Anda — Bohol, the area around Virgen East

Anda · Philippines · Wall · Sand slope

Virgen East

A wall corner where pelagics pass, over sand at 25 m

Area photo: Dagon Hoyohoy · CC BY 2.0

Virgen East is a plateau at eight metres with a drop-off behind it running down to sand at 25 m. The deep part is where the macro is, and a big corner on the wall is the spot guides stop at to look outward instead of in, because pelagics pass along the face there.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Virgen East: typical dive 8–25 m (26–82 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit8 m25 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

9.7263° N, 124.5547° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The top of the site is a plateau at eight metres, and the drop-off starts at its edge and runs down to a sand bottom at 25 m. Guides tend to take the deep part first, because the sand and the base of the wall hold the best of the macro here, and 25 m is shallow enough that a slow search down there does not eat the whole dive before it starts.

The other feature is a large corner on the wall. It is the place on this site to stop and look out into the blue rather than in at the reef, since pelagics pass along the face there, and hanging off the corner for a few minutes is a normal part of the dive. From there the route runs back up onto the eight-metre plateau, which gives the shallow end of the profile somewhere to sit.

Marine life and season

  • Macro critters
Month-by-month season rating for Virgen East
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFairFairGoodPrimePrime

Season follows Anda: Nov–Jun is the main season; the south-west monsoon and typhoons make Jul–Oct unreliable on this exposed coast.

Sources

  1. Virgen East dive site — Scubago (SSI)

More dive sites in Anda

Wall

A wall to 30 m, split by cracks and crevices

5–30 mintermediate

A 24 m wall dived as two sites, north and south

to 24 mintermediate

A sharp wall to 40 m under a broad shelf of coral

to 40 madvanced

Muck & macro

A sloping wall onto muck at 25 m, dived for nudibranchs

to 25 mintermediate

A protected coral garden at 5–10 m above a canyon wall

5–30 mintermediate

Wall

A drift wall rated for beginners through advanced divers

4–30 mintermediate

Thousands of jackfish over a black-coral wall

10–30 m · max 40 mintermediate

Similar dives elsewhere

Wall

Kingston Wall

Togian Islands · Indonesia

A north-pointing finger from 15 m down to 34 m

5–34 m · max 60 madvanced

Wall

Lekuan 3

Bunaken · Indonesia

The sheltered Lekuan site, and Bunaken's night dive

to 30 mintermediate

Wall

Big Fish Wall

Derawan & Sangalaki · Indonesia

Slope to a 40-50 m wall, finished on the reef top next door

to 50 madvanced

Wall

Pangangan Wall

Cabilao · Philippines

Shallow muck over a coral wall that falls to 60 m

3–60 madvanced