Anda · Philippines · Reef · Sand slope
Virgen West
Reef top at 5 m, sandy slope at the foot of the drop
Area photo: Ioannis Magouras · CC BY 4.0
Virgen West sits in the middle of the Virgen marine sanctuary. The reef top starts at around 5 m and the drop-off runs from there down to 30 m, finishing on a sandy slope that is the more interesting half of the site for anyone who would rather look at sand than at coral.
Where it is and how deep
9.7267° N, 124.5514° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The reef top begins at about 5 m, so the site starts shallow and stays that way until you reach the edge of it. The drop-off runs from there down to 30 m. There is no complicated route: you pick a depth on the reef, follow the line of the drop and turn when the plan says to, and the shallow top means the safety stop is spent over coral rather than in open water.
The bottom is the part worth planning for. Below the drop the sand slopes away, and it is that slope rather than the reef above it that guides single out here, so a dive is usually built around getting down early and giving the sand some time before working back up onto the reef. The whole site lies in the middle of the Virgen marine sanctuary.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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
- Virgen West dive site — Scubago (SSI)
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