Each of the 3 regions of the Philippines - Visayas, Lozon (including PAlawan, and Mindanao, has its own unique dive environment. There are many dive operators in and around Manila that service visitor stopping over for the day or for longer visits to outer islands. Anilao in nearby Batangas is a favourite local dive area. The bay has good coral reefs that are made up of gentle slopes and coral gardens. Fish can be fed at the Cathedral where a manmade cross is surrounded by small reef fish. Layag-layag is a nearby reef noted for its strong currents, which produces beautiful soft corals and encourages the presence of schooling pelagic fish.

The island of Mindoro has its dive activity centered around "Puerto Galera and sites rich in both hard and soft corals enchant divers and snorkellers alike. Drift dives are popular at Escarceo Point and at the Apo Reef National Park southwest of Mindoro, where the strong currents carry divers along steep walls that are home to small reef sharks, large rays, and schools of trevally.

The Visayas group to the south includes the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Panay, Negros, Leyte, Samar, and Masbte. Cebu is particularly famous for its reef dives with both hard and soft corals providing a luscious backdrop to schools of reef fish. Bohol, just to the south and east has similar terrain. Panglao Island, off its southwest tip, has 50-metres deep walls with swirling schools of trevally that surround divers as they drift along the underwater cliffs. The rugged east coast of Mindanao and its associated island borders one of the deepest parts of the ocean, the Mindanao Trench. To the southwest, the Sulu Archipelago stretches toward Borneo. This area is only available to liveboard dive boat. Such remote areas are renowned for their clear water, big fish, and untouched marine life.

Firther west in Luzon, is the Palawan group. From Palawan, the Tubbataha reefs at the southwestern tip of the Sulu Sea are accessed only by live boards.

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