Bacuit Bay
Sheltered water, short boat rides and reef close enough to dive between breakfast and lunch.
Coron has the wrecks. El Nido has the reef.
Bacuit Bay sits behind a screen of limestone islands, which means strong wind and heavy current are rare and the conditions suit new divers as well as experienced ones. There are walls, swim-throughs, a genuine underwater tunnel, and sandy patches that hold the small strange things macro photographers travel for.
Turtles are common. Eagle rays, mantas and, very occasionally, dugong pass the outer reefs. Courses run from a first-time discovery dive through to certification, taught by PADI-certified instructors on SOMA boats.
The signature dive of El Nido, on the north side of Helicopter Island. The entrance sits at around twelve metres and the tunnel runs roughly forty metres through the island, widening halfway into a chamber where holes in the ceiling let light down through a school of sweepers. Advanced divers only, and not in a strong northerly.
Under high limestone cliffs near Miniloc: a reef slope broken up by boulders and small caverns, with narrow passages between them. It holds an unusual density of nudibranchs, along with pufferfish, lionfish and grouper. Sheltered enough to be reliable when the rest of the bay is blown out.
Ten minutes out by speedboat. South Miniloc is a gentle slope with the best coral between fourteen and sixteen metres, including the cabbage coral field El Nido is known for. Twin Rocks sits on the north side near Small Lagoon over a rich sandy bottom.
West Entalula is a wall dropping to about thirty-five metres with small caverns holding clams, frogfish, scorpionfish and octopus. Banayan Point, off the southern tip of Matinloc, catches enough current to bring in tuna, jacks and mackerel.
Discovery dives for people who have never breathed underwater, open water certification, and continuing education up the PADI ladder. Courses are delivered by PADI-certified instructors. Equipment is provided.
Not the reef site of the same name. The cave is a five-chamber system entered at sea level, with a halocline where fresh water meets salt in the fourth chamber. Diving inside requires certified cave training and a permit from the El Nido local government. We can arrange it for qualified divers on request; it is not a recreational dive and we will not treat it as one.
Best conditions run roughly November to May. Visibility and site access depend on wind direction on the day.
Tell us your dates, how many of you there are, and what you’d like to see. We’ll put together the days that make sense and come back to you.
hello@soma.tours