Romblon · Philippines · Coral garden · Reef
Coral Garden East
Ghost pipefish, odd shrimps and nudibranchs in the coral
Area photo: krokodiver · CC BY 2.0
The eastern half of Romblon's paired coral gardens, 30 to 40 minutes out from Romblon Town or Lonos and listed to 35 metres. It is worked as a hunting dive rather than a scenic one: ghost pipefish, special shrimps, nudibranchs and scorpionfish hide in the coral, with sea snakes, turtles and frogfish as the lucky finds.
Where it is and how deep
12.6522° N, 122.2313° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is a slow dive. The list of animals here, ghost pipefish and special shrimps and nudibranchs and scorpionfish, is a list of things that do not move and do not want to be seen, so the pace is set by whoever is looking rather than by the route. Expect a guide to work a narrow band of the coral formations back and forth with a pointer instead of covering ground.
With enough luck the dive adds sea snakes, turtles and frogfish, none of them reliable. The site is listed to 35 metres and the crossing is 30 to 40 minutes, so bottom time is worth protecting: get any deep section done early, then settle into the shallower coral where you can hold position over a subject without watching a no-stop clock. Coral Garden West sits alongside on the same trip.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Frogfish
- Sea turtles
- Sea snakes
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Romblon: Nov–Jun is the settled season; typhoons and the south-west monsoon make Jul–Oct unreliable for the boat crossing.
Questions divers ask
What can you see at Coral Garden East?+
Ghost pipefish, special shrimps, nudibranchs and scorpionfish are the regular finds, and with enough luck sea snakes, turtles and frogfish. It is a macro dive rather than a big-animal one.
Sources
- Diving in the Philippines — Wikivoyage
In The Logbook
- Nudibranchs: species, habits and where to diveMacro & muck · 13 min read
More dive sites in Romblon
Romblon's turtle reef, with whale sharks on the record
Wall
A field of garden eels below vertical walls and boulders
Muck & macro
A rich sand slope for cephalopods and nudibranchs
Pinnacle
A coral-covered submerged island from 10 metres down to 30
Coral garden
Anemones and coral formations on a reef that drops to 30 m
Wall
A wall to 40 m that turns a corner into a coral field
Blue hole
A chimney from 5 m to an opening on the reef near 30 m
Channel & pass
Often-strong current turns the channel into a drift
Similar dives elsewhere
A calm coral garden at 5–20 m, the island's easiest dive
Two different dives from one walk-in entry
Black coral garden on a gentle slope from 6 m to 25 m
A coral plateau at 18 m, swarmed by fish and turtles