Last Updated on February 12, 2024 by Travelationship
Before landing in Palawan in the Philippines, we had only heard and read about the buzz surrounding scuba diving off El Nido and Coron. Our goal was to experience diving in Puerto Princesa and El Nido and find out for ourselves if one location was that much better.
In our experience, when one place receives all the hype, one or more nearby areas are just as excellent but underrated. To find answers, we partnered with Dive Puerto Princesa Dive Center to see if Puerto Princesa was one of those neglected dive areas.
Dive Puerto Princesa Dive Center
After two morning dives with DPP, it was evident Puerto Princesa should not be dismissed as a prime scuba diving location. Not only was the diving incredible, but the professionalism and experience with DPP were remarkable. We felt relaxed, comfortable, safe, and looked after by Nap, our Divemaster.
DPP has two locations in Puerto Princesa. Dive Center 1 serves more as the educational and merchandise center. Dive Center 2 is the meeting hub and departure location for all dives. Upon arrival, Nap and Romel fitted us with our gear and asked about our diving records, if we had any health or safety issues to discuss, and what kind of dive we would like to experience. Romel took note of every answer and adjusted our gear as needed.
As in most locations, especially during the rainy season, the weather plays a critical part in planning each dive site for the day. Each diver requires flexibility and patience to enjoy the day as it unfolds. We were lucky and had a beautiful sunny day with light wind. Nap took us to two dive sites and one swim site for the morning.
Scuba Time!
During our two dives, we saw lots of fish, a purple ribbon eel, stone fish, a few clownfish, turtles above water, shrimp, tons of corals, and the funniest remora, who followed us our entire second dive. Sadly, we saw sections of bleached coral (when water is too warm, corals will expel the algae living in their tissues, causing the coral to turn completely white) caused by El Niño and rising temperatures. This was my first experience witnessing the impact of coral bleaching in SE Asia, which was unsettling.
A favorite part of our experience with DPP was we never saw our divemaster touch, harass or feed any animals. He had a pointer he used to indicate animals or corals to us. This was the first dive either of us had ever completed in which the divemaster & other divers entirely left the sea life alone. Diving ethically caring people who made it a point not to stand on or touch the coral or chase the fish made our experience that much sweeter.
The diving around Puerto Princesa was beautiful. Even with the bleached sections, it was rich in colorful coral and animal life. The overall serenity of the location set the tone for the morning. Matt experienced his two best dives, and we both attributed his impressive experience to the tranquil location and our Divemaster, Nap. His calm and attentive manner made all the difference.
A Must Do
When in Puerto Princesa, Palawan schedules at least one morning to dive or snorkel with Dive Puerto Princesa Dive Center. Puerto Princesa’s dive locations hold their own and are just as rewarding as El Nido dive sites. Romel and the entire team will show you the best the island offers.
Travelasics
Contact Romel at their office for current available dive packages and prices.
- Web: Divepuertoprincesa.com
- Email: saversea@gmail.com
- Call: +63 920 9280436
Travelationship Rating:
4 out of 5 Travelationship High Fives. We had the pleasure of diving with a local who regularly uses DPP for her dives. When you have folks returning to a business repeatedly, that’s a sign of a good establishment. Type of traveler rating – adventure, relaxation, historical, diver, conservation, animal lover, sea lover, nature lover
See More Photos on Flickr, and Please look for us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
* Thank you to Dive Puerto Princesa Dive Center for the complimentary dives. As always, our opinions are ours – honest, not biased, and as we experienced.
This is great! I’ll be heading to the Philippines in 2018,so I’ll connect with these guys for some diving!
Good to hear. Enjoy and if you need more tips let us know.
I am heading to Palawan in October. I don’t have my dive certification yet, but you are making me think I should get it while I am there 🙂
Looks incredible! Great water and great pictures! Thanks for the review! We will keep that in mind if we ever make it there
I would love to do some Scuba diving but being under water deep scares me a lot! Would love to get there though!!
What fun…I am planning my first one soon. Have been devouring all possible articles to get me prepared. Wish me luck.
Where to?
Sounds like a great trip. I haven’t dived but love hearing how attentive and customer service oriented Puerto Princesa Dive Center was. If I get certified, they’d be the only dive shop I would use in the area.
Good to hear
Too good… what colours… I am not sure what adjectiive to use for these waters!
Blue is good.
Wow, those beaches look gorgeous! Bet it was an amazing experience. I’d love to scuba but I can’t unfortunately, too many issues with my inner ear 🙁 Looks so amazing!
Add it for one of your new things a month
Great post. I have dived only once and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Oops, your blog reminded me that I have to write my own blog on diving experience.
Look forward to reading it!
Scuba Diving is such a fascinating and educational experience. If you have such well trained and talented trainers, the experience goes up by a notch or two.
Completely agree!!
I love SCUBA diving. Great pics, looks like a dream!
Thank you.
Thank you for calling out the responsible dive master. That’s so important in any sort of wildlife expedition, and especially in such a fragile, beautiful place. And now I want to get my dive cert.
You could do your open water in Puget Sound…it use to have super huge celapods!
I already noticed your beautiful photos about this diving trip on Instagram. I’m very happy to hear that this diving center works with people who are respectful and approach their environment with awareness!
Thank you!
I wanna do Scuba diving but the water phobic me is not sure what crazy things I will do before I actually take the dive.
Dint know about coral bleaching part and I am glad too to learn that the divemaster did not touch, harass or feed any of the animals.
I am not a big fan of swimming in the ocean, but when I am in my scuba gear my fears dissipate. Our divemaster was top notch and full of respect.
The Phillipines is my #1 dream dive destination – awesome photos, I’m gonna save this post for later, hoping to plan a trip for 2017. Thanks
There are so many dive spots in the Philippines it is unbelievable. Palawan provided us with some of the best we have done.
Looks amazing! What depths did you dive to? What Louisville / certification of diver would you recommend this trip for?
It was amazing. We hit a variety of depths, but none past 18 meters. Any beginner would find these dives easy.
I really liked that DPP did not feed the wildlife. Leaving them alone although it seems small is a big deal to the ecosystem!
I agree with you.
Cant believe this has been your first dive crew thats respectful! I find most are (and if they are not I certainly tell everyone to avoid!) … However looks like Phillipines needs to be my next stop. Be on my radar for a while but I keep hearing more and more about it these days!
We have other respectful dive operators, but it was the combination of the crew and the fellow divers which made it exceptional.
This pictures are amazing! really want to do some diving soon 🙂
Thanks. We think you should try it.
I am a water phobic . But seeing your post and stunning pictures , I am giving a second thought of trying Scuba diving at least once in life.
I actually don’t care for swimming but love to scuba dive. Try it. If you don’t like it then at least you know you tried it.
Oh my goodness. I’ve been hearing about Palawan for years but really need to move it up my travel list, don’t I?
I highly suggest going soon! It’s so popular and changing very fast.
Hello Captain Cousteau. Stunning pics from le monde du silence. Never picked up diving myself, but hey, it’s never too late.
keep rocking – TT
Thank you! Glad you like the pics. Heather takes most of the GoPro pics.
Looks another stunning dive location (but for that bleached coral).
It does surprise me (and concern me) that this is the first dive operator who has been totally respectful of the marine life!
It’s hard to find a crew and other divers who are all on the same respectful page. We got really lucky, and it made such a difference.
Those are some pretty epic photos! I have never tried diving, I already suck at snorkelling. But your photos made me really keen on seeing the ocean in the Philippines.
Thank you. I am not a good swimmer, but I love scuba diving.