Activities at sea

No matter how many dives you do, every time you’ll see something new.

Snorkelling or dipping with sardine shoals bottom-glare Just a few meters from the coast, in the heart of Panagsama beach, a large pack of sardines, called “sardine run”, has been established. An unusual phenomenon, probably due to the large amount of plankton or the fact that they feel protected by large predators, or perhaps due to currents or the temperature of the water that is around 28 degrees. Millions of sardines swim in a huge herd of about 2 to 30 meters taking different shapes, sometimes they compact until the light is dark, sometimes they open in a vortex or they are divided into groups reflecting the light of the sun becoming a silver cloud . A little further north, but especially to the south, it is easy to make an encounter no less exciting with the great sea turtle. Usually they are not afraid, but it is advised not to touch them so they will not be disturbed.

Pescador Island offers the best diving spot from Cebu as it concentrates a rich variety of landscapes and marine life in a limited area. The island is a large column that starts from 50 meters deep and emerges for 6 meters above the surface. All around there are beautiful coral formations. The famous Pescador Cathedral is a channel that descends from 15 to 36 meters deep and, depending on the time of year, rays of light filter into the canal, and make the underwater landscape even more ‘evocative. The upper part of the reef has beautiful rocks and coral formations of various kinds, with a great variety of reef fishes, while, in the many niches of the walls, are black coral, sponges, multicolored corals, crinoids, starfishes, sea cucumbers and nudibranchs. There are also riflemen, barracudas, batfish, parrotfish, white tip reef sharks and gray reef sharks, sea snakes, scorpion fish, stone fish, moray eels, sea snakes, turtles. Whale sharks, from January to March and small schools of hammerhead sharks and manta rays, while large Spanish dancers meet during the night dives.

whale sharksA unique experience with strong emotions is swimming with the huge and spectacular whale sharks, also called “gentle giants”, the gentle giants; one of the biggest fish in the world. The whale shark, or Rhincodon typus, is the largest existing shark. With its average length between 8 and 12 meters and a weight that is around 18 tons is one of the most fascinating “sea monsters”. In Oslob, in the Philippines, a corner of paradise, you can try this exciting experience with the snorkeling technique. With a cost of around 1,000 pesos (less than 20 euros) you will experience one of the most exciting and engaging experiences of your life. After a brief briefing including the behavioral instructions to keep for the respect of these magical and mysterious beings, they will take you by boat a few hundred meters from the shore and you can dive and swim with them, often it happens that they are very close to you, giving you the feeling of being overwhelmed, The sharks live in complete freedom, they approach the shore every morning because they are given food, open their mouths and move their heads rhythmically to drain the prey and water up to the gills, where filtering devices retain their prey. Despite gigantic, with more than 300 rows of small teeth and a mouth with an opening of about 1 and a half meters, these sharks are harmless and love feeding on plankton, small fish, shrimp and squid. The sharks will approach you very much and you will have the opportunity to photograph them and experience a feeling never felt. It may seem impossible but over time we have discovered that almost nothing is impossible in the Philippines