Dive Sites

Diver’s Heaven, Balicasag: The Island’s Other Jackfish Wall

When a dive site is literally called Diver’s Heaven, it’s got a lot to live up to. Roll off the boat here and you quickly realise the name wasn’t marketing. It was just an honest description.

You already know Balicasag isn’t a single dive. We’ve walked you through Black Forest and the sunbeam-lit walls of Cathedral. Diver’s Heaven is the third member of that famous trio, and plenty of regulars quietly call it their favourite.

Where it sits

Diver’s Heaven lies on the southern side of Balicasag Island, a 30-minute bangka ride from Alona Beach. Like its neighbours, it starts shallow and friendly before tipping over into the blue. You drop onto a gentle sandy, grassy shelf at around five metres, scattered with coral and small crevices, that slopes down toward a wall dropping well past 30 metres. That shallow shelf is the first reason for the name.

The turtles that won’t budge

The seagrass meadows up on the shelf are a turtle canteen. Green turtles graze here all day, and because Balicasag is one of the most strictly protected reefs in Bohol, they’ve got no reason to fear you. You’ll drift up beside a turtle the size of a coffee table while it keeps right on munching. The reason they’re this relaxed comes down to decades of protection, which we unpack in why Bohol’s reefs are so healthy.

The jackfish tornado

Balicasag’s famous school of bigeye trevally doesn’t stay in one spot, and Diver’s Heaven is one of the places that silver storm shows up. When it does, it’s spellbinding. Thousands of fish wheel into a slow, dense column, a living tornado that catches the light and seems to swallow it. Hang quietly beneath it, keep your bubbles slow, and the school will sometimes close in around you until silver is all you can see.

Coral gardens and small wonders

Between the headline acts, Diver’s Heaven is simply a beautiful reef. The shallows are a proper coral garden, thick with soft leathery corals, stony corals and anemones, and the fish life is relentless. Look closer and the macro crowd gets fed too, with scorpionfish in the rubble, nudibranchs on the coral, and sharp-eyed guides turning up ribbon eels and pipefish in the cracks. It genuinely has a bit of everything, which is the whole point of the name.

It really is a diver’s heaven, with just about everything you’d want from a single dive.

Who it suits

Because it starts shallow and eases down, Diver’s Heaven works for a huge range of divers. Newer divers can stay up on the coral shelf with the turtles and still have one of the best dives of their trip. More experienced divers can follow the wall deeper and hunt for the jackfish. For the full picture on the island, our complete guide to diving Balicasag Island has you covered.