The small island of Mactan on the east coast of the island of Cebu, strictly opposite the eponymous capital of Cebu - a happy owner of excellent beaches and a host of hotels, as well as the second most important airport in the Philippines. In the role of cultural attractions on the Maktana are an aquarium and a couple of monuments: Magellan and his killer - the leader of Lapu-Lapu. For the most part, the beauty of the island is natural and underwater: diving there is developed "by five."
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Diving on Maktan
The best diving is in the canal near Hilutangan Island, which is shared by Mactan and the neighboring island of Olango. The walls there reach 300 meters in depth and are popular with fans of technical diving. Average visibility is about 18 m, strong currents are possible.
Home reef of the Shangri-La hotel is a sandy slope with a depth of 5 to 20 meters. There you can see the coral "elephant ear", nudibranchs, sea horses, eagle rays. Any Open-Water certified tourist can dive here and enjoy the underwater macro photography.
Mar y Cielo ("Sea and Sky") also refers to hotel sites - in this case, the hotels Vista Mar. There at the wall of 35-40 m depth you can meet the triggerfish, eagle rays and two-colored angels.
Climaco - wall up to 40 m deep with a weak current, angler fish and dragonfish.
Another "dive" dive site - Tambuli, which is known for the fact that at a depth of 22 m there is a small plane. Even in Tambuli you can find pomatsentrovyh fish, sergeant fish, anglers, crocodile fish, blue nosy moray eels (sounds scary!) And small barracudas. Warning: since the site is located near the shore at a fairly popular hotel, divers should not lose their vigilance and be careful of all kinds of water motorcycles and boats with tourists who dissect waves nearby.
Costa Bella (up to 30 m) offers nudibranchs in assortment, orange clowns and triggerfish.
The site of Whale Rock (also called "Dakit-Dakit") is most interesting at a depth of 10-22 m. In this "layer" there are hard corals, sponges, nudibranchs, reef fish, barracudas and even striped anglers. And since the dive begins with a shallow depth in the sand, snorkeling is also common on this dive site.
The Marine Station (up to 35 m) is famous for its picturesque hard corals, nudibranchs, anglers and seahorses. Thanks to good visibility (up to 30 m) and a weak current, there are also plenty of snorkeling lovers.
The site Kon-Tiki in front of the hotel Maribago Bluewater - the proud owner of its own "rack", namely: lying at a depth of 7 m excavator bucket. It is good for beginners, since it allows you to dive right from the shore.
Near the Ludo wall, the species can be opened at a depth of 10-20 m: this is a titanic triggerfish, and a sergeant fish, and a bayonet.
The Hadsan hotel has the same name dive site, where you can see parrotfishes, rarely - whale sharks, and also dive at night or just lazily plow the water surface with a mask and snorkel.
The Marigondon Cave is rightfully considered one of the best sites on Maktan. Located in front of the hotel Plantation Bay Resort at a depth of 30-38 m, it goes deep into 40-45 m, so there is no way to do without lanterns. And already inside the cave of divers are asked to turn off the flashlights to watch the amazing lantern-eyed fishes that know how to "semaphorize" bright lights under their eyes.
Olango Island also has a couple of dive sites: it's Bas Coral (Cathedral) in 15 minutes of sailing from the Shangri-La hotel (they say that dolphins are often visited during this sea trip), Santa Rosa with soft corals, sea horses, sandy eels and sharks-foxes, as well as Tauma and Tingo Point, where in the mornings there are three-meter-long fox-sharks. Photo of Maktan (3)