Anilao

Days here follow the resort rather than a boat schedule. Outriggers launch off the beach or the resort steps, run a few minutes along the coast and come back between dives, so divers surface, unload cameras, eat and go again, three or four times over, plus a dusk or night dive. Many of the resorts are stacked up a steep hillside, which means stairs with a camera rig in hand, and most keep a camera room and dedicated rinse tanks.

Not all of it is muck. The bays and river-mouth slopes hold the dark silty sand the area is known for, while the exposed points and offshore islets are hard-bottom coral reef with more current running through and the schooling fish that come with it. Guides pick by tide and wind rather than working a fixed rotation, so a normal day mixes the two. Some operators also run blackwater dives offshore after dark, drifting alongside a lit line for open-ocean larvae risen from depth.

It suits photographers, patient divers, and anyone who wants a lot of diving without a long journey to reach it. Dives sit between roughly 5 and 25 metres with mild current, so an hour on one slope is normal and gas, not the profile, ends the dive. Sites near the busiest resorts can hold several groups at once on a weekend, which is worth asking about when booking. December through April is the settled stretch; the middle of the year still dives, but rough surface conditions cancel boats often enough to plan around.