Donsol & Ticao Pass · Philippines · Reef · Cave & cavern
Tres Grace
Limestone swim-throughs off a white sand beach
Area photo: AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa · CC BY-SA 3.0
A dive at the corner of a white sand beach on San Miguel Island, running to about 20 metres. Much of the island is limestone, and the rock carries under water into formations with several swim-throughs and mini caves, entered through a pathway of soft coral.
Where it is and how deep
12.7143° N, 123.5941° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The site is at the corner of a white sand beach on San Miguel Island, in the north of Ticao. On entering the water you are enveloped by a variety of soft coral that forms a pathway leading away from the sand, and the dive follows that line rather than dropping straight down; the profile bottoms out at around 20 metres.
Much of San Miguel Island is made of limestone, and the same rock continues below the waterline. The formations here are the reason to dive it: you get to look over limestone structures under the sea and to pass through several swim-throughs and mini caves, so the dive is a sequence of short passages rather than one long reef swim.
Keep the swim-throughs conservative — they are short but they are overhead, so a light and settled buoyancy make the difference between a comfortable pass and a silted one. San Miguel Island sits about 45 minutes by boat from the Manta Bowl shoal, so Tres Grace is dived on a day given over to this end of Ticao rather than as a filler between pass dives.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Donsol & Ticao Pass: Whale sharks are in Donsol Nov–Jun, peaking Feb–May; manta activity at the Bowl follows a similar window before typhoon season.
Sources
- Diving in Donsol and Ticao — Thresher Shark Divers
More dive sites in Donsol & Ticao Pass
Wall
Overhangs and ledges worked at macro range
Cave & cavern
A half-drowned cavern where two currents meet
Reef
A steep face with frogfish on it and tuna off it
Reef
Squid and cuttlefish eggs wedged between the rocks
Reef
Rock cover that puts you close to passing mantas
Reef
Four hectares of shallow cleaning station in the pass
Reef
Whitetips lying up between boulders on white sand
Pinnacle
A mushroom rock you can circle in one dive
Similar dives elsewhere
Twin reefs with a small cavern tucked between them
A sheltered inlet, a drop to 20 m, hidden reefs and a cave
Sangat Island reef, shallow enough for snorkellers
.jpg){kind=link}
A million-plus sardines holding a short swim off the dive shops