Tongo Point is a gentle slope that starts at about 12 metres and runs down to 65, far past any recreational plan, so the depth you dive here is the depth you choose. What brings divers back is the coral cover: leather and soft coral as far as you can see across the slope. On some days the point carries quite strong current.
Where it is and how deep
9.2209° N, 123.4562° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The slope of this site begins at about 12 metres and continues, evenly, all the way to 65 - well beyond recreational limits, so the topography does not set the plan here, the diver does. In practice you pick a band of the slope and swim it, with the shallows on one shoulder and the drop on the other, and the bottom of the site stays below the dive rather than in it.
The reason to come is the coral. Tongo Point is popular in particular for the variety of coral found on it, with leather and soft coral running as far as you can see rather than in isolated patches. Current is the variable: on some days you can encounter quite strong currents at the point, on others it is a straightforward swim, so this is a site briefed on the day. Divers log visibility between 10 and 30 metres through the year.
Marine life and season
- Pristine corals
| 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
- Quite strong currents turn up on some days at the point, so the entry, the direction of the swim and the pickup are decided at the site rather than in advance.
- The slope runs to 65 metres with no shelf to stop a descent, which makes an agreed maximum depth the single most important part of the briefing.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Tongo Point?+
The slope starts at about 12 metres and runs to 65, which is far past recreational limits. Dives here work a chosen band of the slope rather than following it to the bottom.
Is there current at Tongo Point?+
On some days you can encounter quite strong currents at the point, and on others it is calm, so the dive is briefed and planned at the site on the day.
Sources
- Tongo Point - 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
A no-take reef since 1982, with turtles on nearly every dive
The protected shallows where Balicasag's turtles are thickest
Fields of big gorgonians at the 35-metre end of the slope
Banded sea kraits crawling openly over a sunken plateau