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Philippines Liveaboards
A liveaboard diving holiday to the Philippines is a magical way to see special diving destination, with itineraries offering exceptional diving for all levels of diver.
The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean which are home to spectacular scenery, pristine beaches, incredible sights and lively cities.
Dramatic drop offs, vibrant reefs, wrecks, caves and a richly varied marine life also guarantee fabulous diving. Combined with the renowned Philippine hospitality and warmth, an unforgettable dive holiday awaits.
Why We Love Philippines Liveaboards
With so many islands to discover, a liveaboard is a great way to see more of the Philippines’ rich underwater topography. The Visayas has coral gardens, critters and pelagics like the majestic thresher shark; the UNESCO World heritage site of Tubbataha has schooling jacks, barracuda and tuna; while itineraries to Coron take you back in time to World War II!
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Philippines Liveaboards
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Philippines Liveaboards
Atlantis Azores
Atlantis Azores is a spacious liveaboard perfectly designed for divers. It follows a seasonal schedule of four itineraries to…
From £2,730
Philippine Siren
The Philippine Siren offers the ultimate way to explore these fascinating islands, on a beautifully-appointed, well-thought-out…
From £1,646
Philippines Aggressor I
Explore the waters of the Philippines in classic Aggressor style with well-appointed cabins and tasty food.
From £3,043
Upcoming departures
Upcoming departures for Philippines Liveaboards are listed below or view all departures on our Holiday Search where you can also sort/filter.
Philippines Aggressor I
£3,043
- Departure Date: 10 Jan 26
- Country / Itinerary: Philippines, Best of Visayas
- Nights: 7
- Embark Disembark: Cebu Cebu
- Spaces Available: 1
Additional information
- Dive areas visited Philippines: Bohol & Cabilao, Philippines: Cebu, Philippines: Malapascua, Philippines: Negros & Apo Island
- Typical number of dives Please enquire
- Minimum dive experience Please enquire
- Additional costs to be aware ofPlease enquire
Cabins
Deluxe Lower
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Lower deck
- Avble. Spaces 1
- Last Shared Space Male only
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Philippines Aggressor I
£3,043
- Departure Date: 17 Jan 26
- Country / Itinerary: Philippines, Best of Visayas
- Nights: 7
- Embark Disembark: Cebu Cebu
- Spaces Available: 24
Additional information
- Dive areas visited Philippines: Bohol & Cabilao, Philippines: Cebu, Philippines: Malapascua, Philippines: Negros & Apo Island
- Typical number of dives Please enquire
- Minimum dive experience Please enquire
- Additional costs to be aware ofPlease enquire
Cabins
Balcony Suite
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Upper deck
- Avble. Spaces 8
- Last Shared Space None
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Deluxe Lower
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Lower deck
- Avble. Spaces 8
- Last Shared Space None
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Deluxe Main
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Main deck
- Avble. Spaces 8
- Last Shared Space None
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Philippine Siren
£3,789
- Departure Date: 30 Jan 26
- Country / Itinerary: Philippines, Visayas, Southern Leyte and Malapascua
- Nights: 10
- Embark Disembark: Cebu Cebu
- Spaces Available: 1
Additional information
- Dive areas visited Philippines: Malapascua, Philippines: Bohol & Cabilao, Philippines: South Leyte
- Typical number of dives 32
- Minimum dive experience 25 dives
- Additional costs to be aware ofPlease enquire
Cabins
Premium Twin
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Lower deck
- Avble. Spaces 1
- Last Shared Space Male only
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Atlantis Azores
£2,730
- Departure Date: 31 Jan 26
- Country / Itinerary: Philippines, Apo-Coron
- Nights: 7
- Embark Disembark: Puerto Galera Puerto Galera
- Spaces Available: 2
Additional information
- Dive areas visited Philippines: Coron & North Palawan
- Typical number of dives Please enquire
- Minimum dive experience Please enquire
- Additional costs to be aware ofPlease enquire
Cabins
Deluxe Cabin Lower Deck
- Bed Type
- Location Lower deck
- Avble. Spaces 2
- Last Shared Space None
- Air Con
- Ensuite
Philippines Aggressor I
£4,254
- Departure Date: 31 Jan 26
- Country / Itinerary: Philippines, Best of Visayas
- Nights: 10
- Embark Disembark: Cebu Cebu
- Spaces Available: 5
Additional information
- Dive areas visited Philippines: Bohol & Cabilao, Philippines: Cebu, Philippines: Malapascua, Philippines: Negros & Apo Island
- Typical number of dives Please enquire
- Minimum dive experience Please enquire
- Additional costs to be aware ofPlease enquire
Cabins
Deluxe Lower
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Lower deck
- Avble. Spaces 4
- Last Shared Space None
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Deluxe Main
- Bed Type Twin (2 singles)
- Location Main deck
- Avble. Spaces 1
- Last Shared Space Female only
- Air Con Yes, individually controlled
- Ensuite Yes
Philippines Liveaboards Itineraries
Philippines
Visayas Highlights
Explore some of the Philippine's most iconic dive sites on this varied and rewarding liveaboard tour.
Philippines
Tubbataha Reef
The Philippines’ most remote diving region is also its most spectacular, accessed only by liveaboard for select months of the…
Philippines
Batangas & Coron
Explore the finest diving in the northern Philippines on this varied liveaboard itinerary, including the wrecks of Coron Bay and…
Philippines
Southern Visayas
The Southern Visayas is blessed with some of the Philippines’ finest diving, all of which can be explored on one magical…
Gallery
Where's the best liveaboard diving in the Philippines?
The Philippines has an embarrassment of riches in respect of its diving locations, with liveaboards touring some of the finest locations throughout the year. Many can also be dived from resort, but a liveaboard allows divers to take in a much larger area. Tubbataha can only be dived by liveaboard due to its remote location
Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park
Tubbataha was proclaimed as a National Marine Park in 1988 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 in recognition of its outstanding universal value in terms of marine life species diversity and richness.
Located 182km south east of Puerto Princessa on Palawan Island, the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea offers some truly amazing diving and is only accessible by liveaboard. Tubbataha reefs offers dramatic vertical walls and pinnacles rising out of great depths. The shallow reef tops are teeming with colourful reef fish; in many places stingray, spiny lobster, immature manta ray, turtle, leopard shark and guitar shark can be found. The walls are covered in huge barrel sponges, gorgonian sea fans, soft corals, hydroids and black corals.
In deeper water, shoals of angelfish, butterfly fish, pennant fish, rainbow runner, Moorish idol, fusilier, jack, snapper and sweetlip follow divers around. Large trevally, tuna and barracuda as well as grey reef shark and whitetip shark patrol. If you remember to look away from the fascinating reef wall from time to time, giant manta ray and eagle ray may be spotted overhead along with turtle and grouper.
Southern Visayas - Cebu, Bohol, Pescador, Apo and Negros islands
The Visayas region is home to some of the best diving in the Philippines, with its wide diversity of marine life, steep coral covered walls, gentle sloping reefs and muck diving hotspots. These itineraries can encompass Cebu, Cabilao, Panglao, Balicasag and Pescador, along with dives at Apo Island marine sanctuary and Dauin.
The area offers fantastic macro life schooling fish, as well as the possibility of some larger pelagics too - if you are lucky you may see thresher sharks come in to feed on schools of sardines. Whale sharks may also be seen here also.
Malapascua
Malapascua is a tiny, picturesque island just off the northern tip of Cebu Island. It's dive sites offer some of the best chances of diving with the elusive thresher sharks that attract so many divers to the Philippines in the first place. Liveaboards to the Visayas combine Malapascua with a Southern Visayas itinerary.
The highlight of Malapascua is the consistent sightings of thresher shark from Monad Shoal, which are consistently seen here. Running along the same outer reef ridge is Kimud Shoal, another superb site to spot larger visitors.
This itinerary also takes in some great wrecks including the 100m passenger ferry Dona Marilyn, and the Tapilo, a Japanese cargo vessel sunk during WWII that is now a macro haven.
Southern Leyte - Diving with whale sharks
Sogod Bay is world famous for sightings of whale shark. These enormous filter feeders arrive here each year to feed on the swarms of plankton that bloom in the warm shallow waters. The area is perfect for both scuba diving and snorkelling. As well as whale shark, the reefs around the bays of Southern Leyte & Limasawa Island are a haven for numerous fish species, whilst beneath the piers of Padre Burgos & Limasawa are a whole host of weird and wonderful macro creatures.
Batangas & Coron for wrecks - Anilao, Apo Reef and Coron wrecks
Apo Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered by many to be among the best diving in the Philippines. The whole north east side of the reef consists of drop offs and overhangs where whitetip and grey reef shark, turtle, barracuda and shoals of snapper are common.
The Japanese World War II wrecks around Busuanga Island, particularly in Coron Bay, are particularly fascinating, with twelve wrecks so far been located in recreational diving depths. The Batangas region is known for the many numerous smaller creatures that can be found along the sloping reefs and soft coral covered walls. It is here you will find many new and often unidentified species of nudibranch, along with ghost pipefish, pipehorse, seahorse, octopus and frogfish.
What to see when
Much of the Philippines’ marine life can be seen throughout the year, with liveaboards tending to focus on regions when they are at their best.
In the case of Tubbataha, liveaboards focus on this region between March and June, when conditions allow this remote place to be dived. The latter part of this period is becoming known for whale shark sightings in addition to the turtle, manta and shark species that are seen more commonly.
The possibility of numerous encounters with whale shark are the primary reason to visit the Southern Leyte region on a liveaboard holiday also; with whale sharks usually gathering in this area from the beginning of November. Whale shark interactions within the protected area are snorkeling only.
Those hoping to see manta ray on a liveaboard in the Visayas should note that the best possibility is an itinerary taking in Malapascua between June and August.
Planning your Holiday
Flight information
Regaldive can offer packages to the Philippines on a number of different airlines. Please note some itineraries will require overnight stays due to internal flight timings.
London - Manila: Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines and KLM all fly via their national hubs.
London - Cebu: Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Emirates all fly into Cebu, with Singapore Airlines and Cathay generally offering the better connections.
Duration: Approximately 18 hours
Departure tax: Applicable for international and domestic flights, plus ferry ports
Getting there
The South Visayas, Southern Leyte and the Malapascua - Cebu - Malapascua trips all start and end on Mactan Island which is reached via Cebu international airport, where you will be transferred to the boat.
The Batangas and Coron Wreck one-way itineraries alternate the start and finish between Borocay and Palawan, and are reached via Manila, with an additional internal flight and land transfer
The Tubbutaha National Marine Park starts and finished in Puerta Pricessa, reached with an internal flight and transfer via Manila.
The Philippines and Palau Combo itinerary starts from Cebu and you will arrive at Cebu (Mactan) International Aiport before being transferred to the boat. The itinerary ends in Koror, Palau and your flight home will begin at Roman Tmetuchl International Airport.
All of the required transfers and internal flight can be arranged as part of your full travel package. All of the above, but especially those itineraries that originate in Cebu, make for a fantastic twin centre with one of Regaldive's land based resorts.
Transfers
Whichever island you are staying on, you are met at the airport/ferry port and transferred to your resort. Whether by flight, jeepney or banca boat, there are fantastic sights to enjoy on your journey there and back. Although some transfer can take up to a whole day, most clients pass feedback that this was a very interesting part of their overall trip.
The below information is to give you a give you a general idea of transfer times between regions; actual transfer times may differ slightly according to individual arrangements and ferry timetables, tides etc.:
- Cebu - Dumaguete: 3 to 4 hours by vehicle, ferry and hotel shuttle
- Cebu - Bohol/Panglao/Cabilao: 3 hours by vehicle, ferry, vehicle
- Cebu - Malapascua: 3 to 4 hours by vehicle and outrigger
- Dumaguete - Bohol/Panglao/Cabilao: 3 hours by hotel shuttle, ferry and vehicle
- Dumaguete (Pura Vida) to Panglao (Alona Vida): 3 to 4 hours by Outrigger conditions permitting
- Dumaguete - Malapascua: 6 to 7 hours by vehicle, ferry, vehicle and outrigger
- Panglao - Cabilao: 1+ hour vehicle and boat
- Panglao - Malapascua: 6 hours by vehicle, ferry, vehicle and outrigger
- Cabilao - Malapascua: 6 hours by vehicle, ferry, vehicle and outrigger
- Manila - Cebu: 1 hour by internal flight
- Manila - Dimakya or Coron, Palawan: 3-4 hours by internal flight, vehicle and boat
- Manila - Puerta Galera: 3 hours by vehicle and boat
- Manila - Caticlan or Kalibo: 3 hours by internal flight, vehicle and/or boat
Currency
The unit of currency is the Philippine Peso (PHP).
The US dollar is the most widely recognised foreign currency. Euros & GBP are also readily exchanged.
The majority of larger towns have ATMs, however, facilities for money withdrawal or changing are far less widespread away from the main centres of population. There are bank machines at the airport. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted in most towns, but you may be required to pay a surcharge for their use. Outside of the main towns, not all places accept credit cards.
Visas
Entry requirements vary from country to country, and it’s important to check the latest visa information well before you travel. Some destinations may allow visa-free entry for a limited period, while others require an eVisa or a visa obtained in advance. To ensure you have the correct documentation for your trip, we recommend checking the official advice from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) or contacting the relevant country’s embassy or consulate. Other nationalities should check with their own consulate/embassy.
Passports
Before you travel, make sure your passport is valid for the full duration of your trip and meets the entry requirements of your destination. Many countries require at least six months’ validity beyond your planned return date, while others may have different rules. For the most reliable and up-to-date information, visit the UK Government’s passport guidance or the official travel advice pages for your destination. Other nationalities should check with their own consulate/embassy.
If you’re planning to travel to or via an EU country (with certain exceptions) your UK passport must meet two key requirements, it must be less than 10 years old on the day you enter the country and it must be valid for at least three months after your planned departure date.
Vaccinations & Health Advice
Health and vaccination requirements differ depending on where you're travelling. Some destinations may require proof of specific vaccinations or recommend certain precautions to protect your wellbeing.
We’re not qualified to provide you with specific advice on vaccinations and strongly recommend that you contact your healthcare professional before you travel to discuss the inoculations you may need to consider.
For trusted guidance on health and vaccination advice, refer to the NHS Travel Vaccination Advice, Masta Travel Health or Travel Health Pro websites.
About Philippines Liveaboards
When's the best time to dive in the Philippines by liveaboard?
Liveaboard diving holidays are offered throughout the year in the Philippines and there is always something to see. Those looking to dive Tubbataha should look to do so between March and June, with the short season for this area requiring early booking.
For much of the rest of the year, the majority of boats tend to be based around the Visayas region, with itineraries to Coron Bay or northern Philippines offered less commonly.
Who is liveaboard diving in the Philippines suitable for
Liveaboard diving in the Philippines is widely accessible. That is particularly true for itineraries focusing on the central Visayas region, which combines quality diving with largely accessible dive sites. Divers with only an Open Water qualification and as little as 10 dives are welcome on many of these departures, although we recommend to obtain the Advanced Open Water qualification and have 30 dives or more to be able to dive all the dive sites and get the most from the experience. Sites such as the thresher shark dives in Malapascua require this qualification and experience.
Due to the remote location and more challenging nature of some of the dive sites, those wishing to join a liveaboard diving holiday to Tubbataha should have more experience, with at least Advanced Open Water and 30 dives required.
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