Nishan
Contributor
Ok I'm finally sitting down to writing a report for our trip to Sogod Bay and Malapascua in April. Six of us spent one week at Peters Dive Resort in Padre Burgos and five days at Exotic Dive Resort in Malapascua. Sorry if its long but after a few paragraphs I gave up trying to keep it short 
April 5th to 13th, Peters Dive Resort, Padre Burgos, Sogod Bay, South Leyte.
Peters is a great relaxed place. Everyone is friendly and flexible and there is a nice laid back vibe to the pace. The resort is basic but adequate and inexpensive. Rooms are clean, the AC and hot water works and the food is good. The is a small pool as well in case you want a swim although we spent our time diving, eating or exploring the local village. The DM's were relaxed and sensitive to our needs (especially when it got crowded during Easter weekend) without being overly intrusive or rigid with schedules. The dive center is spacious and the boats are good. Padre Burgos is quiet with very few tourists so its a great place to get away and sink into the local pace of life. Overall the diving was great, with some of the best hard and soft coral I have seen anywhere. Fish life was profuse but dominated by the small colourful stuff. In April the sea was flat, currents were light and visibility ranged from 20-30m. Would return again and recommend Sogod Bay if you like easy diving, healthy and colorful reefs and a relaxed holiday. The sites we dived were:
House Reef
Located right in front of the resort this is actually 3 sites (Baluarte, Voltares and Max Climax). All can easily be accessed from shore and we were able to just take a tank and walk into the water when we felt like it. Max Climax has the best coral but the entire area in front of Peters and the neighboring Sogod Bay Scuba Resort is very good. The reef slopes down gradually to around 45m where there is a plateau before it plunges into the depths of the bay further out. We found one place with a steep drop off to 45m with huge gorgonians. Good hard and soft coral, gorgonians, lots of clownfish and anemones, clouds of anthias and the usual reef fish. There is a resident and very friendly turtle we met on most dives. On a few dusk dives we saw some giant trevally, barracuda and large queenfish.
Peters Bend
A drop off down to about 30m. The shallow areas from about 2-5m depth have excellent coral gardens with soft corals in deeper areas along the wall. The fish are mostly small but profuse.
Bunga Bend
Similar to Peters Bend.
Napantao
This is a world class dive site and our favorite in Leyte. Napantoa has the best coral that any of our group has seen anywhere we have dived so far. The shallow coral gardens are in a near pristine condition and have interesting gullies, tunnels and swim throughs that you can play in for hours. From about 5-7m the reef falls away sharply to beyond 60m. The walls are adorned with soft corals, gorgonians and huge barrel sponges of every imaginable color. Fish life is also amazing although large pelagics are rare probably due to fishing in surrounding areas (Napantao itself is a sanctuary). Huge clouds of anthias, chromis and regal damsels, schools of fusiliers, butterflyfish, wrasses, rabbitfish, surgeonfish etc. are all over the place. Large sweetlips and snappers are also seen at around 20-30m. We also found several mid sized groupers hiding in small caves.
Limasawa Island
We dived at Adrians Cove and Zacks cove on the eastern side. Both are steep wall dives with good hard and soft corals and abundant fish life. The walls here can be near vertical with interesting overhangs. The coral in the shallows is not as good as at Napantao and the DM's attributed this to a recent COT event. We saw several turtles, a dogtooth tuna and a sea snake here.
Padre Burgos Jetty
This is a highlight not to be missed if you like weird critters and macro. Its the town jetty and its accessed by steps leading to the water. The jetty is only open for diving 3 days a week, and that too only at night when there is no boat traffic or fishing. A true "muck' dive with lots of rubbish and discarded junk but it seems to be a magnet for all kinds of macro critters. On one dive I was able to sea seahorses, lionfish, scorpianfish, leaf fish, 2 different kinds of frogfish, stargazers, decorator crabs, hermit crabs, blue ring octopus, reef octopus, and juvenile striped catfish. Its not Lembeh Strait but an amazing dive site nevertheless.
Sonok Point
A gently sloping reef with excellent hard coral with a sandy bottom at around 25m. Not as uch fish life as the other sites but a nice relaxed easy dive.
Sonok Bay
This is the big attraction of Sogod Bay from November to May when whale sharks migrate here. Local guides are used as spotters to find the whale sharks and then you get to snorkel with them. A bit similar I guess to Donsol but from what I have heard there are more encounters at Donsol. But one big advantage of Sogod Bay is good viz. It was around 30m when we went so you can see the sharks clearly. We had a great time with 7 encounters within 3 hours, with each encounter lasting from between 5-30 minutes. While it was amazing the DM's said it was an above average day so I guess we were lucky!
April 5th to 13th, Peters Dive Resort, Padre Burgos, Sogod Bay, South Leyte.
Peters is a great relaxed place. Everyone is friendly and flexible and there is a nice laid back vibe to the pace. The resort is basic but adequate and inexpensive. Rooms are clean, the AC and hot water works and the food is good. The is a small pool as well in case you want a swim although we spent our time diving, eating or exploring the local village. The DM's were relaxed and sensitive to our needs (especially when it got crowded during Easter weekend) without being overly intrusive or rigid with schedules. The dive center is spacious and the boats are good. Padre Burgos is quiet with very few tourists so its a great place to get away and sink into the local pace of life. Overall the diving was great, with some of the best hard and soft coral I have seen anywhere. Fish life was profuse but dominated by the small colourful stuff. In April the sea was flat, currents were light and visibility ranged from 20-30m. Would return again and recommend Sogod Bay if you like easy diving, healthy and colorful reefs and a relaxed holiday. The sites we dived were:
House Reef
Located right in front of the resort this is actually 3 sites (Baluarte, Voltares and Max Climax). All can easily be accessed from shore and we were able to just take a tank and walk into the water when we felt like it. Max Climax has the best coral but the entire area in front of Peters and the neighboring Sogod Bay Scuba Resort is very good. The reef slopes down gradually to around 45m where there is a plateau before it plunges into the depths of the bay further out. We found one place with a steep drop off to 45m with huge gorgonians. Good hard and soft coral, gorgonians, lots of clownfish and anemones, clouds of anthias and the usual reef fish. There is a resident and very friendly turtle we met on most dives. On a few dusk dives we saw some giant trevally, barracuda and large queenfish.
Peters Bend
A drop off down to about 30m. The shallow areas from about 2-5m depth have excellent coral gardens with soft corals in deeper areas along the wall. The fish are mostly small but profuse.
Bunga Bend
Similar to Peters Bend.
Napantao
This is a world class dive site and our favorite in Leyte. Napantoa has the best coral that any of our group has seen anywhere we have dived so far. The shallow coral gardens are in a near pristine condition and have interesting gullies, tunnels and swim throughs that you can play in for hours. From about 5-7m the reef falls away sharply to beyond 60m. The walls are adorned with soft corals, gorgonians and huge barrel sponges of every imaginable color. Fish life is also amazing although large pelagics are rare probably due to fishing in surrounding areas (Napantao itself is a sanctuary). Huge clouds of anthias, chromis and regal damsels, schools of fusiliers, butterflyfish, wrasses, rabbitfish, surgeonfish etc. are all over the place. Large sweetlips and snappers are also seen at around 20-30m. We also found several mid sized groupers hiding in small caves.
Limasawa Island
We dived at Adrians Cove and Zacks cove on the eastern side. Both are steep wall dives with good hard and soft corals and abundant fish life. The walls here can be near vertical with interesting overhangs. The coral in the shallows is not as good as at Napantao and the DM's attributed this to a recent COT event. We saw several turtles, a dogtooth tuna and a sea snake here.
Padre Burgos Jetty
This is a highlight not to be missed if you like weird critters and macro. Its the town jetty and its accessed by steps leading to the water. The jetty is only open for diving 3 days a week, and that too only at night when there is no boat traffic or fishing. A true "muck' dive with lots of rubbish and discarded junk but it seems to be a magnet for all kinds of macro critters. On one dive I was able to sea seahorses, lionfish, scorpianfish, leaf fish, 2 different kinds of frogfish, stargazers, decorator crabs, hermit crabs, blue ring octopus, reef octopus, and juvenile striped catfish. Its not Lembeh Strait but an amazing dive site nevertheless.
Sonok Point
A gently sloping reef with excellent hard coral with a sandy bottom at around 25m. Not as uch fish life as the other sites but a nice relaxed easy dive.
Sonok Bay
This is the big attraction of Sogod Bay from November to May when whale sharks migrate here. Local guides are used as spotters to find the whale sharks and then you get to snorkel with them. A bit similar I guess to Donsol but from what I have heard there are more encounters at Donsol. But one big advantage of Sogod Bay is good viz. It was around 30m when we went so you can see the sharks clearly. We had a great time with 7 encounters within 3 hours, with each encounter lasting from between 5-30 minutes. While it was amazing the DM's said it was an above average day so I guess we were lucky!
