Danao Wall is a short, well-mannered wall on Panglao's south coast, starting at about 5 m and dropping to 25, usually with a light current running along it. It is a straightforward dive with a lot on it — turtles, frogfish, octopus and the rest of the south-coast macro — and the gentle drift and shallow top make it one of the easier walls on the island to dive well.
Where it is and how deep
9.5421° N, 123.7613° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wall starts shallow — about 5 m at the top — and drops to around 25, which is a comfortable set of numbers: you can work the face at any depth, spend the end of the dive on the reef top and still have a long safety stop over coral rather than in blue water. There is usually a light current, so most operators run it as an easy drift and let it do the swimming.
What makes it worth the five minutes is the density on a small piece of reef. Turtles work the top, frogfish and octopus sit on the face, and the cracks and overhangs carry nudibranchs and the smaller reef life. Because the whole wall is inside recreational depth, there is no rush and nothing to plan around, which is the main argument for diving it over the deeper sites further out.
It sits next to Kalipayan on the same stretch of coast, so the two are commonly paired: the wall first while everyone is fresh, then the slope for the critters. In the rougher months the south coast here is the sheltered side of the island, and Danao stays diveable when the exposed sites are called off.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Frogfish
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Reef fish swarms
| 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.
Dive videos
Danao Wall's BEST Moments in 15 Mins (Turtles, Sea Snake!) | Quick Dive [Fish ID Tracker] · Talk to the Fish on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Danao Wall?+
The wall starts at about 5 m and drops to around 25 m, so the whole site sits inside Open Water limits. It is usually dived as a light drift along the face, finishing shallow on the reef top.
Is Danao Wall suitable for beginners?+
Yes. It is shallow-topped, inside recreational depth throughout, and the current is normally light enough to be an easy drift rather than something you have to work against.
Sources
- Dive Sites & Map Of Bohol — Sierra Madre Divers
- The Best of Panglao Dive Sites — Valm Divers Bohol
- Danao Wall — Scubago
In The Logbook
- Cheapest places to scuba dive, and the catchTrip planning · 15 min read
More dive sites in Panglao
Wall
A chimney through the wall, 18 m in and 8 m out
Reef
Ghost pipefish and pygmy seahorses on a calm coral slope
A turtle point about 10 m under a shallow reef cliff
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
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Cracks full of lobsters and tunnels behind the reef face
Caves in a coral wall where whitetips rest up
Shafts of light in a cracked cavern on the north wall