannies, it’s not unusual to find several species of frogfish, scorpionfish, morays, crabs, shrimps, and lionfish…
As if that weren’t enough, both Balicasag and Panglao are on the route of the massive whale shark. With luck, it’s possible to see them, but there isn’t a precise season as there is in Padre Burgos/Pintuyan and Donsol—places where you can swim with them ethically (unlike Oslob and Lila). If you’re dying to see the largest fish in the world, read our article Where to swim with whale sharks in the Philippines.
Where is Balicasag
Balicasag is located to the southwest of Panglao, specifically 12 kilometers from Alona Beach. It belongs to the province of Bohol, along with 74 other islands that surround it.
The island lies on the route to Siquijor, so if you’ve got that in your sights and pay attention, you’ll easily see it from the fast boat between the two.
How to get to Balicasag
To go diving in Balicasag you’ll first need to get to Panglao, an island next to Bohol. Alona Beach is where you’ll find the largest number of dive schools that run these trips. For reference, Panglao has an international airport that opened relatively recently. Tagbilaran, Bohol’s capital, has an important port with boats arriving from islands like Cebu, Siquijor, or Negros.
We detail everything in How to get to Panglao. If you’re in Cebu, you’ll also be interested in How to get from Cebu Airport to Panglao.
Once there, you’ll just have to choose the dive center to go explore Balicasag with. If you like, leave us a comment asking for it and we’ll share the details of our recommended Spanish‑speaking dive shop for diving in Balicasag. We’ve been diving with them for years and recommending them to travelers, and we haven’t had a single complaint. You’ll love it!
Dive sites in Balicasag
There are 5 dive sites in Balicasag, which can be grouped into two types: wall dives and slope dives. The municipality of Panglao indicates they are the following:
Diver’s Heaven
This steep slope is a true aquarium. Here you’ll find large gorgonians and other beautiful corals such as Brown Daisy or Big Bucket sponges. In winter, you may see some whitetip sharks in the reef’s caves.
Depth: 8–35 meters.
Visibility: between 12 and 25 meters.
What you can see: barracuda, turtles, jacks, big‑mouth mackerel, frogfish, ribbon eels, mantis shrimps, whitetip sharks…
Marine Sanctuary (aka Rico’s Wall)
This is, along with Black Forest, one of Balicasag’s most acclaimed dive sites. It’s a wall dive that starts at 3 meters deep and drops to 60 meters. It’s impossible to get bored because it’s full of overhangs, caves, and ledges. Among the many corals you can find, there are some huge gorgonians more than 2 meters in diameter. It’s a comfortable dive where there’s not usually much current, and the safety stop is done at about 5 meters in a sanctuary area where you won’t be short of corals and reef fish to make it fly by.
Depth: 3–35 meters.
Visibility: 10 to 30 meters.
What you can see: turtles, sweetlips, parrotfish, nudibranchs, frogfish… It’s not unusual to see large schools of bigeye jacks (jackfish) forming huge tornadoes.
Rudy’s Rock
This huge, deep slope is packed with crevices where huge groupers and sweetlips hide. Looking out into the blue, it’s not uncommon to see a massive jackfish tornado. The shallower part boasts a garden of soft corals and acropora that’s home to reef fish and turtles.
Depth: 8–40 meters.
Visibility: from 2 to 20 meters.
What you can see: frogfish, scorpionfish, turtles, jackfish, nudibranchs…
Black Forest
This is one of the most acclaimed dive sites in Balicasag. As its name suggests, it’s popular for its black coral garden. However, keep in mind that most of it is concentrated at 35–40 meters, so only experienced divers will be able to see it.
The dive starts at around 6–9, where it’s not unusual to find green turtles. Here you’ll see coral formations, where you can also spot lots of macro life and reef fish. From 12 meters there’s a slope with plenty of hard and soft coral that drops beyond 40 meters. It’s usually a comfortable dive with a light current that’s perfect for drifting.
Depth: 6–40 meters.
Visibility: 15 to 40 meters.
What you can see: schools (groupers, snappers, and jacks), turtles, damselfish, barracuda, triggerfish (note: between May and July they protect their nests and may attack), hard and soft coral, frogfish… With luck, whale shark.
Royal Garden
The dive starts on a sandy slope that turns into a pretty coral slope from 12 meters down to 25 meters. In the first part it’s common to find a bed of algae—a feast for turtles.
Depth: 8–35 meters.
What you can see: turtles, frogfish, nudibranchs, triggerfish…
Which one to choose?
Our favourite dive sites in Balicasag are Black Forest and Marine Sanctuary, which are also usually the most popular among dive centers. If those aren’t planned on the day you go, don’t worry—it’s normal to choose based on sea conditions. Any of the dives you do will leave you open‑mouthed.
You can read more about dive sites around Panglao—the perfect complement to a Balicasag dive trip—in our article Diving in Panglao.
Balicasag dive trip
One important thing to keep in mind about diving in Balicasag is that since April 2015 the local government has limited the number of people who can dive on the island. Only 150 divers can do so each day and they can do a maximum of two dives. In other words, only 300 dives per day are possible.
The diver quotas are distributed among the different dive schools, which may only go to Balicasag five times a week with a single boat and with a maximum of 20 divers per day. They are in charge of making the bookings, for which they need to attach your diver certification.
For all these reasons, it’s essential to book your Balicasag dives as soon as you know the dates you’ll be in Bohol/Panglao. That way you’ll make sure you have a spot. This is especially important if you go during very busy times such as Christmas, Easter, Chinese New Year, and local holidays. In quieter times, do it at least 2–3 weeks in advance. In high season, if you can, book two months ahead.
In addition, try dives and course training dives are prohibited. That is, to dive in Balicasag you must be a certified diver (PADI, SSI, CMAS…). If you don’t have your certification yet, our advice is not to hesitate and go for the Open Water in Bohol. This way, you can crown your certification with a couple of dives in Balicasag. Plus, the seabed in this part of the Philippines is so full of life that you’ll see amazing things from your very first dive. If you have fears (quite normal), you can do it with instructors in your language who will make things easier.
Price
Dives in Balicasag are a little more expensive than dives around Panglao because you pay extra to go farther and for environmental fees. It’s common for three‑dive Balicasag trips (two in Balicasag and one around Panglao) to cost 5.800-6.000 pesos, including fees (250 pesos), equipment, snacks, and coffee/tea. If you have your own dive gear, it’s reduced to about 5.000 pesos.
Even if the dive outside Balicasag doesn’t appeal at first, we strongly recommend doing it. While Balicasag gets the fame, the dives around Panglao are also wonderful. This one is usually done in the area called Kalipayan, where there’s a fabulous, lively coral wall packed with nudibranchs, sea snakes, scorpionfish, and, currently, a pretty cool sardine school.
Schedule
Balicasag dive departures usually start at 8 in the morning at the dive center. Depending on whether two or three dives are done, you’ll get back to Alona Beach around 13:00 or 15:00, giving you time to enjoy the afternoon.
The trip between Alona and Balicasag in a bangka takes 30–40 minutes.
Recommended Spanish dive center for Balicasag
Since it’s such a popular dive spot, you can imagine there are loads of dive centers that take you to Balicasag. As everywhere, some are more professional than others, with newer gear and more comfortable boats. As we’ve been to the island many times, we’ve had the chance to try the service of all the Spanish‑speaking ones.
We’ve seen it all—including rinsing all the gear in the same tank (wetsuit and regulator together…), worn‑out wetsuits, regulators in bad condition… For your safety, please don’t be swayed by offers and don’t put your safety at risk.
If, like us, you think you’ll feel more comfortable if you’re dealt with in your own language, the best thing is to choose a Spanish dive center that runs trips to Balicasag. Even so, keep in mind that, by law, most of the staff must be Filipino and you may be assigned a local dive master. In the case of instructors—those who teach course classes—they are usually Spanish. If you’re not very confident with the language, there’s no need to worry, since at Spanish‑speaking dive centers there’s almost always someone on the boat who can clarify any doubts and do the briefing in Spanish.
Our recommended dive center
To save you the search, you can leave us a comment on this post and we’ll give you all the information you need about our trusted dive center for going to Balicasag. Good vibes, post‑dive beers and even paella are guaranteed. Plus, if they’re already nice, going on our recommendation will get you treated even better.
Another lesser‑known possibility is to stay overnight on the island at the only existing “resort”: Balicasag Island Dive Resort. In that case, you’ll need to arrange dives with them as well as transfers to the island—or negotiate the price of a bangka on Alona Beach. We’ve never stayed at this hotel, so we don’t know what service they offer or what equipment they have. At first glance it doesn’t look great, but you can always research.
Live aboard that include Balicasag
If what you want is to dive, dive, and dive, a good way to avoid the hassles of transport in the Philippines is to do a live aboard (liveaboard cruise). These are the ones that include Balicasag on their route:
- Infiniti: its Visayas&Bohol route focuses on Balicasag, Apo, Moalboal, and Pescador.
- Philippine Siren: includes the very best—besides Balicasag, you have Malapascua, Moalboal, Cabilao, and Apo on the route.
You can see all the live aboard in the Philippines here.
Tips for diving in Balicasag
- Best time to dive in Balicasag: it’s possible to dive year‑round. However, in terms of visibility, the best would be from November to May, which is the dry season and the water tends to be calmer. Avoid, if you can, Christmas, Easter, Chinese New Year, and Philippine public holidays to enjoy Balicasag in peace.
- If you’re taking a trip around the Philippines where diving is a major component, it pays to bring your own gear and you’ll also feel safer. Even so, keep in mind you’ll pay more when boarding a plane. If you’d rather avoid the hassle, you can rent gear at the school and dive Balicasag with it. It will cost a bit more, but not excessively. Renting gear is around 800 pesos per day.
- The water temperature in this part of the Philippines is around 28ºC–29ºC and you’ll rarely see it below 25ºC. Therefore, bringing a 3mm—or even going without a wetsuit—is perfectly feasible.
- As a diver you surely already keep this in mind, but please choose a serious dive center and not the cheapest one you find. In the Philippines, as in many other countries, there are instructors/dive masters who disregard safety or environmental rules, dive agencies with very old gear, or uncomfortable boats. Really, don’t risk your safety for a few euros less.
- Be very careful with air conditioning on your trip. In the Philippines they really crank it up and the temperature contrast with the outside can give you a cold, which will keep you from diving.
- Bring plenty of cash. While most dive schools in the area accept card payments, many charge a percentage ranging from 3% to 4%. In Alona and Tagbilaran you’ll find ATMs, but they charge a 250‑peso fee for every 10,000‑peso withdrawal. If you pass through Manila or Cebu, it’s worth withdrawing at HSBC ATMs, which don’t charge a fee. In addition, it’s important to bring a card that doesn’t charge for paying or withdrawing in Philippine pesos. You have all the information you need to save money in Money in the Philippines.
- Don’t forget to get good travel insurance for the Philippines. This is even more important if you’re thinking of diving, as it’s considered an adventure sport and isn’t included in many travel policies. In our case, we use IATI Mochilero, which covers up to 40 meters deep. If you buy through this link, you get a 5% discount.
Where to stay
You now know almost everything about diving Balicasag, but where’s best to stay so you don’t waste much time? Since almost all dive operators are located along Alona Beach and its surroundings, our advice is to look for a hotel in this area. Even so, Panglao is a relatively small island and you can get anywhere on your own motorbike or by tricycle.
Alona Beach is the most popular part of the whole province of Bohol and in recent years it has seen a huge tourism boom. Many beachfront resorts, restaurants, and shops have been built. Therefore, you need to be aware that it’s not a 100% virgin place. This means it has lost a bit of its charm, but on the other hand you have the comforts typical of a tourist area: good and varied restaurants, decent hotels at good prices, massage places, bars… In our opinion, the best thing is to stay on or near Alona Beach, but in its quieter parts, which do exist.
Here are some recommendations perfect if you have Balicasag diving in mind:
- La Sirenita Resort: run by Spaniards, this hotel is on the north tip of Alona Beach—the quietest area and, in our opinion, the prettiest stretch. To reach the sea and the dive centers you just go down a few stairs, and you have rooms with great views, plus new and functional furnishings. We tell you about our experience in Staying at La Sirenita.
- Alona42 Resort: very close to the above, right in the heart of Alona but without any noise. Its rooms are small, well‑furnished apartments around a pool. If you’re after convenience, don’t hesitate. Check prices here.
- Unk’s House Homestay: want something cheap? Don’t hesitate—this guesthouse will make you feel at home and it’s close to everything you need. It’s great whether you travel as a couple or with friends. Check availability here.
- Amorita: if you want to treat yourself to a top‑notch hotel, this is it. From its infinity pool you can see all of Alona Beach. In addition to excellent rooms and suites, you have a spa and all the amenities you need. See prices here.
We give you even more options in Where to stay in Panglao.
We hope this guide to diving in Balicasag has convinced you to include this great activity in your trip to the Philippines. We’re honestly convinced you won’t regret doing it. Remember that the Bohol + Panglao combo is a real box of surprises, and that’s why we’ve spent many hours exploring them and getting the most out of them so you can enjoy them too. You have all the information you need here:
If you have any questions or suggestions, we’ll be waiting for them in the comments. Happy diving!
