Dive sites in Central Visayas have always been one of the more exciting tourist draws in the region, with extremely diverse and rich marine wonders that are often cited as some of the best in the world.
It is this gorgeous underwater world that the 1st Dive7 Summer Festivals hopes to capitalize on. Spearheaded by the Department of Tourism Regional Office VII, the dive festival aims to attract a multitude of newbie and veteran divers, as well as underwater photographers, to spur tourism in the area.
Dive7 Summer Festivals, which runs from April to June 2021, is a series of dive events to be held among the top dive destinations in the region—Moalboal, Panglao, Malapascua, Dauin and Mactan. The activity will also include a clean-up activity in Siquijor. Its goal is to boost the region’s dive industry through a series of events geared to entice domestic scuba and free divers.
The first in the series of dive activities runs in Moalboal from April 23 to 25, with the theme “Save the Ocean.” The small town on the south-west side of Cebu is a marine bio-diversity hotspot. The town’s healthy reefs and steep walls support schools of snappers, jacks, barracudas, sardines, reef sharks, tuna, turtles, passing thresher sharks and even occasional whale sharks, according to PADI.
The next ones in the series happens in Panglao, Bohol, on May 4 to 8; followed by one in Malapascua on May 14 to 16; and then in Dauin on May 21 to 23. A clean-up event runs in Siquijor on May 25, before another dive event wrap things up in Mactan on June 4 to 6.
The Philippines is truly one of the best dive sites in the world, bagging the Best Overseas Diving Area in the Marine Diving Awards for the first time last year; as well as Asia’s leading Dive Destination 2020 in the 27th World Travel Awards.
The event will have multiple activities starting with a photo contest targeting a wider number of divers. This is designed to attract underwater photo enthusiasts and their buddies to dive and shoot, and also to include buoyancy competition in the dive destination. A second part of the event is focused on attracting new divers and growing the local and domestic dive market. The event will offer discover scuba diver courses for adults and bubble makers for kids.
The third part is to promote sustainable tourism by conducting an underwater clean up, in the hopes of creating awareness especially in the community on how to take care and preserve the country’s marine resources.