Route Description - Southern Leyte Route
This 7 night liveaboard diving adventure offers up to 21 dives around the Southern Leyte & Visayas region, which is home to some of the best diving in the Philippines. There is a wide diversity of marine life, steep coral covered walls, gentle sloping reefs and many muck diving hotspots.
During the cruise you will visit and dive some of the islands around Cebu; Cabilao, Balicasag and Bohol as well as Limawasa and Sogod Bay in Southern Leyte. This trip not only offers fantastic macro and the chance to see schooling fish, but also the possibility of some larger pelagics such as whale sharks.
The Visayan Sea is rich in nutrients and plankton that supports a variety of important ecosystems. There are several areas of protected mangroves and much of the region is protected by marine sanctuaries. Underwater, the topography of dive sites varies from shallow sandy fringing reefs to steep walls dotted with seafans and sponges.
Marine life is diverse; common sightings include green and hawksbill turtles and schools of barracuda and jacks, whilst redtooth trigger fish, pyramid butterfly fish and blue lined fusiliers are seen on almost every dive in huge numbers.
Smaller creatures such as frogfish, ghost pipefish, octopus and pygmy seahorses are found at several of the dive sites and of course a wide range of nudibranchs, shrimps and crabs can be found on each reef.
On a typical day up to 4 dives; 3 day dives and a fourth sunset or night dive are offered. The diving day is normally scheduled as follows:
Light Breakfast followed by a briefing and Dive 1
Full Breakfast, relaxation period, briefing and Dive 2
Lunch, relaxation period, briefing and Dive 3
Snack relaxation period, briefing and Dive 4, where possible
Dinner