Why Palawan Is One of the Best Diving Destinations in the Philippine
Why Is Palawan So Good for Scuba Diving?
One of the things that makes diving in Palawan special is its variety.
Palawan isn’t a single diving destination. It is a large island province with very different underwater environments.
Around El Nido and Bacuit Bay, divers can explore tropical reefs surrounded by the dramatic limestone islands for which the area is famous.
Coron offers an entirely different experience and is internationally known for wreck diving.
Far offshore, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park provides remote reef diving that attracts experienced divers from around the world.
This means a diving trip to Palawan can be designed around your experience and interests rather than simply visiting one type of dive site.
For some travellers, Palawan is somewhere to try scuba diving for the first time. For others, it becomes a multi-destination diving holiday.
Marine Life and Coral Reefs of Palawan
Palawan lies within the extraordinarily biodiverse waters of the Philippines, making marine life one of the major attractions for scuba divers.
Depending on where you dive, the season and conditions, you may encounter colourful reef fish, anemones, corals and many of the smaller creatures that make tropical reef diving fascinating.
Sea turtles can also sometimes be encountered, along with schools of fish and other marine life.
No responsible dive centre should guarantee encounters with particular wild animals. That’s one of the things that makes diving exciting — every dive is different.
And you don’t necessarily need to see a large animal to have a memorable dive.
Slow down around a healthy tropical reef and you’ll discover an entire ecosystem. Small fish move between corals, anemonefish defend their homes, and experienced guides can point out creatures that new divers would easily swim straight past.
For underwater photographers, this diversity provides an endless range of subjects.
Diving in El Nido
El Nido combines scuba diving with one of the most spectacular landscapes in Palawan.
Bacuit Bay is surrounded by towering limestone cliffs, tropical islands, beaches and clear blue water. Travelling to the dive sites is therefore part of the experience rather than simply transportation between dives.
Underwater, El Nido offers a mixture of reefs and different underwater environments suitable for a range of experience levels.
This variety makes El Nido particularly attractive to groups and families with different diving experience.
A complete beginner can experience scuba diving for the first time, another family member can undertake an Open Water course, while certified divers can enjoy fun dives around Bacuit Bay.
Non-diving family members can also enjoy El Nido’s beaches, snorkelling and island scenery.
For travellers who want more flexibility, a private diving charter allows the day’s itinerary to be tailored around the group, conditions and interests rather than following the schedule of a normal shared dive trip.
Diving in Coron
Coron has earned an international reputation as one of the Philippines’ most interesting destinations for wreck diving.
The area is particularly famous for its collection of Japanese shipwrecks from the Second World War.
For divers interested in history, underwater photography and wreck exploration, this gives Coron a completely different character from El Nido.
Some wreck dives require appropriate experience and training, so divers should choose sites suitable for their certification and experience.
This is one reason El Nido and Coron work so well together on a longer Palawan diving holiday.
You don’t necessarily need to choose between them.
A traveller could spend several days enjoying reef and island diving in El Nido before continuing to Coron for wreck diving, creating two very different diving experiences within the same Palawan trip.
Diving at Tubbataha Reefs
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is one of the Philippines’ most celebrated marine areas and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Located in the Sulu Sea, far from the main island of Palawan, Tubbataha is very different from diving directly from destinations such as El Nido.
Its remote location means diving is generally undertaken from liveaboard vessels during a limited diving season. The isolation of the reefs and the protected marine environment make Tubbataha particularly attractive to experienced divers looking for a dedicated diving expedition.
For many passionate scuba divers, it is a bucket-list destination.
Many divers visiting Tubbataha also combine their liveaboard trip with several days of diving in El Nido. We regularly welcome guests who have either just returned from Tubbataha or are heading there after diving with us in El Nido.
The two destinations complement each other extremely well. Tubbataha offers a remote liveaboard diving expedition, while El Nido provides a very different experience, combining reef diving in Bacuit Bay with spectacular limestone islands, beaches and the atmosphere of El Nido town.
For divers travelling a long way to experience Tubbataha, adding a few days of diving in El Nido can turn the trip into a broader Palawan diving holiday and allow them to experience two very different sides of diving in the Philippines.
Which Palawan Diving Destination Is Right for You?
The great thing about diving in Palawan is that you don’t necessarily have to choose just one destination. El Nido, Coron and Tubbataha each offer a very different diving experience, and combining two—or even all three—can create an exceptional Philippines diving holiday.
Choose El Nido for: tropical reef diving, spectacular limestone island scenery, marine life, diving suitable for different experience levels, beginner diving and courses. El Nido is also an excellent choice for couples, families and groups where not everyone is a diver, because there is so much to experience both above and below the water.
Choose Coron for: world-famous wreck diving, maritime history and the opportunity to explore some of the Philippines’ most fascinating Second World War shipwrecks. For experienced divers, Coron provides a completely different underwater experience from the reefs of El Nido.
Choose Tubbataha for: a remote liveaboard diving expedition where diving is the main focus of your trip. Its isolated location, protected reefs and limited season make Tubbataha a bucket-list destination for many experienced divers.
Why Choose When You Can Combine Them?
For divers travelling internationally to Palawan, it makes sense to experience more than one destination if your itinerary allows.
A fantastic Palawan diving itinerary could begin with several days of reef diving in El Nido, continue to Coron for wreck diving, and then include a Tubbataha liveaboard expedition for a completely different offshore reef experience.
We regularly welcome divers to El Nido who are combining their stay with diving in Tubbataha, Coron or both. Each destination offers something the others don’t, which is exactly why they work so well together.
Rather than experiencing only one style of diving, you can enjoy El Nido’s tropical reefs and spectacular islands, Coron’s historic wrecks and Tubbataha’s remote marine environment during the same Palawan adventure.
If you’ve travelled a long way to dive in the Philippines, combining these destinations allows you to experience just how diverse diving in Palawan can be.
Three destinations. Three very different diving experiences. One unforgettable Palawan diving holiday.
Is Palawan Good for Beginner Divers?
Yes — but where you dive matters.
El Nido is particularly suitable for visitors who want to experience scuba diving without already being certified.
Complete beginners can start with a supervised Discover Scuba Diving experience.
This allows you to learn the basic principles of scuba diving, become comfortable using the equipment and experience being underwater with a qualified dive professional.
If you already know that you want to become a certified diver, you can complete an Open Water Diver course while staying in El Nido.
At Submariner Diving Center, the theory can be completed online before arriving, allowing more of your holiday time to be spent actually diving.
We’ve created a separate Beginner’s Guide to Diving in El Nido explaining the options, what happens on your first dive and what you should expect during your diving day
What Marine Life Can You See While Diving in Palawan?
One of the joys of diving in Palawan is that you never know exactly what you’ll encounter.
Different habitats support different marine species, and sightings vary according to dive site, season and natural conditions.
Around tropical reefs, divers can expect to see a variety of reef fish and smaller marine creatures. Anemones and their resident anemonefish are always popular, particularly with new divers and underwater photographers.
Turtles are also occasionally encountered around Palawan’s reefs.
More experienced divers often begin appreciating the smaller details just as much as the larger animals.
A good local dive guide can make an enormous difference. Someone who dives these waters regularly knows where to look and can point out marine life that visitors might otherwise miss.
The important thing is to treat every wildlife encounter as a privilege rather than an expectation.
When Is the Best Time to Dive in Palawan?
There is diving in Palawan at different times of the year, but conditions vary according to location, season and weather.
That’s particularly important because Palawan covers such a large geographical area. Conditions in El Nido are not necessarily the same as conditions elsewhere in the province.
For El Nido, dive-site selection is normally based on the conditions on the day. Wind, waves, currents and visibility can all influence which sites provide the best experience.
Rather than choosing a holiday solely because someone has promised a particular visibility figure or marine-life encounter, allow some flexibility in your schedule.
If diving is an important reason for visiting El Nido, staying several days gives you greater flexibility and the opportunity to experience different dive sites.
Can You Combine Diving With an El Nido Holiday?
Absolutely — and this is one of El Nido’s biggest advantages as a diving destination.
You don’t need to dedicate your entire holiday to scuba diving. You can spend several days exploring the reefs of Bacuit Bay and use the rest of your stay for island activities, beaches, snorkelling, restaurants or simply relaxing and enjoying El Nido.
This works particularly well for couples, families and groups where not everyone is a diver. A certified diver might spend the day underwater while their partner enjoys El Nido, or everyone can choose activities that allow them to experience Bacuit Bay together.
For mixed groups, our Private Diving Charter is another option. Divers and non-divers can share the boat, with diving, snorkelling and island stops incorporated into the day where appropriate.
Stay & Dive With Submariner
If diving is going to be a major part of your El Nido holiday, our Dive & Stay packages make the experience even easier.
Submariner Diving Center and The Beach House are located together directly on the beachfront in El Nido town. You can stay in the same building as your dive centre, wake up in the morning, have breakfast and walk downstairs ready for your day’s diving.
Our boats depart directly from the beach in front of the dive centre, so there’s no need to organise transport across town each morning.
Whether you’re coming to El Nido for fun diving, learning to dive, completing a course or spending several days exploring Bacuit Bay, we can combine your accommodation and diving into one convenient package.
And because you’re staying directly with us, you can genuinely dive from your doorstep.
EXPLORE OUR EL NIDO DIVE & STAY PACKAGES
