Habagat Wreck Dive Site

Overview

The Habagat Wreck is a steep-slope dive site off Panglao Island suited to PADI Open Water divers and above. The centrepiece is a wreck sunk in the year 2000, lying at approximately 35 m. Visibility ranges from 15–25 m; depth runs 8–34 m with the most rewarding zone between 8–12 m. Current is minimal at 0–1. The site is free from dynamite fishing damage.

“Habagat” is the Filipino name for the southwest monsoon, the wind pattern that brings choppy conditions and reduced dive schedules to Panglao’s Alona-facing coast roughly from late July through September. Sites named for the habagat typically sit on a coast that stays comparatively sheltered when that wind is blowing, which is part of why an operator might route a group here rather than to an exposed western wall during those months.

Deliberately sinking a vessel to create a wreck dive is a common practice across Philippine dive destinations — it gives divers a fixed, photogenic feature without adding pressure to a natural reef, and over time the structure itself becomes an artificial reef as coral and sponge growth colonise the hull. The Habagat Wreck’s twenty-plus years underwater means it now carries a genuine covering of marine growth rather than reading as a bare metal shell, and it functions as a habitat for the reef fish species recorded on and around it, not just a novelty for photographers.

Location

Off Panglao Island, municipality of Panglao, Bohol. The site is identified on Panglao dive maps; exact GPS coordinates are held by local dive operators.

Getting There

Access is by banca from Alona Beach or other Panglao dive centres. Dive operators along Alona Beach organise scheduled and private trips to this site, typically as one leg of a two-tank day that pairs the wreck with a shallower reef dive elsewhere on the itinerary.

Practical Info

• Difficulty: PADI Open Water and above
• Depth: 8–34 m (most interesting at 8–12 m)
• Visibility: 15–25 m
• Current: 0–1
• Snorkelling: possible in the upper slope (8–12 m zone)
• Bring a dive light — useful for exploring the wreck interior and the small caves in the wall

What to Expect

Divers typically begin at the Habagat wreck at 35 m, then ascend along a sandy slope in a north-west direction toward an “S”-shaped wall with an overhang. Keep the wall on the right shoulder heading west. Monitor your no-decompression limit (NDL) when diving the wreck.

Marine life above the wreck includes Tall Fin Batfish (Platax teira). Under the wreck: Big Lionfish (Pterois volitans), Giant Angelfish (Catenaries commersonii) and several Cardinal Fish species (Apogonidae). At the “S”-shaped wall, look for Angelfish. Along the slope, search among feather stars for the Harlequin Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus).

The shallower slope (8–12 m) is suitable for snorkelling, though the wreck itself sits well beyond snorkel range at 35 m and is a scuba-only feature. Because the wreck depth pushes toward recreational no-decompression limits, most operators plan it as the first dive of the day when air consumption and nitrogen loading are lowest, saving the shallower reef work for a second tank later.

Notes

• Wreck was deliberately sunk in 2000
• The “S”-shaped wall with overhang is a secondary highlight beyond the wreck
• Site is adjacent to the Danajon Bank / Double Barrier Reef system