In August 2023 I did a three week long dive trip to the Philippines with my friend John. We spent the first week at Anilao staying at Buceo Anilao Dive Resort.

There are dozens of dive sites located within 20 minutes run from the resort.

Unfortunately we had a Super Typhoon hit the northern Philippines when we were there, so the Coast Guard banned all boats and diving later in the week. This dive site was one we visited on the first day that we arrived so there was no impact from the typhoon. However, it was still fairly windy on this day and this site was mostly protected from the wind.

Secret Bay is located about 1000 metres from the resort around the point of the peninsula. A GPS mark for the dive spot is 13° 41' 09.128" N 120° 53' 43.066" E (using WGS84 as the datum). The site is actually off Layag Resort which is just south of where you board the board when you arrive to go to Buceo Anilao Resort.

A satellite photo from Google Earth that shows the location of the dive site. It is near the boats to the right of Layag Resort. Buceo Anilao Resort at left.

This dive site is south around the point and then north, although for this dive we came from another site from a little north of Secret Bay. When we arrived here there were a few other dive boats diving there. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera as my battery was dead.

The dive site consists of a sandy bottom at five metres. We head north-east once we hit the bottom down a slope. Once at 18 or so metres, we head south-east and south and get deeper to 20 to 24 metres. Along the way there are some small rocks with a few nudibranchs. After while we come to a large coral outcrop which has two giant anglerfish. As you can imagine from the name, they are quite large. One of them is very colourful (like the ones below) and the other a bit duller.

We then see some more nudibranchs and then a few "Shaun the Sheep" nudibranchs. Bugger, the only time on this trip we see them and I do not have a camera. Always the way! We then see moray eels, a few different crabs and shrimps.

One of the giant anglerfish I saw on a later dive, very similar to the ones we saw here	The other giant anglerfish we saw on the later dive

Of course, there are anemones and clownfish. One was very large and dark and guarding hundreds of eggs. From here we head back to the boat shallower.

After a bit over an hour, we are back under the boat for our safety stop. This was a really good dive. Water temperature was 28C in August and the visibility was fair, around 10 metres.