Romblon · Philippines · Wall · Drift
San Pedro Cliff
A field of garden eels below vertical walls and boulders
Area photo: krokodiver · CC BY 2.0
An area of steep vertical walls and boulders, listed to 40 metres, with currents present often enough that Wikivoyage calls the site perfect for a drift dive. A large field of garden eels is its signature and the reason it draws macro photographers, and reef fish, rays and turtles are on the list here too. It is 15 minutes out from Lonos or 25 from Romblon Town.
Where it is and how deep
12.5288° N, 122.2489° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
There are often currents here, and the site is dived with them rather than against: it is run as a drift along a face of steep vertical walls and boulders, which makes the route a one-way trip and the entry something to time and brief properly before anyone gets in the water. Reef fish, rays and turtles are all part of what the site attracts, alongside its macro life.
The garden eels are why macro photographers come. A large field of them stands out of the bottom, and photographing garden eels in current is a patience problem more than a technical one: they retract as you approach, so the approach has to be slow and low while the drift is trying to move you past. Pick one patch, settle early, and let the rest of the field go by.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
- Sea turtles
| 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.
Know before you go
- Currents are usual rather than exceptional here and the site is dived as a drift, so carry a surface marker and stay with the group instead of working the wall alone.
- The walls are steep and vertical and the site is listed to 40 metres, so depth creeps easily while you follow a subject down the face.
Questions divers ask
Is San Pedro Cliff a drift dive?+
Usually. Wikivoyage notes that currents are often present, which is what makes the site suitable for a drift dive along the walls and boulders. It is listed to 40 metres.
Sources
- Diving in the Philippines — Wikivoyage
More dive sites in Romblon
Channel & pass
Often-strong current turns the channel into a drift
Reef
Reef from two metres down to sand at twenty
Blue hole
A chimney from 5 m to an opening on the reef near 30 m
Fields of big gorgonians at the 35-metre end of the slope
Coral garden
Ghost pipefish, odd shrimps and nudibranchs in the coral
Coral garden
Anemones and coral formations on a reef that drops to 30 m
Sand slope
Giant clams scattered across the sand of a protected bay
Coral garden
A shallow coral canyon on the tip of a rocky islet
Similar dives elsewhere
A drift from schooling fish on the point to macro on the slope
Packs of bumphead parrotfish, sometimes 40 strong, grazing the table corals
Sea fans on a vertical face, dived as a guided drift
Gorgonians and soft coral on a limestone wall, averaging 20 m