Arco Point, also known as The Hole in The Wall, is a shallow wall on Panglao with a chimney running through it from 18 m up to 8 m. The swim-through is the reason to dive it: cave-dwellers sit inside it in the beam of a torch, and the wall outside carries soft corals and enough macro to fill a dive on its own.
Also known as The Hole in The Wall.
Where it is and how deep
9.5581° N, 123.8096° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wall here is shallow - shallow enough that snorkellers get something out of it - and the feature that gives the site both its names is a chimney cut through it. You enter at 18 m and come out at 8 m, which makes it a short vertical passage rather than a swim-through you have to commit to, but it is still an overhead: torch in hand, one diver at a time, and fins off the walls.
Inside, the torch beam picks out the cave-dwellers: sergeant majors, cardinalfish and scorpionfish holding in the cracks. Outside, the wall runs on with soft corals across it, and this is where Arco Point earns its second reputation. Blue-ringed octopus, frogfish and orangutan crabs are all found along it, so the return leg is worth doing slowly - none of that shows itself at swimming speed.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Frogfish
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Panglao: Nov–Jun is the main season; the south-west monsoon and typhoons disrupt Jul–Oct, though the sheltered south coast keeps working through much of it.
Know before you go
- The chimney is a genuine overhead, short as it is: go through one diver at a time with a torch, and keep fins clear of the walls so the diver behind still has visibility.
- Blue-ringed octopus are found on this wall and their bite is dangerous - keep hands off the reef and out of holes and crevices.
Dive videos
Paul-Ranky-Panglao-Bohol-02-ArcoPoint-AlonaHouseReef-Dives-4Kvideo-Master-Edit-HD · Paul Ranky on YouTube
Scuba Diving at Arco Point Panglao, Bohol · Adrenaline Romance on YouTube
Seaquest dive center Whaleshark at Arco Point · Benjamin Meerhaeghe on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Arco Point?+
It is a shallow wall. The chimney that gives the site its name runs from 18 m at the entrance up to 8 m at the exit, so the dive works comfortably inside 20 m.
Is Arco Point good for snorkelling?+
Yes - the wall is shallow enough that snorkellers get a lot out of it, though the chimney itself is a scuba feature and needs a torch to be worth anything.
Sources
- Your Guide to Diving in Bohol — Dive The World
- Panglao, Bohol — Wikipedia
- Arco Point — Scubago
More dive sites in Panglao
Reef
Ghost pipefish and pygmy seahorses on a calm coral slope
A turtle point about 10 m under a shallow reef cliff
Wall
A drifted wall from 5 m to 25 m, minutes from Alona
Wall
A vertical wall of huge gorgonians on Panglao's quietest corner
Wall
Table corals over a wall running 25 to 40 metres
Wreck
A dive boat on the sand at 37 m, a kilometre off Alona Beach
Reef
Panglao's critter slope, five minutes off Alona Beach
Reef
An easy north-coast reef on the Napaling and Doljo road trip
Similar dives elsewhere
Scorpionfish, blackspotted morays and orang-utan crabs on the face.
A hundred metres of coral wall from 5 m to 60
Stacked table corals over a wall dropping to 50 m
Giant gorgonian fans on a wall from 5 m to 60