World Wide Diver
Contributor
This thread is to promote the best and lesser known pristine reefs and marine life of Southern Mindanao.
After 3 years diving many areas in Southern Mindanao, we consider that the best reefs here lie in the area stretching from the city of General Santos to the border of Palimbang (West of General Santos please see the attachments for area orientation). Coral and coral life has been able to flourish relatively unhindered along this part of the coastline. This is because;
- The population density is low, and settlers in the area are farmers rather than fishermen;
- Skilled fishermen are often offshore hand-lining yellow fin tuna;
- Fishermen respect their areas and tend to hand line fish in low volumes to feed their families;
- People are protective of their territory and discourage others from fishing in their waters;
- The Governor of Sarangani province is a diver who has introduced laws to protect reefs and marine life. Local officials, locals and the police work together to effectively enforce these laws;
- The continental shelf drops quickly to over 4000 meters just offshore next stop is Indonesia (closest islands are 100 miles away);
- This deep water provides a good, clean nutrient rich environment which has a stable year-round temperature between 27 and 28.5 degrees. This prevents coral bleaching and supports excellent marine life attracting large pelagics; and
- The area is Typhoon-free and rarely experiences bad weather ËÕhere are 330+ good dive days per year .
Though this area still remains unknown to all but a handful of local divers, few overseas divers have already dived here including some members of this board (hi to Tom and Dustin
).
How to Dive. These are two dive operators in the area, Cambridge Dive Center (formally Tuna City Scuba Center) www.tunadive.com and South Point Divers www.southpointdivers.ph. Cambridge dive center is set within 2 hectares of tropical gardens in General Santos. South Point is located at Tampuan with superb views across Sarangani Bay. Both operators can arrange diving at Kamanga and local reefs (please see the next post).
Diving the reefs along the coast is a mini day expedition along the coastal road (excellent road) then meeting the dive boat. The coastal scenery is beautiful mountains and white sand beaches. Cambridge dive centre arranges this as a norm for experienced divers. The new reef discovered is known only to Cambridge Dive Center. It has only been dived upon 20 times to date.
Security. Much of what is written about security issues in Mindanao applies to small areas well away from the coast. This area experiences very few problems compared to places anywhere in the World. Indeed, people are extremely hospitable and pleased to see and meet visitors, and you can still feel like the first person to discover the area.
Posts to follow for the Kamanga Marine Protected Area and coastal and offshore diving along the coast. We hope that this is useful to those seeking new and pristine areas off the beaten track.
After 3 years diving many areas in Southern Mindanao, we consider that the best reefs here lie in the area stretching from the city of General Santos to the border of Palimbang (West of General Santos please see the attachments for area orientation). Coral and coral life has been able to flourish relatively unhindered along this part of the coastline. This is because;
- The population density is low, and settlers in the area are farmers rather than fishermen;
- Skilled fishermen are often offshore hand-lining yellow fin tuna;
- Fishermen respect their areas and tend to hand line fish in low volumes to feed their families;
- People are protective of their territory and discourage others from fishing in their waters;
- The Governor of Sarangani province is a diver who has introduced laws to protect reefs and marine life. Local officials, locals and the police work together to effectively enforce these laws;
- The continental shelf drops quickly to over 4000 meters just offshore next stop is Indonesia (closest islands are 100 miles away);
- This deep water provides a good, clean nutrient rich environment which has a stable year-round temperature between 27 and 28.5 degrees. This prevents coral bleaching and supports excellent marine life attracting large pelagics; and
- The area is Typhoon-free and rarely experiences bad weather ËÕhere are 330+ good dive days per year .
Though this area still remains unknown to all but a handful of local divers, few overseas divers have already dived here including some members of this board (hi to Tom and Dustin
).How to Dive. These are two dive operators in the area, Cambridge Dive Center (formally Tuna City Scuba Center) www.tunadive.com and South Point Divers www.southpointdivers.ph. Cambridge dive center is set within 2 hectares of tropical gardens in General Santos. South Point is located at Tampuan with superb views across Sarangani Bay. Both operators can arrange diving at Kamanga and local reefs (please see the next post).
Diving the reefs along the coast is a mini day expedition along the coastal road (excellent road) then meeting the dive boat. The coastal scenery is beautiful mountains and white sand beaches. Cambridge dive centre arranges this as a norm for experienced divers. The new reef discovered is known only to Cambridge Dive Center. It has only been dived upon 20 times to date.
Security. Much of what is written about security issues in Mindanao applies to small areas well away from the coast. This area experiences very few problems compared to places anywhere in the World. Indeed, people are extremely hospitable and pleased to see and meet visitors, and you can still feel like the first person to discover the area.
Posts to follow for the Kamanga Marine Protected Area and coastal and offshore diving along the coast. We hope that this is useful to those seeking new and pristine areas off the beaten track.
