DIVING

 

The Sampaguita Resort has got a directly managed dive shop, placed at about 20 metres from the restaurant and at about 100 metres from the last bungalow.      The dive shop is fully equipped with about 20 complete high quality and full performance diving sets.

 

Equipment clearing pool, wide space for personal equipment and for photo and video equipments, drying racks, minor repairing emergency laboratory, are available to all. Naturally the equipment can be left at the diving shop custody.

 

Sampaguita Resort has two 15 metres large boats, each suitable to accommodate 20 fully equipped divers.

 

The two special boats, called Bangkas, built according to the marine Philippine tradition, with extended keel, minimum draught, typical side stabilizers which give the boat a seagull wing shape, can reach undamaged and without damaging the coral reef, the several different diving places in the area. The nearest diving point, at only three and half miles from the Resort (about 10-12 minutes navigation), is Pescador Island, one of the most famous diving spots of the Indo Pacific area; the most distant (about 30 minutes navigation) is Sunken Island, a shoal, a not surfaced island, with its top at about 24 metres underwater, in the middle of Negros channel.

 

 

Diving sessions in these waters are always pleasant and relaxing for the water temperature that is never under 26 degrees Celsius, for the visibility that is rarely lower than 15 metres, for the kindness and professional aid of the "bankeros", who recuperate  the whole equipment before returnig on the boat, for the competence of dive guides, who, as natives, know the diving sites as well as their own houses.

 

PESCADOR ISLAND a small island with hu walls. The place is a real heaven for divers and photographers due to the myriad of life forms of unbelievable colours and to corals and sponges of all species and dimensions, big gorgonians and soft corals tree. It is not rare to meet turtles and big fishes (sharks, barracudas, tuna fishes) even if these species are not usually coming close to the reef.

SUNKEN ISLAND a shallows, with the top at a depht of 24 metres, offering soft colarls with unique colours, big sponges, giant pterois (Lyon fishes) swimming in group in open waters inviting the photographer to use the wide angle, morays, big anemones and the inevitable clown fishes. It is also not difficult to encounter frog fishes, giant Spanish dancers, big schools of sardines. This is the only diving session advisable only to experienced divers because it is possible to experience strong currents at all depths.

ONDO POINT this one is a special interest dive suitable only for photographers who can find subjects apt for macro photography. The surrounding environment cannot be defined appealing, but even there.... nice surprises are always behind the corner

COPTON POINT - SAAVEDRA (WHITE BEACH) - TUMBLE - KASAI - BAS DIOT - TONGO POINT (SAMPAGUITA REEF) an endless wall that goes down up to more than fifty metres, practically the whole east coast of Moalboal or Copton Peninsula. This wall goes northbound from the Sampaguita Resort for about 11 Kilometres up to Copton Point. The are several diving points (more than ten) offering a wide  variety of subjects: hard and soft corals, sponges, great gorgonians, tunicates, sea anemones, nudibrancs, prawns, crabs, Lyon fishes and so on. It is not rare to be able to find special subjects like leave fishes, ghost pipe fishes and similar creatures, so difficult to meet and very much longed for by biologists and photographers.In Saavedra area, the reef, before becoming a wall, opens up, for about two kilometres in an enormous and rich coral garden situated at very low depth, where everything seem, at sight, to be doubled for dimensions and density. Only these dive spots are worth 7-10 diving days.

TONGO POINT also called Sampaguita Reef, is the ideal site for free dives not included in the  normal dive shop schedule, allowed only buddy system. The Sampaguita Reef, very near the diving shop , exactly facing the restaurant, due to the presence of marine fauna which waken up at sunset, is specially suitable for night dives, immediately before dinner time (at 6.30 pm is already  dark) to complete nicely a day full of emotions.