Puntod Reef

Overview

Puntod Reef is a dive site off Panglao Island, Bohol, classified by the BPTO under Nature / Dive site. The reef begins at 2 meters and slopes to roughly 20 meters, a mixed garden of soft, leathery, and stony coral. Angelfish, puffer fish, butterfly fish, and wrasse are the resident species you’d expect to see on the slope.

The reef sits around the same small island that gives it its name — Puntod, also transliterated Pungtud, a sandbar between Panglao and Balicasag that tour operators market to non-divers as “Virgin Island.” Boats bringing snorkelers and sandbar visitors to the shallow “submerged market” side of the same island run alongside the dive boats working this slope, so it’s common to see both day-tripper bancas and dive charters converging on the same stretch of water. Most standard Panglao dive sites carry an environmental fee of roughly ₱100 per diver, separate from the higher ₱250 charged specifically at Balicasag Island — this likely applies here too, though it isn’t confirmed for Puntod Reef specifically.

Location

Off Panglao Island, Panglao municipality, Bohol. The site is 35 minutes from Alona Beach by banca.

Getting There

From Alona Beach on Panglao Island, hire a banca through a dive operator or boatman. Travel time is approximately 35 minutes. The exact bearing from Alona Beach isn’t published here, and whether the site can be dived independently or requires a guide varies by operator — confirm both with the dive shop or boatman arranging your trip.

Practical Info

• Depth range: 2 m (top of reef) to approximately 20 m
• Coral type: soft, leathery, and stony corals
• Resident fish: angelfish, puffer fish, butterfly fish, wrasse
• Access: 35-minute banca ride from Alona Beach
• Minimum certification level, current conditions, average visibility, and any entry fee aren’t published here — confirm these with your dive operator before booking

What to Expect

A gently sloping reef that starts shallow enough for snorkelers and extends to 20 meters for divers. The coral garden is mixed in type, with a variety of small reef fish. The site is suitable for a range of experience levels given the accessible depth profile.

Shallow, easy-access reefs like this one carry more foot and fin traffic than deeper wall sites, since they’re workable for beginners, snorkelers, and the sandbar day-trippers passing nearby all at once. Standard reef etiquette applies with more weight here than on a technical dive: no standing on coral, no touching, and buoyancy control matters even in 2 meters of water, where a careless fin kick can do the same damage a diver would never risk on a 30-meter wall.

Notes

• Panglao Island has multiple named dive sites; Puntod Reef is one of the BPTO-listed sites in the municipal inventory
• Whether the site is buoyed, any anchoring restrictions, and seasonal visibility patterns are worth confirming with your dive operator, as these can change with conditions
• “Puntod” (also spelled Pungtud) is the small island/sandbar between Panglao and Balicasag more commonly marketed to tourists as “Virgin Island.” Puntod Reef appears to be the same or a closely related reef system, described elsewhere as starting at 2 m and sloping to 20 m with the same resident fish species.