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 | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Siquijor: November to May is the main season; from June to October the south-west monsoon moves the diving from the western walls to the sheltered north-east coast.
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
Staghorn fields at depth, and frogfish after dark
Seamount
A submerged island from 12 m to 40, with current and big fish
Wall
Sea fans on a vertical face, dived as a guided drift
A wall from 5 m, with the depth below it optional
Seagrass, dense reef and wall on one protected slope
Wreck
A well-preserved wreck at 30 to 35 m off the Larena pier
Artificial reef
Sunken concrete crosses grown into an artificial reef
Pinnacle
An offshore pinnacle topping out at 5 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Fields of big gorgonians at the 35-metre end of the slope
Dark red sea fans two to three metres across
Romblon's turtle reef, with whale sharks on the record
A no-take reef since 1982, with turtles on nearly every dive