did anyone dive yet in boracay?

[Sgt.Hudson]

did anyone dive yet in boracay?
well i´ve been diving pretty often in boracay.
Thats also the place were i first time saw a shark.
moslikely i went diving in puerto galera.

cheers
hudson

 

[scubaglitch]

I was certified there in 2002. Having nothing to compare it to my opinions may not be valid; however, I thought it was fantastic. So much so that I'll be returning with my wife August 17-22 if anyone else would like to join me.

 

[marpacifica]

I got my OW certification there in 1994, July, the typhoon season. I thought it was great diving then, but after diving much nicer places in the Philippines, SE Asia and Micronesia since then, I'd rate it about 6 out of 10. The island itself, though, is one of the nicest I've seen, and that's a draw to Boracay that will keep people coming back despite the mediocre diving. I think if Boracay were to get a few sanctuary dive areas like in Dumaguete or Anilao, you'd see remarkable changes to the reef and sealife within those areas in a matter of a few years. From what I remember in 1994, the coral was heavily damaged from all the small anchor hits from local fishermen (and dive boats), and there were very few large fish. The fish that I did see were very skittish b/c of exposure to fishing/spearfishing. That could have changed since then. I'll make it back there sometime, hopefully within the next year.

 

[scubaglitch]

I was literally surrounded by schools of fish when I was there. I had a batfish take half of my index finger in his frickin mouth. That scared me, but it was funny afterward. I have a great picture of him. I loved all the fish! Not all the dives were like that though.

 

[Hank49]

I have to argue the 6 rating. I've dived Tubbataha, Sipadan, Roatan, Bali.....and none of those places had a single dive site more exciting than Yapak II. The raging current, Chevron barracudas, giant trevallis, gray reef sharks....turtles......fantastic. None better.

 

[marpacifica]

Well, looks like I'll have to dive Yapak II when I return there. Take my 6 out of 10 rating as what I experienced 10 years ago diving as a newly certified OW diver. I didn't get to go to all the sites at Boracay, but I'll stand by my statement that the reefs there had a lot of small anchor hits, and those take more than 10 years to recover.