Malapascua · Philippines · Muck & macro
Pasil Reef
Muck ground averaging 5 to 8 m, with a maximum near 16
Area photo: Petter Lindgren · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pasil Reef is a sandy area close in to Malapascua that is dived for muck rather than coral. The average depth is 5 to 8 metres and the maximum is around 16, which makes it one of the shallow, undemanding sites on the island. It is a slow dive where the finds are small and close to the sand, and buoyancy matters more than navigation.
Where it is and how deep
11.3301° N, 124.1252° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Pasil is one of the close-in sites off Malapascua and it is dived for the sand rather than for structure. It is a nice sandy area suitable for muck diving, so there is no wall or coral formation to follow and no route in the usual sense: the guide picks a line across the bottom and the group works it slowly, spread out enough that nobody is finning through the cloud in front of them.
The average depth is 5 to 8 metres, which means long bottom times and plenty of light for photography, and the maximum is around 16 metres if the group works out into the deeper sand. Buoyancy is the whole skill here, because a careless fin stroke over muck ends the dive for everyone behind you. Finish shallow on the same ground you started, where the sand is brightest and small subjects are easiest to pick out.
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.
Know before you go
- The bottom is fine sand that silts on contact; divers hold trim off the sand and stay spread out rather than queue behind a finning buddy.
Sources
- Pasil Reef - Scubago — Scubago/SSI
More dive sites in Malapascua
Reef
Reef, mini wall and coral garden from 12 m down to 30 m
Reef
Blue-ringed octopus and frogfish among coral boulders
Coral garden
A gentle coral slope from 5 to 20 m inside a protected area
Pinnacle
A 20 m-wide coral pinnacle topping out at 5 m
Pinnacle
A rocky pinnacle from 14 m to 34 m, dived on tide changes
Wreck
A 1988 ferry wreck lying on her starboard side at 33 m
A 5 to 13 m coral and seagrass slope off the resort beach
A 30 m swim-through tunnel at 10 m with sharks resting inside
Similar dives elsewhere
A current-free muck dive at the island's ferry port
Crocodilefish and leaf scorpionfish frozen against the rubble
Frogfish and flamboyant cuttlefish on rubble inside 10 metres
Where the holotype of the psychedelic frogfish was collected in 2008