Panglao, the area around Brothers House Reef

Panglao · Philippines · Reef · Wall

Brothers House Reef

A turtle point about 10 m under a shallow reef cliff

Area photo: Jeroen36 · CC BY 3.0

A shallow Panglao reef where the coral top sits at about 7 m before dropping over a short cliff. Clown fish and other small reef fish hold in the first 3 to 4 metres, and there is a turtle point about 10 m below the lip of the cliff, where turtles are sometimes found sleeping. The shallow profile is why the site is handed to first-time divers.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Brothers House Reef: typical dive 3–7 m (10–23 ft), deepest point 17 m (56 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit3 m7 m17 m maxtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

9.5396° N, 123.7506° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

The dive works in two shallow layers. The first is the reef top, which runs at about 3 to 4 metres and is where the small fish are concentrated: clown fish, lace fish and the other small reef fish that sit over the coral in the same depth band. It is bright, slow water, and because nothing on the reef top is deeper than a few metres it is the part of the site first-time divers spend most of their dive on.

The reef top ends at around 7 metres, where a cliff drops away. Follow the edge and look over it: the turtle point sits roughly 10 metres below the lip, and turtles are sometimes seen there, asleep rather than swimming. That drop is the deep end of the dive and the only part of it that needs any real attention to gas and depth. From there you come back up onto the shallow reef and finish the dive over the coral top where you started.

Marine life and season

  • Sea turtles
Month-by-month season rating for Brothers House Reef
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFairFairGoodPrimePrime

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.

Questions divers ask

How deep is Brothers House Reef?+

The reef top runs at about 3 to 4 metres and the coral shelf ends at roughly 7 metres, where a cliff drops away. The turtle point below the cliff sits about 10 metres deeper than the lip, which is the deepest part of the dive.

Is Brothers House Reef suitable for beginners?+

Yes. The catalogue description calls the shallow 7-metre profile easier for first-time diving visitors, and the fish life sits in the top 3 to 4 metres, so a diver can get a full dive without leaving very shallow water.

Sources

  1. Brothers House Reef - Scubago — Scubago

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