Anda, Bohol: The Hidden Gem of the Philippines

The Philippines is a scuba diving mecca. Sitting at the northern edge of the Coral Triangle, its reefs are some of the most biodiverse on the planet. This diversity translates to dives full of encounters with small critters - especially in renowned muck destinations like Anilao and Dumaguete. A dive in the muck can yield dozens of specials of frogfish, nudibranch, shrimp, and gobies. Though these dives are the highlight of diving in the Philippines, the reefs of Tubbataha, Moalboal, and Malapasqua are known for some of the best encounters with large animals like thresher sharks, schools of sardines, and whale sharks. But what if you could have it all? What if you could experience beautiful soft coral walls, turtles, sardines, frogfish, nudibranchs, whale sharks, all in a single dive? The perfect mix of muck and reefs. A place like this exists unbeknownst to many and that place is Anda.

In the summer of 2024, I had the opportunity to travel to the heart of Bohol, Philippines before our underwater photo workshop to Dumaguete. To many divers, Bohol is still undiscovered. Sitting in the heart of the Central Visayas Archipelago, this large but largely undeveloped island is known for its unique karst formations - the Chocolate hills - and its miniature primates - the Tarsiers. The islands is dotted with 47 small villages and life is slow and rural. At the far east end of Bohol, following a two hour ferry and two hour drive from Cebu, the Philippines second largest city - there is a town called Anda. Anda is the rural little brother to the Bohol tourist hotspot of Panglao. It is indistinguishable from other small villages in Bohol, except for its white sand beaches and undiscovered diving. 

The Dive Havens of Anda

Fortunately for us scuba divers, there are a handful of established and reputable dive resorts in Anda. I spent the majority of my time diving with Magic Oceans Dive Resort, a quaint, family-style resort with exceptionally kind staff and knowledgeable guides. And for one day in my trip, I hopped over to the swanky resort, Amun Ini to enjoy their white sand beach. Both resorts are excellent and cater to two different types of clientel. If you're wondering which one is for you, then make sure to ask the extremely knowledgeable staff at Bluewater Travel - they can book you at either!

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Walls of Life

Surprisingly enough, the majority of the diving in Anda is wall diving. The dramatic karst landscape above the water continues beneath the waves resulting in steep dropoffs and slopes. As with many wall destinations, current is the driving force of life in Anda. Though not every dive has current, between high and low tide the current picks up and the soft corals inflate with life. Colorful anthias and reef fish swim out into the water column to pick up food - especially in the shallow shelf directly above the dropoff. 

The current in Anda is not quite as strong as destinations like Raja Ampat or Fiji - making this the perfect place for newer divers to practice drift dives along the wall. And though some sections of the walls can pick up speed, it's easy to hide behind protruding sections and enjoy the macro life dotting the wall - ranging from frogfish to nudibranchs. All dives were live pick-ups so we never had to worry about the direction the current brought us and we could explore the walls at will. 

Turtles of Anda

Anda rivals Dumaguete and Hawaii for the title of "sea turtle capital of the world". In a single dive we saw 28 turtles! Out of a week of diving there were only a handful of dives without turtles. Both hawksbill and green sea turtles inhabit the Bohol Sea. Hawksbill turtles feed on the sponges adorning the walls and green sea turtles are easily found at the top of the reef feeding on sea grass.

The sea turtles of Anda are quite used to divers, but approaching them is still a bit of an art form. It can be more difficult to photograph the hawksbill that feed deeper along the wall as the current makes it tough to position yourself. So I prefer to look for turtles in the shallow reef and sea grass beds above the wall. The house reef at Magic Oceans was the perfect place to go for an afternoon shore dive to look for turtles. But turtle point, just a 5 minute boat ride from the resort, was the best dive site for turtles. When the current was high, we were able to see dozens of turtles while drifting along the reef until we surfaced back at the resort!

Critters in the Sand and Rubble

Like the rest of the Philippines, Anda has no shortage of critters hiding among its sandy slopes and rubble. In fact the muck diving is surprisingly prolific. While you don't see subjects at quite the same rate as muck hotspots like Anilao or Dumaguete, you do see the same diversity. In some situations, you might even be lucky enough to see rare critters that are found more often in Bohol - like leopard anemone shrimp. 

The house reef in front of Magic Oceans Dive Resort can be particularly prolific. The reef is a nice mix of wall, reef, and rubble. During my week of diving there, the theme was pink critters. We were lucky enough to find a vibrant pink frogfish adjacent to a beautiful, minuscule pink bargibanti pygmy seahorse. 

The "true" muck sites in Anda are right in front of the main town - a strip of white sand beach that continues into a sandy slope underwater. The slope is dotted with seahorses, nudibranch, and cuttlefish! 

The World's Best Mandarin Fish Dive

Perhaps the most unique diving experience in Anda lies right in front of the house reef at Magic Oceans. Almost every night at dusk, mandarin fish - arguably the world's most colorful fish - swim up from their staghorn coral dens and into the water column to mate. Each mating even occurs for a few seconds, making it difficult to photograph. Thankfully the guides in Anda are quite experienced at quickly identifying mating pairs in the dark with their light, allowing me to focus and take a photo quickly before the lights go off and the reef darkens again. When I speak to photographers who have been to other mandarin fish destinations, they often talk about only getting one or two shots of the fish during a dive. Because of the process my guide, Jay, implemented with his light, I was able to capture dozens of these beautiful fish. This crossed a major subject off my bucketlist!

The Whale Sharks of Lila

Whale sharks can be seen while diving the reefs of Anda at anytime. However, they are guaranteed farther west on the south shore of Bohol at Lila. Much like with Oslob, the fisherman here feed the whalesharks. This can be controversial but it does encourage whale shark conservation. Whale sharks are now protected to support tourism. Lila is generally less crowded than Oslob. Though tourists can sometimes break the rules here as well, I found I had a better experience in Lila. But my wife and I were lucky enough to enjoy watching three whale sharks while on scuba for almost an hour with no groups in the water with us. 

Jungles of Bohol

In the Philippines, Bohol west of Anda is quite popular for topside tourism. The lush jungle is full of unique animals including tarsiers, macaques, and birds. It is a worthwhile experience to take a surface interval and spend a day exploring what Bohol has to offer. While in Anda, I unfortunately came down with a cold, so I had a few days to explore the incredible white sand beaches of the region as well as the jungle. The highlights of these adventures was a river cruise, friendly encounters with monkeys, and of course, finding the famous tarsiers - one of the world's smallest primates. 

Conclusions

Though it is a little known destination, Anda has quickly made it to the top of my list of places to dive in the Philippines. It is a diverse environment with a plethora of experiences ranging from muck dives to wall dives to mandarin fish and whale shark dives. If there's a critter you are looking for, you'll find it! The reefs of Anda are uniquely beautiful among Filipino reefs, and the soft coral is quite impressive. So if you are looking for the widest possible range of dive experiences in the Philippines without the crowds, Anda is it.