Anda · Philippines · Coral garden · Wall
Giant Clams Sanctuary
A protected coral garden at 5–10 m above a canyon wall
Area photo: Ioannis Magouras · CC BY 4.0
Giant Clams Sanctuary sits inside the Virgen marine sanctuary, where no fishing is allowed. The top of the site is a coral garden between about 5 and 10 m, running out to the lip of a drop-off. Below that edge the wall falls to 30 m in a shape closer to a canyon than a flat face.
Where it is and how deep
9.7262° N, 124.5490° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Most of the dive can be spent shallow. The plateau between about 5 and 10 m is a coral garden and the part of the site worth the time, and because this is inside the Virgen marine sanctuary with no fishing permitted, what grows and swims on it is left alone. It is shallow enough to work slowly and to finish over without watching a computer.
The drop-off starts at the outer edge of that plateau and runs to 30 m, cut into shapes that read more like a canyon than a wall, so there is structure to swim along and through rather than one continuous face. The usual plan is to go over the edge early, work the deeper section while the gas allows, then come back up onto the coral garden for the rest of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Pristine corals
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Anda: Nov–Jun is the main season; the south-west monsoon and typhoons make Jul–Oct unreliable on this exposed coast.
Sources
- Giant Clams Sanctuary dive site — Scubago (SSI)
More dive sites in Anda
Turtle City — greens and hawksbills on a wall to 30 m
Wall
A drift wall rated for beginners through advanced divers
Wall
A wall corner where pelagics pass, over sand at 25 m
Reef
Reef top at 5 m, sandy slope at the foot of the drop
Muck & macro
A sloping wall onto muck at 25 m, dived for nudibranchs
Wall
A large overhang at the foot of a wall that drops to 32 m
Wall
A wall to 30 m, split by cracks and crevices
Wall
Two buoys, east and west, because the wall runs that long
Similar dives elsewhere
Dozens of green turtles feeding along the edge of the wall
The protected shallows where Balicasag's turtles are thickest
An easy north-coast reef on the Napaling and Doljo road trip
Anemones and coral formations on a reef that drops to 30 m