Diving in Boracay

Boracay is not only recognised as the top beach in South East Asia, but also one of the top beaches of the world. White Beach is pretty good; I have no doubt this is the best beach in South East Asia but I do have some reservations as the top beach worldwide.

Despite its many attractions; what Boracay is not well known for is as a dive location. The Philippines is a top notch dive location spread across its thousands of islands; however most of Boracay's divesites are pretty ordinary and not recommended with the notable exception of the Yapek wall.

The most outstanding dive in Boracay is Yapek II, a vertical wall beginning at 30 metres and heading downwards, a dive here will earn you some hang time in blue water if you wish to spend some time at 40 metres. On my last dive there; we were swimming in the current surrounded by schools of fish rounded up by a series of sharks against the wall - this is by far my most favourite dive on Boracay.

Other top class dive sites include Yapak I, Punta Bunga and Channel Drift may be ok when the current is running.

For me, dives to avoid in the area are any of the dive sites directly in front of White Beach, a number of times we got dropped in flat featureless terrain and swam for 20 - 25 minutes to get to a small wall or rock.

A down side of Boracay diving is price fixing; the majority of the dive centres are located on the beach, whilst wandering around the beach comparing prices, I firstly noticed that all dive centres display the exact same price for dive courses, introductory dives and dive trips. I enquired with numerous shops on the beach and none were willing to negotiate on price; I was told that the Boracay Association of Sport and Scuba Diving fixes prices and should they sell dive trips under the mandatory minimum price, they will be reported to the association by other dive association members and fined. A number of dive centre staff openly admitted to institutionalised price fixing and felt there was nothing wrong with this. 



I was even given the contact details of Niek, known as The Sherriff for his robust policing of their price fixing cartel; I went to visit him a number of times to seek clarification but was unable to get hold of him as he was always out - presumably in the water as he is a local dive instructor.

  

Boracay is sun and fun, with the exception of a couple of sites, this is an expensive place to have some pretty ordinary dives - better to head to Anilao, Bohol, Moalboal, Malapascua or Sabang.