Pyramids takes its name from the shape of the artificial reef structures set on the sand between 10 and 20 metres off Dauin. The modules are encrusted with sponges and soft corals and give the site vertical surfaces that the surrounding sandy slopes do not have, so the species living on them differ from the open muck nearby. Frogfish are the draw.
Also known as Pyramid.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Dauin and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The structures sit between 10 and 20 metres and are the whole point of the dive: pyramid-shaped artificial reef modules encrusted with sponges and soft corals, standing above an otherwise sandy bottom. Those vertical surfaces host different species from the sandy slopes elsewhere along the coast, so the dive is spent circling and looking into the modules rather than covering ground between them.
Frogfish are what most divers come for. Multiple species live on the pyramids, and Dive The World reports sometimes three or four different colour morphs on a single dive. Nudibranchs are abundant too, particularly nembrotha and tambja species, and the gaps in the pyramids are worth looking into for moray eels and lionfish. The shallow maximum depth leaves time to work each structure properly.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Nudibranchs
| 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 Dauin: Diveable year-round on the sheltered coast; December–February trade winds can raise chop on the shallow sand slopes.
Dive videos
Dauin - Pyramids & Dacomi Pier · Алексей on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Pyramids dive site?+
Between 10 and 20 metres, shallow enough that the dive is limited by air rather than no-decompression time. That leaves room to work each pyramid slowly, which is how the frogfish and nudibranchs on them get found.
Sources
- Dauin Diving, Dumaguete - Philippines — Dive The World
- Scuba Diving in Dumaguete — Atlantis Dumaguete
Photo credits
- A bearded fireworm with orange and black bristles crawls over dark sand at the Pyramids, Dauin. by q.phia, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
In The Logbook
- Frogfish: species, behaviour and where to diveMacro & muck · 12 min read
- The best muck diving in the worldMacro & muck · 6 min read
- The best shore dives in the worldShore diving · 8 min read
More dive sites in Dauin
Muck slope and coral bommies ten metres apart
Sand slope
Metal and concrete structures set on a seagrass flat
Coleman shrimp on fire urchins, and the coast's smallest finds
Artificial reef
Mimic, wonderpus and blue-ringed octopus under the pillars
A decade-old tyre reef, grown in and dived after dark too
Muck & macro
Muck and healthy reef on the sanctuary's southern edge
Blue-ringed octopus and wonderpus on the rubble
Mandarinfish spawning over black sand in the last light
Similar dives elsewhere
Motorbike frames and concrete set on a sandy slope at 15 metres
Frogfish in red, yellow and black under the platform legs
Two jetties over a steep sand slope to 30 metres
Coral-grown structures at nine metres, dived for shrimp and nudibranchs