Verde Island Passage

The Verde Island Passage, a narrow strait between Luzon and Mindoro in Batangas province, holds the highest recorded concentration of marine shore fish species on Earth — a distinction scientists call the centre of the centre of marine biodiversity. Described by Dr. Kent Carpenter and colleagues in a landmark 2010 paper, the corridor hosts over 1,700 species of fish and extraordinary reef density compressed into accessible dive sites. Sheer walls plunge from the surface into blue water, while nutrient-rich currents sweep past schooling jacks, dogtooth tuna, and clouds of anthias. Macro life rivals anything in the Coral Triangle, and encounters with thresher sharks, hammerheads, and whale sharks are seasonal highlights.