Guimaras Taklong Marine Sanctuary Scuba Diving

Taklong Island National Marine Reserve is the designated marine protected area on the southeastern corner of Guimaras Island, covering 876 hectares of reef, seagrass, and mangrove habitat under national protection. The reserve was established partly in response to the 2006 oil spill and has been actively rehabilitated — today it represents one of the better-managed dive sites in the Western Visayas, with real coral recovery visible across the past decade.

The dive operation accesses two primary site types within the reserve. The reef slope — a gently descending hard and soft coral garden from 5 to 18 metres — is where turtle encounters are most reliable. Several green sea turtles use specific cleaning stations on the reef daily, hovering motionless while wrasse work over their shells. The divemaster knows the stations and times entries to maximise encounter probability without disturbing the animals. Clownfish, lionfish, nudibranchs, and octopus are consistently sighted throughout the reef.

The wall dive on the reserve's outer edge descends from a shallow coral garden at 8 metres into a sheer drop past 30 metres, draped in sea fans and black coral trees. At depth the current brings pelagic visitors: schools of fusiliers, the occasional barracuda, and in the right season, bumphead parrotfish in formation grazing the coral crest. Both sites are accessed by chartered bangka from the Guimaras coast; the journey passes through the straits with views of the Iloilo skyline and the mountain ridges of Panay that make even the boat rides scenically worthwhile.