Romblon · Philippines · Muck & macro · Sand slope
Telsie's Garden
A rich sand slope for cephalopods and nudibranchs
Area photo: krokodiver · CC BY 2.0
A muck site right in front of the village of Agpanabat, 40 to 50 minutes by boat from Romblon Town or Lonos. The ground is a rich sandy slope with scattered coral and some rubble areas, listed to 30 metres, and it holds the cephalopods, nudibranchs and assorted fish that Romblon is dived for in the first place.
Where it is and how deep
12.4874° N, 122.2714° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Muck diving in front of a village means what it sounds like: a rich sandy slope with scattered coral and rubble areas rather than reef, and a dive spent a metre off the bottom looking at ground most divers would swim straight over. The slope runs down to 30 metres, and the productive band is wherever the guide has been finding things rather than a fixed depth.
Cephalopods are the draw, with many different species here, and nudibranchs and a long list of fish alongside them. The rule on ground like this is fin control: soft sediment silts instantly and one careless kick ends the sighting for everyone behind you. Stay high, approach a subject from the side, and let the group spread along the slope instead of crowding a single find.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| 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
- The slope is soft, and a careless fin stroke silts it out for the divers behind you for the rest of the pass; stay off the bottom and keep gauges clipped.
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
Sand slope
Giant clams scattered across the sand of a protected bay
Reef
Walk-in house reef that doubles as the training and night dive
Romblon's turtle reef, with whale sharks on the record
Wall
A field of garden eels below vertical walls and boulders
Pinnacle
A coral-covered submerged island from 10 metres down to 30
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
Wall
A wall to 40 m that turns a corner into a coral field
Similar dives elsewhere
Fine sand and rock past 30 metres, dived for the small stuff
Sea fans on the mini-wall hold pygmy seahorses
Black sand to 27 metres, at its best after dark
Two sunken cars at 24-28 m, with critters in the wreckage