Napaling Reef, Panglao

Verified2026-10-05 checkedWallReef

A sardine ball you can drop into on one breath, over a wall that starts five metres from the steps.

Depth: 3–40 m10–131 ft
Difficulty: Beginner
Entry: Shore · Boat
Typical current: Light
Coordinates: 9°36.366′N 123°44.766′E
Activities: Freediving · Snorkelling · Scuba

Napaling is where Panglao's freediving schools train, and the reason is geography: concrete steps into the water, a wall beginning at 5 m a short swim out, and a resident sardine ball that sits between 5 and 20 m most of the year. A freediver can reach it on a single breath and stay inside it; a scuba diver arrives underneath it in bubbles and watches it part. Panglao has become one of the cheapest places in the world to take a freediving course, and a few hundred metres of this wall is why.

Twenty minutes by road from Alona Beach on Panglao, Bohol. Steps down to the water, or a short banca ride.

Best season

ExcellentMar–May
GoodJun–Feb

Before you get in

Past 30 m, where no-stop time and gas both go quickly and nitrogen narcosis starts to show.
A wall. There is no bottom in sight to judge against, so depth is kept by the gauge alone — and it is easy to end up deeper than intended.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Air temperature: 26.3°C79°F
Water temperature: 30.3°C87°F
Wave height: 0.1 m0 ft
Wind speed: 4.7 km/h2.9 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 15:45 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/7

High07:101.27 m
Low15:020.02 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

SardineSardinella lemuruCommon
Green turtleChelonia mydasCommon
TrumpetfishAulostomus chinensisCommon
Moorish idolZanclus cornutusCommon
NudibranchNudibranchiaCommon
Feather starCrinoideaCommon
Blue sea starLinckia laevigataCommon
Bigeye trevallyCaranx sexfasciatusSeasonal

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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