Scuba Diving in the Philippines is easy. We are lucky to be living here and we oftentimes forget this. It is because our daily life in the city makes us too preoccupied. There are Scuba Trips that caters to all kinds of explorations, like Fish Identification, Coral Identification, Drifts (Riding the current) and Wrecks.
Let us Begin from the top in Northern Luzon just by The Lingayen Gulf are two beautiful Dive Destinations. La Union and Pangasinan. When you say La Union you immediately think surfing. So it is quite amazing how diverse this area has become with the re opening of Clark International Airport and major expressways SCTEX and TPLEX, access to La Union is now easier.
The two municipalities that have Scuba Diving facilities are San Juan and San Fernando. San Juan boasting Holicim and Paroir Dive sites while San Fernando with its marine sanctuaries of Lingsat Marine Protected Area (LMPA), Research Reef and Maritime College Dive sites.
A little bit further down is The Bolinao Marine Laboratory or BML. The main research station of the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines. It is among the leading scientific research institutions in Southeast Asia. Giant Clam Conservation challenged the few Marine Scientists back in the 80s and came up with BML.
Northern Luzon Scuba Diving and Marine Sanctuaries will satiate your Citizen Science and Conservationist palette. With numerous ways to preserve our oceans, it all begins with supporting these dive communities that has helped the Philippine reefs in so many ways.
And for the history buffs, Subic Bay with its World War 2 wrecks have divers curiously exploring and discovering these preserved wrecks. Most Scuba Divers here will tell you numerous stories that history books have not tapped on. The El Capitan, Nikko Maro, USS New York and San Quentin are just few wrecks you can easily explore.
To be continued next week as we drive further down to the southern parts of Luzon, where I learned to Scuba Dive.