Leyte Dive Site Highlights
Maureen's Place - Padre Burgos. Named for our delightful housekeeper, this site turned up a few surprises. A small banca wreckage, at only 8m depth, shelters sweetlips, whilst on the coral wall groupers, surgeon fish, trigger fish and snappers dart about. Smaller critters including pygmy seahorses, cowries and pipefish are all seen here.
The Pier - Padre Burgos. Simply macro heaven! Below the pier reaches only 6m depth and hours can be spent here discovering new creatures. Zebra snout seahorses cling to the sponges that adorn the pier supports, freckled frogfish blend into the sponges, ghost pipefish sway in the gentle surge and blue ringed octopus lurk in holes. Other creatures commonly found here are devilfish, pleurobranchs, coral cowries, seamoths, a variety of blennies, nudibranchs and at sunset the mandarin fish come out to mate.
Napantaw Reef - Closely monitored by the Coral Cay Conservation, the corals here are very healthy and fishing in the area is limited. Two dives here are needed to fully explore the reef. Soft corals, whips and black corals cling to the wall whilst hard coral formations in the shallow water make for awesome photographic opportunity. You're likely to find pygmy seahorses, see turtles amble by and come across the occasional black tip shark in the shallows.
Gunter's Wall - Limasawa. Black corals, green tree corals and huge barrel sponges, with resident hairy squat lobsters, decorate the gentle reef slope. The shallow reef shelf is full of soft corals in whcih to look for robust ghost pipefish and juvenile filefishes. Turtles, banded sea snakes and barracuda are amongst the most common sightings. We also see seahorses, leaf fish, frog fish and hundreds of Phyllodesmium nudibranchs grouped together.
Weather and Water Temperature
The Philippines is a tropical country and the weather is fairly even all year round. The year is roughly divided into two seasons; ‘rainy’ and ‘dry’. The rainy season generally begins in early June and can extend through to November. In general the months with greatest rainfall tend to be July and August. The rainy season often brings days of uninterrupted sunshine punctuated by occasional thunderstorms and rain. The central Visayas including Cebu, Bohol and Negros are sheltered from the monsoon rains and thus have less pronounced seasons. These areas are liable to have rain at any time of the year, but it’s usually not too serious. The dry season runs from November through to May but there is always the chance of light rainfall during this period. The warmest months are usually March through to May and the highest humidity is in June, July and August. Year round coastal and inland temperatures range from 27 °C – 28 °C (81 °F- 82 °F) up to 33 °C – 34 °C ( 91 °F- 93 °F) with an average of approximately 31 °C ( 87 °F). Evenings are marginally cooler.
Water temperatures are broadly similar throughout the region; the coolest waters are usually to be found in January – March with an average of approximately 24 C – 26 C ( 75 °F- 78 °F) Warmer waters are common in May – July with averages of approximately 26 °C – 28 °C (78 °F- 82 °F). Most guests find that a 3mm shorty and possibly a rash vest is suitable for the water temperature in the warmer months, and 3mm – 5mm long for the rest of the year. However, for guests who feel the cold easily, especially with repeated diving, then we recommend to bring an extra vest / hood. In short bring what you feel most comfortable in.
About Leyte, Philippines
The island of Leyte, in the eastern Visayas, is a mere 180km north to south and just 65km wide. Densely covered with forest and mountains the people here have relied upon the sea for their income. Whale sharks, once fished here for their meat and oils, are now a protected species and local municipalities welcome tourists to the area.
The island of Limasawa where Magellan held the first christian mass, bringing christianity to the region. Many still visit on pilgrimage however it is Leyte's part in World War II that it is more commonly renowned for. The Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought in October 1944, saw the landing of general MacArthur which is now celebrated annually. Several memorials commemorating the event can be visited in the major towns. It is also believed that the departing Japanese commander hid treasure in the area of Ormoc, however the sunken wreckages of both American and Japanese vessels are beyond recreational diving depths.