Apo Island · Philippines · Reef · Coral garden
Katipanan Reef
Coral gardens on a gentle slope, with the best of the reef above 18 m
Photo: Anna Varona · CC BY 4.0
Katipanan is a gentle coral slope inside the protected waters of the Apo Island Marine Sanctuary. The best of the reef sits no deeper than 18 m, a mix of hard and soft coral gardens with green turtles grazing across it, and the site is described as diving in calm conditions. It is a long, shallow reef dive rather than one of the island's current-swept points.
Also known as Katipanan.
Where it is and how deep
9.0730° N, 123.2679° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive works the slope itself rather than any one feature. What is published about Katipanan is brief: a gentle incline whose best coral is no deeper than 18 m, described as a mix of hard and soft coral gardens, with the coral fields reaching away along the slope as you swim it. There is no deep section to spend gas on, so the profile stays shallow and the bottom time runs long.
Green sea turtles graze the reef here and are the sighting most divers come away with, with schools of tropical fish darting through the corals over the slope. Working in close pays off too: nudibranchs and shrimp are called out among the coral, so it suits a slow lap with a macro lens rather than a fast circuit. Beyond that, little is documented for this site specifically — conditions are reported as calm, but no visibility figures have been published for it separately from the rest of Apo Island.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Reef fish swarms
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Apo Island: Dived year-round; April and May give the calmest crossings, and the December–February trade winds can chop up the open crossing and the exposed points.
Photos from Katipanan Reef
Elias Levy · CC BY 2.0
Elias Levy · CC BY 2.0
jackylim · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dive videos
Philippines - Apo Island - Katipanan Reef 4K - · Mario Diving Films on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Katipanan Reef?+
The best of the reef is no deeper than 18 m, so it dives as a shallow coral slope with a long bottom time. No separate minimum or typical depth has been published for the site.
Is Katipanan Reef good for beginners?+
Yes. The site is described as a gentle slope that suits both beginners and experienced divers, in calm conditions, and the coral divers come for is well inside Open Water depth limits.
What will I see at Katipanan Reef?+
Green sea turtles grazing on the reef, schools of tropical fish through the corals, and macro life such as nudibranchs and shrimp tucked into the hard and soft coral gardens.
Sources
- Diving Sites Philippines: Dumaguete, Apo Island — Dive The World
- Katipanan Reef — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)
- Apo Island — Wikivoyage
Photo credits
- Dense lettuce coral and boulder coral cover a reef slope at Apo Island. by Anna Varona, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Large plate coral fronds stacked one above another on the Apo Island reef. by Elias Levy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A close view of Goniopora coral polyps extended, each with a ring of pale tentacles. by Elias Levy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- An outrigger boat moored off a white beach on Apo Island, seen from under a rock overhang with a sea stack beyond. by jackylim, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Apo Island
A no-take reef since 1982, with turtles on nearly every dive
A reef finger on the island's southeast corner, fed by the prevailing current
Frogfish and cuttlefish in the island's densest hard coral
A wall of overhangs and caverns with its foot at about 30 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Banded sea kraits crawling openly over a sunken plateau
An easy north-coast reef on the Napaling and Doljo road trip
Staghorn thickets and giant clams inside a marine sanctuary
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The protected shallows where Balicasag's turtles are thickest