Balicasag Island

Balicasag Island is the crown jewel of Bohol diving, a small protected island 8 kilometres southwest of Panglao where a near-vertical reef wall plunges from 5 metres at the crest to beyond 50 metres, clothed in massive sea fans, wire corals, and dense schools of jacks, snapper, and fusiliers that form shifting walls of silver in the blue water. Resident hawksbill and green sea turtles graze on the shallow reef terrace so reliably that turtle encounters are virtually guaranteed year-round, and the island's southwest wall regularly draws groups of spinner dolphins in the early morning hours. The northeast corner known as the Black Forest is an extraordinary concentration of black coral trees from 20 metres downward, festooned with longnose hawkfish and wire coral gobies, while the protected north side offers calm, colourful shallow reef for less experienced divers.