El Nido & Bacuit Bay · Philippines · Reef · Sand slope
Twin Rocks, El Nido
Stingrays on the sand earn it the nickname "The Stingray Airport".
Area photo: Micluna · CC BY-SA 4.0
A sheltered reef slope on the north side of Miniloc Island, near El Nido's Small Lagoon — not to be confused with the Twin Rocks in Anilao. The site slopes from 10 to 21 m over a rich sandy bottom with sea whips and hard corals, and bluespotted stingrays are common enough that a local operator nicknames it "The Stingray Airport".
Also known as The Stingray Airport.
Where it is and how deep
11.1514° N, 119.3299° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
You start on the upper reef at about 10 m and follow the slope down over its sandy bottom, which bottoms out at 21 m. The rocks that name the site carry sea whips and hard corals, and the dive is a relaxed circuit of the slope rather than a swim to any single feature, with the shelter of Miniloc Island keeping conditions calm year-round.
The sand is the show here. Bluespotted stingrays settle on it in numbers — the reason a resident operator calls the site "The Stingray Airport" — so most of the dive is spent scanning the bottom between coral heads. Angelfish work the reef alongside them, and you end the dive by drifting back up the slope into the shallows to ascend.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Good |
Season follows El Nido & Bacuit Bay: May and November shoulder months bring the best visibility, often past 30 m; June–September typhoons can cancel boat days.
Questions divers ask
Is this the same Twin Rocks as the one in Anilao?+
No. This Twin Rocks sits off the north side of Miniloc Island in Bacuit Bay, El Nido; the Anilao site of the same name is an unrelated reef in Batangas.
Sources
- Twin Rocks, El Nido — scubago
- Diving in the Philippines — Wikivoyage
- Palawan Divers – Discover El Nido Dive Sites — Palawan Divers
More dive sites in El Nido & Bacuit Bay
Cave & cavern
A roughly 40 m tunnel lit by holes in its ceiling.
Wall
A vertical limestone wall falling from a 5 m coral garden to 35 m.
Cave & cavern
Boulders and rock formations cut with numerous swim-throughs.
Sand slope
Six metres deep, sandy and pool-calm — the bay's training ground.
Reef
A coral "underwater forest" sloping away from a 5 m garden.
Reef
Lettuce-coral gardens and a large colony of blue eels at 13–21 m.
Similar dives elsewhere
White sand to 15 m, no current, twenty minutes from town
Hard coral, soft coral and sea fans on a sand slope to 20 m
Reef from two metres down to sand at twenty
Coral blocks on sand, with schooling fish over a slow slope