Diving Gato Island in Malapascua, Philippines

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Austin Tuwiner

Dive Sites

September 19, 2026

In September of 2026, I dove Gato Island with Devocean Divers, by boat out of Malapascua Island, Philippines.

Gato Island is known for its resident whitetip reef sharks, its underwater tunnel, and rich marine life.

The cave is closed.

I dove the site three times on this trip, and the specs below are from one of those dives.

Dive Log · Malapascua, Philippines

Gato Island

Dive Data from my Garmin Descent MK3i

Max Depth

74ft / 22.6m

Avg Depth

39ft / 11.9m

Dive Time

51min

Water Temp

84.2°F / 29°C

Visibility

70ft / 21m

Entry

Boat

Recommended Certification

Advanced

Reef Asia 11.448329, 124.020687

The Dive

It's a boat ride out from Malapascua, and the island itself is a lump of limestone cliff with a cave mouth cut into one side.

I logged 74 ft (22.6 m) at the deepest, with an average of 39 ft (11.9 m) across 51 minutes.

The diving wraps around the rock, and most of what's worth seeing sits in the overhangs and on the rubble at the base rather than out in the open.

Going three times helped, because the small stuff is what this site is really carrying and you don't find it on one pass.

The Cave

The story I was told on the island is that the cave has been closed to divers since an earthquake.

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit offshore of northern Cebu on 30 September 2025, with the epicenter around 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Bogo City.

I can't confirm that the closure traces to that specific quake, and no dive shop I can find has published a notice about it either way.

So I didn't go through it, and I can't tell you what's in there.

If you dove the cave before it shut, tell me what it was like.

Dive tanks on the boat with Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines on the horizon — Tanks racked on the bangka, Gato Island on the horizon.

Light coming through the rock formations at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Light coming through the rocks.

Large sponge with soft corals growing beneath it at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — A large sponge with soft corals growing underneath it.

What Marine Life I Saw

This is a macro site as much as anything else.

Most of the good finds were on the rubble and tucked under the overhangs, not out in the water column.

Long banded animal crossing the rock at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Long and banded, crossing the rock below us.

Two small animals on the open sand at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Two of them out on the open sand, a few feet apart.

Black and white animal under a soft coral overhang at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Black and white, sitting under the soft coral overhang.

Overhang covered in soft corals and green disc corals at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Something striped tucked into the crack at the top of the overhang.

Striped fish resting on a brain coral dome at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Striped fish resting on top of a brain coral dome.

School of fish stacked in the blue water over the reef at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — A school stacked up in the blue over the reef.

Tall dark fish with yellow fin edges over the sand at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Tall and dark with yellow fin edges, hanging over the sand.

Giant clam wedged into the rock with long spined urchins at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — A giant clam wedged into the rock, long spined urchins all around it.

Cuttlefish on the sand beneath a plate of coral at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — A cuttlefish on the sand under a plate of coral.

Cuttlefish head on, mottled against the rubble at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Head on, mottled to match the rubble.

Dark leaf shaped fish flat on the sand at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Dark and leaf shaped, flat on the sand.

Pale ruffled animal on top of a red coral head at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Pale and ruffled, on top of a red coral head.

White animal with black spots stretched across the rubble at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — White with black spots, stretched across the rubble.

Divemaster Austin at the surface beside the Devocean Divers boat Dumagsa at Gato Island, Malapascua, Philippines — Austin back at the surface next to Devocean's boat, the Dumagsa.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Austin Tuwiner

I'm a PADI Divemaster based in South Florida.

With over a decade of diving experience, I help readers become better divers, buy their next piece of gear, and plan their dream dive vacation!