Malapascua · Philippines · Coral garden · Reef
Coral Garden
A gentle coral slope from 5 to 20 m inside a protected area
Area photo: Petter Lindgren · CC BY-SA 3.0
Coral Garden is a shallow, easy dive close to Malapascua Island: a gentle sandy slope covered with healthy hard and soft corals, running from about 5 to 20 metres. It is used for check dives, for beginners and for relaxed reef exploration, and Wikivoyage lists it among the island's marine protected areas, on the east side, where snorkelling is part of the point.
Where it is and how deep
11.3371° N, 124.1219° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site sits close to Malapascua Island, which makes it one of the easiest things to slot into a day's diving. The bottom is a gentle sandy slope covered with healthy hard and soft corals, and the dive follows it: drop onto the shallow end at around 5 metres, work down the slope while the group settles, and let the coral cover set the pace rather than any particular feature.
The deep end of the slope is about 20 metres, so a normal recreational profile takes you down, along, and back up the same ground with time to spare. Because it is shallow and easy it is where instructors bring students and where check dives get done, and where anyone who wants an unhurried reef dive rather than a demanding one ends up. Coming back up the slope leaves the shallowest, brightest coral for the end of the dive.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Malapascua: Threshers visit Kimud Shoal all year. March to May is calmest and clearest; October to January brings rough seas, green water and the most cancelled crossings.
Questions divers ask
Is Coral Garden good for beginners?+
Yes. It is described as a shallow and easy dive site close to Malapascua Island, suited to beginners, check dives and relaxed reef exploration, with the slope running from about 5 to 20 metres.
Sources
- Coral Garden - Scubago — Scubago/SSI
- Malapascua — Wikivoyage
More dive sites in Malapascua
Wreck
A wreck shallow enough to be someone's first ever dive
Muck & macro
Resident hairy frogfish a short ride from the island
Muck & macro
A dune-like sand slope for macro, down to about 28 m
Wall
A 12 to 14 m wall with ground running down to 28 m
Muck & macro
Muck ground averaging 5 to 8 m, with a maximum near 16
A 5 to 13 m coral and seagrass slope off the resort beach
Pinnacle
A 20 m-wide coral pinnacle topping out at 5 m
Reef
Blue-ringed octopus and frogfish among coral boulders
Similar dives elsewhere
The area's most reliable tasselled wobbegong sightings
Hawksbill turtles and clownfish colonies on a shore-entry house reef
A coral plateau at 18 m, swarmed by fish and turtles
Very large sea fans among soft-coral gardens