Updated June 16, 2021
This is the fifteenth in a series of reviews of the best dive resort locations around the world. In this post, the focus is on Anda, Bohol, Philippines.
In addition to this series on dive resort locations, the best worldwide liveaboard dive locations and services are reviewed in their own series. To check them out, or others in this series, click on Liveaboards / Resorts on the menu at the top and choose a title from the list.
Have you ever been diving in Anda before? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What dive shop or liveaboard did you use? Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, sealife attractions, etc.? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.
Diving Anda Bohol
Background
Anda is located on the southwest coastline of Bohol Province in the Visayas region of the Philippines. Although more remote than the more famous Bohol dive destinations of Panglao, Balicasag, and Cabilao Islands, it is reasonably easy to access. Flights and ferries from Cebu to Tagbilaran are frequent. From there a two-hour overland voyage across a beautiful forested landscape is all that is necessary to get to the beachside resorts of Anda.
Undersea World
From the white sand beaches of Guindulman to Anda is a 14-km (8.75-mile) fringing reef most of which includes a wall to 30 meters (100 feet) in depth. In the shallows just offshore is a rich hard coral garden that is excellent for scuba diving or snorkeling. From 5-10 meters (16-35 feet) the gentle slope becomes a vertical wall covered in hard and soft corals, sponges, bommies, and sea fans.
The biodiversity is amazing. There is a resident whale shark, dolphins, one site with 30 turtles, and huge bumphead parrotfish. Probably the biggest claim to fame for Anda, though, is the great variety of macro life and muck diving. A list of exotic critters of note includes pygmy seahorses in their gorgonians, scorpionfish, frogfish, nudibranchs, mandarin fish, wonderpus, mimic and coconut octopus, flying gurnards, dragon sea moths, Napoleon snake eels, sea cucumber crabs, longhorn cowfish, dragon shrimp, zebra crabs, Xenia soft coral crabs, wire coral crabs, and Coleman shrimp.
Seasons and Conditions
The best time to dive Anda is from November to May when the winds come from the northeast, there is little or no rain, and a smooth surface. From June to November the winds are from the southwest, the surface is choppier and it is the rainy season. Typhoons usually bypass Anda. October is the wettest month and April the driest.
Air temperature daily highs range from 25-32°C (78-90°F) with the hottest time in July and August.
Water temperature is also fairly warm all the time with a range of 25-32°C (78-86°F). A lycra suit may be all that you need for skin protection. The greatest thermal protection required for most is a 3 mm wetsuit.
Visibility is 20 meters (68 feet) or greater most of the time and the current is generally mild.
There is diving suitable for all skill levels and excellent areas for training and beginners.
Selected Popular Anda Dive Sites
Wonderwall: steep wall with many nooks and crannies to 25 meters (83 feet), speedboat wreck at the bottom in the sand, macro life including pygmy seahorses and mandarin fish
Coco White: wall from 4-30 meters (12-100 feet), good macro life including nudibranchs and orangutan crabs, Spanish mackerel, wide cave at 27 meters (90 feet)
Lumayag (near Coco White): famous for huge schools of jacks off the wall from 10 meters (35 feet) on down
Snappers Cave: wall from 4-30 meters (12-100 feet), a cave at 25 meters (83 feet), named for snappers that used to be there, now gone, several chambers, box shrimp in the cave, pygmy seahorses in gorgonians outside the cave
Paradise Gardens: coral garden 2-5 meters (6-16 feet), wall to 20 meters (68 feet), seahorses, a colony of 20-40 turtles nest nearby, occasional blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, giant trevallies
Neptune’s House: a cave at 31 meters (103 feet), blue-spotted stingrays
Titanic Rocks: (near eastern mangrove area on the map) 8-18 meter (25-60 feet), pinnacles with nudibranchs, shrimp, and other macro critters
Bacong: steep wall to 20 meters, rich corals, sea fans, seahorses, stonefish, turtles, large resident bumphead parrotfish
Vergin: two walls to 27 meters (90 feet) with a sandy bottom, rich reef, turtles, and triggerfish
Dap Dap: rich corals in 3-5 meters (10-16 feet), wall to 20 meters (68 feet), big variety of marine life
For other posts about Philippines diving, please check out these popular articles:
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- Scuba Diving Dumaguete Philippines Review
- Philippines Puerto Princesa Scuba Diving Review
- Best Diving Philippines Visayas Liveaboards
- Philippines Moalboal Scuba Diving Review
- Best Liveaboard Scuba Diving Philippines (Malapascua and the Visayas)
- Best Diving Bohol Philippines – Panglao Island Resorts
- Best Liveaboard Diving – Tubbataha Reefs National Park
- Best Coron Wrecks & Apo Reef Liveaboards
- Best Scuba Diving Philippines Subic Bay Wrecks
- Best Scuba Diving Puerto Galera Philippines
- Best Scuba Diving Holidays Boracay Philippines
- Best Scuba Diving Philippines Sogod Bay
- Philippines Best Diving Mactan Island
- Best Philippines Diving Bacuit Bay El Nido
- Best Diving Philippines Anilao Batangas
- Best Scuba Diving Resorts Malapascua
Anda Bohol Accommodation and Dive Shops
Currently, none of the major liveaboard yachts cruising the Philippines make trips to Anda. Fortunately, there are a number of resorts and hotels there ranging from budget to luxury. Many of them are equipped with dive shops. Otherwise, there are several quality diving operations nearby. This website is a good source for the available options and can arrange a booking:
It is suggested to ask your hotel to advise you on arrangements from Tagbilaran to Anda. They can help organize the most comfortable means.
A land tour to the Tarsier Sanctuary and Chocolate Hills is a must-do.
Anda Photo Opportunities
With the macro life, beautiful, diverse coral reef, and lots of fish, there are many excellent photo opportunities. For information and reviews of diving cameras, click here:
Scuba Diving Trip Insurance
A cushion for emergencies provides peace of mind when on vacation. I recommend this diving insurance as they have worldwide coverage and provide scuba divers quality insurance and medical assistance service.
Feedback and Comments
I hope you found this post on Anda scuba diving interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have diving there. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<
2019 is the year that we plan to take scuba diving beyond our coastline. After reading your previous posts, Philippines is certainly in our list. This one looks like another fascinating destination. My question is actually about diving insurance. We never really had one before because we were just traveling locally and simply assume that our personal insurance would cover for our injuries.
What kind of diving insurance should we be looking for as beginners? Thank you.
Hi again, Cathy,
Thanks for your continued support and interest.
As far your insurance needs, that would probably depend on the coverage you already have. You would want insurance that could handle emergencies and medical assistance, especially related to accidents, with evacuation as an option. That is the type offered at the link I provided. This plan would be equipped to work internationally and perhaps your local policy would not or would not handle it smoothly. You can check with the insurance company for more information on their coverage and cost.
Medical costs are very cheap in the Philippines and there will be qualified doctors in most hospitals.
I hope this information helps. If you have further questions, please get in touch.
Best regards,
Joe
Thank you for this amazing post, I really like to be adventurous when it comes to travelling around, I have heard about the Anda scuba driving in the Philipines, but I never knew it was this amazing. Why is there a restriction on yachts traveling to Anda? I love everything you wrote about Anda in your post and would like to go there someday.
Hi Clement,
Thanks a lot for your kind comments.
Actually it is not a matter of a restriction on liveaboard yachts going to Anda. Within the last year one of the major boats was going there. For the time being, though, they have reorganized their schedule and will not be visiting Anda in 2019. The route to get there is a little out of the way when combining with some of the other places they go when they do a Southern Visayas cruise combined with Malapascua. It would make sense for someone to cruise a combination of Balicasag, Cabilao and Panglao Islands with Anda, and Sogod Bay. Maybe I should try to put that together.
Anda is worth doing as a land based vacation all by itself. There is plenty to do and see around Anda and on the seaside to go along with the diving.
If you have any other questions or ideas, please let me know. I hope you do some diving soon.
Best regards,
Joe
Scuba diving is a very popular sport worldwide.This location seems to offer a wide variety of varying opportunities. I wonder if many divers know of this place? I have never heard it mentioned.
The journey to get there is a little difficult, and there is no seaboard accommodation as none of the major liveaboard yachts, make the trip to Anda, Bohol, However the land accommodation is good, with several hotels and resorts .Many of them have dive shops as well. How expensive is the accommodation? Cheap (as it is the Phillipines) Medium or Luxury? What can one expect to pay?
There is an interesting set of maps of Bohol Island, showing dive sites and places of interest. There are several popular dive sites: Wonderwall, Cocowhite, Lumayag, Snappers Cave, Paradise Gardens ,Neptune’s House ,Titanic Rocks, Bacong, Vergin, Dap Dap.
A land tour to the Tarsier Sanctuary and the Chocolate hills.are highly recommended.
With the coral reefs and the many types of fish, you can be sure of outstanding opportunities to build your photograph albums
What type of fish? Scorpion fish, nudibranchs, mandarinfish, flying gurnards, Napolean snake eels and many more.
I have learned a lot from this article, Thank you Joe.
Hi Trevor,
Thanks for your interest and kind comments. You have certainly paid close attention to a lot of the details.
Probably a lot of folks haven’t heard about Anda yet. That is one reason I am writing about it.
The hotels in Anda range from around $50/night to around $300/night. You can get all the details on accommodations by clicking on the links on my post labelled “Anda Bohol Accommodation” and “Anda Bohol Resorts.” There you can browse all the hotels and resorts for full details and pricing.
I hope you get a chance to go check out Anda. If you have any more questions or comments, please get in touch.
Best regards,
Joe