Tagbaobo Dive Site in Davao - Philippines
If you are interested to visit the many dive sites of Davao, including the Tagbaobo Dive Site, you only need to go to the Sta. Ana Wharf. Actually, if you have your own diving gears and team, you wouldnt have to worry about diving anywhere in Davao. You just have to secure your accommodations and your boat and youre ready to go.
This is not the case, however, with most people. There are many people who would like to visit the Samal Island dive sites but they do not have the equipment and the skills for it. If you are one of them, its quite fortunate that there are dive shops that can help you once you reached the Sta. Ana Wharf. If you want to avoid the hassle associated with preparing for a dive, you can always secure the services of dive shops. The Tagbaobo dive site is often included in the list of dive sites that are covered by these shops, so as long as you have the budget for it, all you would need to do is to come to Davao.
Getting to Tagbaobo Dive Site
Tagbaobo is actually one of the barangays in the Island Garden City of Samal, a second class city in Davao del Norte and is a part of Metro Davao. Its fairly easy to get to Tagbaobo and the Tagbaobo Dive Site since the whole Samal Island is a tourist destination, so you could easily get a boat to bring you to the Island from the Sta. Ana Wharf in Davao City. Actually the Sta. Ana Wharf is the jump off point for every island from Davao. So, if you are planning to go to Talikud Island perhaps and not to Tagbaobo Dive Site, you will still have to go to Sta. Ana Wharf. So, if you are a foreign or local tourist, you can get to Tagbaobo by going to Sta. Ana Wharf and from there, you would need to rent a boat to bring you to Tagbaobo or the Samal Island.
Exploring the Tagbaobo Dive Site
The Tagbaobo Dive Site is actually a marine sanctuary. So, you can just imagine the wide array of water life you would be able to see in your dive. Traveling to the site would take at least two and a half hour by boat. The site terrain is sloping and walled. It is a fairly deep dive site. Its maximum depth is up to 100 feet or 30 meters. The water currents though are often fairly moderate. Like other dive sites in the Samal Island, the water is clear almost all the time. Many dive shops, however, recommend the months of November to May as the perfect time to go diving in the Tagbaobo Dive Site or the other dive sites in the Davao Gulf.
The Tagbaobo Dive Site boasts of a marine sanctuary, home to different kinds of marine life. You would be able to see pelagic fishes, sweet lips, marine turtles and groupers. You would also see beautiful corals, tuna, barracudas and jacks. There are occasional sightings reported of barrel sponges, reef fishes, tropical fishes, eels, tube worms, gorgonians, sea stars and other kinds of underwater beauties.
The Tagbaobo Dive Site is one of the unexplored beauties of Samal. If you are looking for a great underwater adventure, you should definitely include this dive site in your itinerary. Youd go home with a bunch of amazingly beautiful pictures to remember a great diving experience in Davao.

