Aggressor Adventures' Philippines Aggressor liveaboard highlights

Philippines Aggressor II takes divers to the best of the Philippine archipelago including Tubbataha, the Visayas and Cebu – home of the thresher shark

Scuba diving in the Philippines on a liveaboard covers a vast area of more than 7640 islands, with superb dive sites available in the Tubbataha Atoll and the Visayas – including the island of Cebu – internationally famous as the best destination to encounter elusive thresher sharks.

Aggressor Adventures has two vessels – Philippines Aggressor and the all-new Philippines Aggressor II – plying the region, with two 7- or 10-day itineraries available: The Best of Visayas & Visayas South; and Tubbataha.

Highlights from Philippines Aggressor II

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Diving information:

There are 2 itineraries with 7 and 10-night charters offered.
7-night charters: average 20 dives for Tubbataha and up to 22 dives (including night dives) for other itineraries.
10-night charters: average up to 27 dives including nights dives.
Depth Range: 40 – 130 ft (12m – 40m)
Water temperature averages 77 – 85°F, 21-29°C.
3mm wetsuit recommended

Philippines Aggressor II is 140 ft (42.7m) long with a 28ft (8.5m) beam which accommodates 36 people in 13 spacious staterooms – 8 on the lower deck and 5 balcony suites on the upper deck. All have a private bathroom and shower, plus ample storage and individual climate controls.

There is a beautiful spacious saloon; a sun deck with shading, chaise longues and deck chairs; a bar and a grill. Nightly entertainment (apart from night diving!) includes fish identification presentations, movies and games; a small library of books and Fish ID guides is maintained onboard.

Philippines Aggressor itinerary highlights

Best of Visayas – June February

a map of the dive sites that may be visited on a liveaboard in the Visayas Islands — The dive sites that may be visited on a liveaboard in the Visayas Islands (Image: Aggressor Adventures)

The Best of Visayas Islands itinerary features some of the best scuba diving that the Philippines has to offer, with 7-night or 10-night itineraries are available. The itinerary route will be chosen once guests board and is based on weather, sea conditions, and visibility.

Highlights of a Visayas itinerary include everything from soft coral-covered walls to black sand dives; thresher sharks, huge schools of sardines, turtles, schools of jacks and whale sharks.

On the macro side, there are fascinating critters such as waspfish, ghost pipefish and many other unique bottom dwellers, offering a huge amount of biodiversity.

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photograph of a thresher shark taken in the philippines

Tubbataha – mid-March to mid-June

a map of the dive sites that may be visited on a liveaboard in Tubbataha National Park in the Philippines — The dive sites that may be visited on a liveaboard in Tubbataha Reefs National Park (Image: Aggressor Adventures)

Tubbataha Reefs National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, located in the Sulu Sea in the heart of the middle of the Coral Triangle. Itinerary highlights include:

Northern Tip of North Atoll: an area with a high diversity of shark species such as blacktips, white tips, grey reef sharks and silky sharks, with turtles, rays and whale sharks also regular visitors. The walls have beautiful soft corals, barrel sponges and lots of cleaning stations.

Southern Tip of North Atoll: includes the chance to dive the Malayan Wreck, a scuba diving experience that includes big animal action with the chance to see dogtooth tuna, giant trivially, different species of barracuda, turtles, manta rays and almost every kind of native reef fish imaginable.

Northern Tip of South Atoll: this area is known for hammerhead sharks, large pelagics, different species of sharks and reef fish.

Jessie Beazley Reef: pristine coral with an area of branching Acropora corals and lots of species of sharks including hammerheads, silky sharks and, sometimes, whale sharks.