Siargao Coral Reef Restoration Dive

Siargao's reef systems suffered significant bleaching damage during the 2016 and 2020 El Niño events, and a community-led coral restoration programme has been operating in the General Luna and Dapa areas since 2019. The programme uses rope-and-frame nursery structures in 8-12 metre water to grow coral fragments before transplanting them to damaged reef sections — a technique proven to accelerate reef recovery from decades to years.

This full-day experience (two dives) is open to certified divers (Open Water or above). The morning dive visits the active nurseries: participants assist technicians in cleaning nursery frames, removing algae from growing coral fragments and photographing growth progress for the project's database. The afternoon dive is the transplanting dive: attaching grown-out fragments (typically 10-15 cm staghorn or table coral) to prepared substrate on the restoration site using underwater epoxy.

Between dives, the restoration project coordinator gives a presentation at the dive shop covering the programme's methodology, results to date and the challenges of scaling reef restoration to cover the area of damaged reef around Siargao. Participants receive a photo documentation of their transplanted corals with GPS coordinates, allowing them to follow their corals' progress via the project's online monitoring portal. It is the most scientifically substantive marine conservation experience currently operating in the Philippines.