Diving in Davao

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

I am curious to find out if there is any good diving in Davao? All the research that I've done and gathered from the web seem to point the needle between average/mediocre at best.

if anyone can provide more colors and in-depth details regarding diving in Davao and the surrounding area of Davao, that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Centrals]

Dived there once many years ago and have no intention to return!
The issue is the distance from the sites and the quality of the dives. Weekend is better because you might get someone to share the big banca otherwise you will have to charter a small one all for yourself! I did just that for one day and dived couple of sites near to the city.
There were three operators all clustered near the entrance to Santa Anna Wharf. Carabao Dive Centre was the one that I used, no problem whatsoever. Wind and Wave was the first one I tried and was NOT impressed at all.

General Santos is a lot better. Contact South Point Divers.

 

[Kupu]

It has been about 10 years since I dove Davao, but spent several months in the area and made over 100 dives. IMO, there are some really nice sites on the North-East and East sides of Samal Island, but those sites are not usually part of the regular weekend trips due to distance. Chances of seeing those sites is pretty low if you are only there for a week or two unless you find a way to organize a special trip. The standard trips to Talikud and closer sites on Samal would fall into the category of average to mediocre when compared to Philippines diving in general. Ok if you are in the area, but not something to go out of your way for.

Weekend dive trips with the locals and expats are standard and not expensive with flat rate pricing, but there are not usually dive trips going out during the weekdays unless by special request which is more expensive as you will not be able to split the boat costs.

Spent more time and dives in General Santos area and agree it is better for a dive trip, a good wall dive and some very nice offshore reefs. South Point Divers has a sweet location looking out over Sarangani Bay with a section of the wall as house reef.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Thanks for the information guys. Much appreciated. My friend asked me to see if I am interested in taking a trip this year over to Davao hence I am doing some info gathering.

On the sidebar, does Davao at least have nice beaches and resorts to hang out and good nature sites to explore?

 

[Centrals]

Mt Apo, home for Philippines Eagle.

Mount Apo - Wikipedia

https://www.philippineeaglefoundation.org/philippine-eagle-center

Samal, Davao del Norte - Wikipedia

 

[jale]

Hi
If you are into deco, tx diving, near Davao, you have the Sagami (sp?) Maru at 60 sth meters.
Done that many years ago and still remember these dives...

 

[Kupu]

On the sidebar, does Davao at least have nice beaches and resorts to hang out and good nature sites to explore?

Davao City itself has no decent beaches that I know of. There are a fair number of beach resorts on the island of Samal, the western side of the island is a fairly short boat ride from Santa Anna Wharf. They vary from rustic to developed, I prefer the more rustic style if looking to have a beach day as they tend to be less crowded. Shore dives are possible from most of these places, which I found enjoyable even though they tend to be average, but a nice way to get in some beach time and also a dive or two. The tidal current can be quite strong in these locations at times, but not a problem as long as this is known and planned for.
Samal is a large island, there are a fair number of locations that can be shore dived, if you can get a driver and someone who has access to and knows the spots it can be alot of fun and even get you to a few nice shore dive spots on the north-east part of the island. This is best planned during the week as way to avoid the crowded weekends at the resorts, and get some dives in when the boats are not running.

My favorite all around beach was a popular weekend dive spot on Talikud, but it was getting crowded even back then and I wonder if it is still as nice now. A couple shots from Talikud in 2008.