PANGLAO, Bohol, June 4 (PIA) -- News and entertainment hosts and production staff, social media influencers, vloggers and content editors, and travel operators from Manila and Central Visayas strapped on their dive suits and dive masks to get a first-hand experience of the beauty and wonder of Panglao’s hidden underwater paradise.
Here for the DIVE7 Travel Trade and Media Familiarization from June 3 to 6, the team led by the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 7 DIVE7 Project officer Glenice Do, Judy Quiachon, and Jaypee Orcullo of DOT Bohol, the group immersed themselves in the Discovery SCUBA dive (DSD) world.
This is DOT’s way of promoting the dive tourism of Central Visayas, where the tropical water nourishes a biodiversity that attracts tourists from around the world.
Bohol is an island in the middle of a marine superhighway where the currents from the Pacific Ocean and the West Philippine Sea pass through its southern waters, and filters through the sprinkling of islands up north where the Danajon Double Barrier Reef again breathes life to the seascape on that side of the island.
Elsewhere, the seas teem with corals, seagrass beds, underwater caverns which shelter sea turtles, crustaceans, and a plethora of marine wonders.
More popular dive spots in Bohol include the island of Cabilao where hammerhead sharks and pygmy seahorses have attracted world divers.
Black corals of Jagna are unique as these are the most popular attractions in the Mediterranean, and can be found not as deep as in the Mediterranean.
Following the easing of the travel protocols due to the waning threat of the pandemic, tourism here has started to pick up where it left off nearly three years ago.
In time for a resurgence of the international visitors with Panglao receiving anew international flights, the DOT wants to let the world travellers know that the Visayas, especially Bohol, has so much to offer beyond the Chocolate Hills, tarsiers, Loboc River Cruise, and Panglao beaches.
According to DOT, they are also giving time and attention to Cebu’s Malapascua, Moalboal and Mactan, Negros Oriental’s Apo Island in Dauin, and Siquijor’s dive destinations.
Apart from helping the traditional and new media get into the surreal world of the explosion of colors and wildlife under the sea by snorkelling and introductory dives, the DOT also would want to engage the children as well as the adults to see how safe diving is, as the dive festival this year also offers introductory activities such as bubblemakers for children.
In Panglao, the group went to the South Palms, an event sponsor, for the DSD experience and introductory dive at the plane wreck of the Bohol Beach Club sea front reefs and the house reefs of South Palms.
Another group of licensed divers went to Balicasag for their underwater adventure.
Balicasag, an island off the coast of Panglao, has been an acclaimed world-class dive site with over five dive points for the professional diver.
Balicasag has Rudy’s Rock, Marin Sanctuary, Cathedral, Diver’s Haven, and Black Forest.
These dive spots are at a few meters to nearly a hundred meters down a sheer steep wall where soft and hard corals are home to large fish, occasional sea turtle, few straying dolphins, and a parade of reef fish in dazzling colors. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)
National and regional media content creators, bloggers, and tour and travel agents during their discovery SCUBA diving in Panglao. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)
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