MASAPLOD NORTH

Depth:    Max. 25m / 82'

Skill Level:    Open Water

Description:    Reef / Drift

Masaplod North

This dive site is often done as a drift dive from one side of the marine sanctuary to the other. It has more schooling fish and pelagic than any other dive site along the coast and is also the oldest marine sanctuary in the area. At the northern side of the site we have the most beautiful corals of the Dauin coast.

The reef area is small but full of life and a huge variety of species like moray eels hiding in crevices, nudis wandering in sponges, banded pipefish looking for some lunch and jacks hunting ever-changing clouds of glassfish. A long sandy slope is home to many blue spotted sting rays and occasional barracudas, as well as schools of surgeon fish.

On the reef, which is divided into two parts by a sandy channel, you will find big staghorn, potato and lettuce coral formations and a resident school of big eyed jacks will encircle divers whilst you look for creepy crawlies on the bottom. Turtles and nudibranchs are quite common here and don’t forget to look for juvenile critters.

Some of those white flecks on the sand could be baby frogfish, scorpionfish, leaf scorpionfish, and flounders. At the end of the sanctuary you will find a couple of big orange black coral bushes that often have big schools of shrimpfish surrounding them and sawblade shrimps hiding between the branches. 

Marine Life @ Masaplod North