Camiguin · Philippines · Coral garden
Kilambing
Hard coral garden with a 20 m maximum and frequent sea snakes
Area photo: Kleomarlo · CC BY-SA 3.0
A hard coral garden on a sloping seabed off White Island, bottoming out at 20 m. The shallow maximum and the easy grade make it a site any certification level can dive, and the coral holds enough to fill a tank: frogfish tucked into it, turtles over it, and colourful reef fish across the whole garden. Sea snakes are seen here often.
Where it is and how deep
9.2565° N, 124.6530° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The seabed slopes gently and reaches 20 m at its deepest, which sets the shape of the whole dive: there is no deep leg to get out of the way first, so you can start looking from the moment you are down. Hard corals cover the ground and the reef fish are on them in numbers and colour, and that is where most of the tank goes.
The finds are in the detail. Frogfish sit on the coral and are hard to pick out until something moves, and sea turtles are on the list of what the garden holds. Sea snakes are spotted here often, so keep your hands off the coral and give them the room to carry on along it. A slow pace and a good light return far more here than covering ground does.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Sea turtles
- Sea snakes
- Reef fish swarms
- Pristine corals
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Camiguin: Nov–Apr is the dry, settled run; May–Oct rain is heavy but short and rarely stops diving, and the small typhoon risk falls in Sep–Oct.
Sources
- Kilambing - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Camiguin
Sand slope
Shore-entry slope with a lettuce coral reef from 21 m
Current-swept offshore slope under soft coral, 5 to 25 m
Wall
Offshore shoal edge dropping past 60 m, cut with overhangs
Green turtles resident year-round on a 5-to-50 m drop-off
Wall
Volcanic cliff from 5 m and dropping past 60 m
Reef
Soft-coral slope from 2 m to 30 m beside the volcano wall
Reef
Coral-covered tombs at 6 m under a white concrete cross
Reef
The island's Deep Diver training reef, 5 m to 40 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A calm coral garden at 5–20 m, the island's easiest dive
A coral plateau at 18 m, swarmed by fish and turtles
Fusiliers and damsels wearing colours you would not expect
Temple, cabbage and mushroom coral in 15 m of water