TA K E ME TO… SIBA LTA N, PA LAWA N
H
EAD TO THE quiet rural village of Sibaltan, about an hour’s scenic drive from El Nido Town, for a chance of spotting majestic manta rays. Dive Sibaltan can arrange fun dives. Discover scuba diving courses and island hopping tours in the area. Saan Ka (where are you), is a regular dive stop, as it’s a known manta ray cleaning station. According to Dive Sibaltan owner, Sana Schifferer, “Manta rays are present in the area all year round, but of course we do not guarantee encounters as they are wild animals, the ocean is quite large and the time we have down there is limited. The best months for diving (flattest conditions) in general on the east coast are March to October, but the rest of the year are quite fantastic as well.” Schifferer added that Sibaltan is home to healthy and diverse coral reefs, offering beginnerfriendly dive sites. Dive Sibaltan, the first dive shop to open in Sibaltan, leads the way in marine conservation in the area. It has been working with LAMAVE (Large Marine Vertebrate Research Institute Philippines) since 2018 to study the manta rays to learn more about the species to protect them and their habitat. The Philippines has seven of the world’s nine species of mobula rays. These are the spine-tail devil ray, bent-fin devil ray, sickle-fin devil ray, shortfin devil ray, pygmy devil ray, oceanic manta ray, and reef manta ray.
The beautiful reef manta ray in Sibaltan, one of the largest manta rays in the world. Photo by Sana Schifferer, Dive Sibaltan
Dive Sibaltan can help visitors with organising transfers and accommodation. Visit www.divesibaltan.com, tel +63917 5340737 or +63995 272 3499. On Instagram, find them @divesibaltan.
4 | I N F L I G H T T R AV E L L E R | D EC E M B E R 2 0 2 3 – F E B R UA RY 2 0 24
