Puerto There is an amazing diversity of diving at Puerto Galera, as Roni BenAharon explains
Photographs by Simon Lorenz, Ary Amarante & Allan Piccinin
K
nown for its white sandy beaches and pristine blue water, Puerto Galera is a village located in the north tip of Mindoro, the Philippines’ seventh largest island. Other than a relaxed beach vacation, it offers incredibly diverse diving in the heart of the Coral Triangle. Just across the Isla Verde passage from Anilao, independently famous for macro diving and nudibranchs, Puerto Galera offers over 40 dive sites just along its coast, with healthy coral reefs and an abundance of fish. Many divers attribute strong current to the area, and think of it as advanced diving in terms of dive skills, but that is only partially true - stronger currents depend on lunar calendar and in certain dive sites, occur two weeks of each month, with especially crazy drift dives four days after the new moon. Puerto Galera has several inner bays, with no current, shallow coral gardens and sandy patches that are ideal for courses - Open Water students can immerse in skill learning while actually seeing some marine life! Puerto Galera also offers relaxed critter spotting dives (heaven for photographers!), interesting underwater topography and a couple of wrecks for the rusties.
The Spaniards discovered Puerto Galera in the early 16th century as a safe haven for their trade ships during heavy squalls and typhoons. Legend has it that once sailors arrived on the island; they never wanted to leave without a promise to come back!
Coral Triangle bubble
The Coral Triangle is the habitat for 76% of known coral species in the world, 52% of Indo-Pacific reef fishes and 37% of the world’s reef fishes. Diving here offers the highest diversity of coral reef fishes in the world - more than 3,000 species of fish, and you can also find here six out of the seven species of marine turtles! The Coral Triangle estimated annual fishing export revenue is $3 billion USD – the same amount as the annual income of tourism! By diving the Coral Triangle, divers support local communities, and helping them build a sustainable income that supports conservation.
46
Puerto Galera has several inner bays, with no current, shallow coral gardens and sandy patches that are ideal for courses Open Water students can immerse in skill learning while actually seeing some marine life! WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM.AU
