Puerto Galera · Philippines · Muck & macro · Reef
Sabang Wrecks
Small wrecks, sea-pen sand and frogfish five minutes off the beach
Photo: amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
A scatter of small wrecks lying in the bay directly in front of Sabang Beach, in no more than 20 m of water and five minutes out by boat. Between the hulls the bottom is sand seeded with sea pens, and the diving is slow and close-up: frogfish, nudibranchs, mantis shrimp and turtles rather than distance and blue water.
Where it is and how deep
13.5232° N, 120.9750° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is a scatter of small wrecks that have collected in the bay over the years, among them the engine of a Japanese patrol boat from the Second World War. They sit in no more than 20 m of water, a five-minute boat ride from Sabang Beach, and the dive is worked slowly at that depth rather than spent covering ground. Turtles are common here, and the wrecks are where the grown frogfish sit.
Between and around the wrecks the ground is a wide sandy plain covered with sea pens, and it pays to slow right down over it: skeleton shrimp on the sea pens, demon stingers half-buried in the sand, snake eels and a star gazer showing little more than its eyes, and juvenile frogfish still too small to have moved up onto the wrecks. Pufferfish and surgeonfish are everywhere and let divers get very close.
Over to the west the sand gives way to soft coral, undulating fields of pink coral hiding nudibranchs, mantis shrimps and lots of small reef fish, before the ground rises into bigger coral boulders and small walls. With a 20 m maximum the profile stays shallow throughout, which suits a site where most of what you came for is the size of a thumb.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Nudibranchs
- Sea turtles
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Puerto Galera: November–May dry season is calmest; June–October southwest monsoon brings rain and swell.
Know before you go
- Demon stingers lie half-buried in the sand between the wrecks, so keep hands and fins off the bottom and settle only where you can see clear sand.
Photos from Sabang Wrecks
amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
Scuba Diving the Philippines - WRECK DIVING! Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera June 2016 · WATERLOGGED! on YouTube
Scuba Diving from the Philippines, Puerto Galaria, Sabang Wrecks · Kwajalein Diver on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Sabang Wrecks?+
PADI gives a maximum depth of 20 m and lists Open Water Diver as the useful training for the site, so it sits inside Open Water limits.
What can you see at Sabang Wrecks?+
Frogfish, nudibranchs, mantis shrimps, demon stingers, skeleton shrimp, snake eels and a star gazer on the sand, plus pufferfish and surgeonfish that let you approach closely. Turtles are common.
Sources
- Sabang Wrecks dive site | PADI — PADI
- Puerto Galera diving — Divezone
- Puerto Galera — Wikipedia
Photo credits
- Close-up of a frogfish's wide, textured mouth camouflaged against wreck debris at Sabang Wrecks. by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- A frogfish sits motionless on encrusted wreckage at the Sabang Wrecks dive site. by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
In The Logbook
- Cheapest places to scuba dive, and the catchTrip planning · 15 min read
- The best muck diving in the worldMacro & muck · 6 min read
- Your first wreck dive: what to expect and whereFirst dives · 6 min read
More dive sites in Puerto Galera
Wreck
A cargo hull upright at 30 m, lit through its own skylights
Drift
Three current-cut canyons and an old Spanish anchor at 30 m
Mandarinfish leave the fire coral here at dusk
Reef
A swim-through at 14 m with shoals riding the current overhead
Channel & pass
Drift the channel either way, depending on flood or ebb
Reef
Pygmy seahorses on the fans, turtles over the hard coral
A coral wall in the middle of the passage, dived in strong, clear water
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