Night Diving at Palm Beach, Marigondon

As a child, I remembered Marigondon as a weekend refuge from the city life for me and my big family. This is where we usually spend Saturdays, Sundays and all the public holidays specially when the tide is high. We all love the sea so much that we would stay in the water from the time we arrive til its time to go. I would get prune hands it would hurt all night but as a child, it never mattered then.

nudibranch - looking so fragile

However now that I'm crazy about scuba diving, this is how I spend most of my time in Marigondon lately. I didnt realized until now that it has a very vibrant marine life. No matter how many times I dove in this place, there is always something new to see or discover every time. Recently a friend of mine has been asking me to buddy with him for night diving almost every day. And like day time scuba diving there is always something new that we discover. Only that it is more interesting. Night diving is always a different experience, most creatures that you encounter during night time you may not see them during the day, ie. cuttlefish, brittle star, etc. But most of all, we usually feel more adrenalin as it can be a scary thing diving in darkness. I remember my first night diving experience, I almost peed in my wet suit when I was staring at the wall that feels like there is something that will appear ready to eat me alive anytime.

frogfish - so ugly looking yet so beautiful!!!

In one of our dives, we saw a white nudibranch with yellow highlights, which I havent seen before and a frogfish which I thought doesn't exist in this area but with a stroke of luck we saw it a couple of times now. I wish that the local government would protect this area from boat anchors and dynamite fishing, so we can all enjoy this gift of nature. God I love this place and night diving here makes it my top spot in Cebu and Mactan Island. This has become my favorite diving site in the area now, however you have to watch out for the tides, the current can be nasty when its going low. The best time is when the tide is going high or during high tide.

Get paid to share your links!

Diving in Marigondon Cave

Marigondon Cave is one of the famous dive spots in Mactan, Cebu, although this dive is strictly for advanced divers only.  It is a shore entry and drift towards the cave entrance, about 30 meters. Then drops about 35-40m deep to the cave entrance. The diameter of the cave is about 10m.  It is advisable to bring a reel, torches and ensure that every diver keeps watch of time.

There are lion fish at the entry, deeper inside a school of strange flash light fish blinking in the dark and some giant crabs. This is truly an amazing dive. Nitrox is strongly recommended for this dive.

The first time I went there was during day time, the current was strong so the drift was so fast that I almost got disorientated.  But then thanks to the training and the buddy that I had, I didnt panic at all, the only thing was that I forgot to bring a torch so I had to tail with my buddy.  It was not bad but I vouched to come back.

Indeed I went back so many times that It became almost my daily routine that we didnt need a reel to come back to the mouth of the cave.  And then my buddy and I decided to go there at night. At first I was scared coz we realized at the bottom of the mouth of the cave were 4 tomb stones. Those were tomb stones of divers that apparently died there while diving. But I guess something that divers only understand, excitement was more than fear.  And we went scuba diving at night.

As soon as the sun was about to set we started our swim by the time we submerge the sun was out.  It was a total different from the day dive we been doing. When we were at the bottom on the mouth of the cave my buddy decided to turn off all our torches and sit still for 3 minutes. It was pitch dark and then we saw a lot of flashlight fishes that seemed to glitter in the dark, they hardly move in the same of a big fish.  It was one of the most amazing thing I have seen.

I would really go back there soon, unfortunately my camera is not good enough to take photos in total darkness. I have to upgrade my camera too soon. So if you are heading to Cebu, make sure to do this side trip scuba diving.