Sunken Island, also known as Takot Shoal, is a submerged island in the San Juan area of Siquijor, encrusted with hard and soft corals. It is a sloping dive from about 12 metres to 40, with enough current on it to be rated a more advanced site, and a fish list that runs from schooling jacks and big tuna down to frogfish and nudibranchs.
Also known as Takot Shoal.
Where it is and how deep
9.1274° N, 123.4776° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive starts at about 12 metres on top of the submerged island and slopes away to 40, so the profile is a decision made before you get in: how far down the flank you go, and how long you stay there. Current is part of the site - you can encounter some on any given day - and that, with the depth, is why it is described as a more advanced dive than the shore entries along the west coast.
The structure is encrusted with hard and soft corals, and the mix of exposure and depth gives the site both ends of the spectrum at once. Schools of jacks and barracuda work the water with big tuna among them; snappers, groupers and lionfish hold on the reef; and on the coral there are nudibranchs, flatworms, frogfish, scorpionfish and seahorses for divers who slow down. Sea turtles come through, and logged visibility has run from 5 to 30 metres.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
- Trevally & jacks
- Barracuda
- Groupers
- Frogfish
- Sea turtles
- Tuna
- Macro critters
| 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 Siquijor: Nov–Jun is the main season; the south-west monsoon brings swell to the western walls from July to October.
Know before you go
- Current is expected here rather than exceptional, and the site is offshore, so carry and deploy a surface marker and stay with the group through the ascent.
- The slope runs to 40 metres with nothing to stop you at any particular depth, so agree a hard maximum in the briefing and hold it.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Sunken Island in Siquijor?+
It is a sloping dive that starts at about 12 metres on the top of the submerged island and runs to 40 metres. That depth, with the current the site can carry, is why it is treated as an advanced dive.
Is Takot Shoal the same as Sunken Island?+
Yes. The site is also known as Takot Shoal, and both names describe the same submerged island in the San Juan area of Siquijor.
Sources
- Sunken Island - Scubago — Scubago (SSI)
- Takot Shoal - Scubago — Scubago (SSI)
More dive sites in Siquijor
Wall
A sloping wall from 5 m, entered on foot south of San Juan
Seagrass, dense reef and wall on one protected slope
Pinnacle
An offshore pinnacle topping out at 5 m
Staghorn fields at depth, and frogfish after dark
Coral garden
Two different dives from one walk-in entry
A wall from 5 m, with the depth below it optional
Wall
Sea fans on a vertical face, dived as a guided drift
One of the island's easiest entries, and a night-dive regular
Similar dives elsewhere
An isolated seamount that pulls in barracuda and trevally schools
Twin peaks at 8 m over walls falling 80 m, in current that feeds the fish
Utila's blue-water seamount, with whale sharks passing over
Where Malapascua's thresher sharks moved in 2022, at 12–22 m