Sierra Madre Divers, PADI 5-Star IDC, Philippines

The beauty of doing your IDC in Bohol is that even the training sites are completely full of life! 🪸 Day 6 of the PADI IDC underway... and a curious banded sea krait decided to join for Open Water Training 😂 

The banded sea krait is a highly venomous marine reptile recognized by black stripes, a yellow snout, and a paddle-shaped tail. It splits its life between ocean hunting and land-based digestion.

Banded sea kraits do not actively come up to humans to attack them, as they are shy and docile, though they may occasionally swim near divers out of curiosity or come ashore onto beaches and into boats to rest, digest, or shed.

You won’t even know it, but they’re not leaving your side 💕😅

When the jaws open wide, and theres more jaws inside that’s... a moray 😎 usually caught swimming at night, however they are also opportunistic feeders - meaning, if they can sense a good feeding opportunity in the daytime, they’ll go for it!

Moray eels are defensive, rather than agressive. So if you see one swimming around in the open, don’t chase it or corner it - simply observe! They won’t attack you for fun. They’ll just continue on what they were doing, and you get to witness it!

If you really want to see a moray eel on the hunt, we recommend a night dive - but you might get lucky like our divers did on this dive recently!!

🐢 Green Sea Turtle swimming in the open blue, curious about the camera! 📸 He took a few turns and a few peaks into the dome to check himself out. Was super cute!

⚠️ Don’t follow the turtle if he’s had enough though, they do need to go up for air, and stalking it can freak him out - causing him to descend again for safety which can cause them to drown if they don’t go up for air in time.

Video taken at a local dive site about 3 mins from our shopfront on Alona Beach!

Panglao is an incredible place to dive. Even if you can’t make one of the amazing trips to Pamilacan, Balicasag or Doljo & Napaling, the local dive sites are still going to blow your mind!!

Jericho giving us the briefing for one of our FAVOURITE sites - Dakit Dakit and Pamilacan Island! Because it sits directly in the Bohol Sea, currents can range from mild to very strong, making it a popular spot for exhilarating drift dives.

Divers frequently encounter swirling schools of barracudas, fusiliers, snappers, and jacks. Lucky divers might even spot manta rays, eagle rays, or reef sharks in the deeper blue.

Dakit Dakit (and Pamilacan in general) is an underwater photographers paradise. The rich coral formations and wall crevices are excellent for spotting nudibranchs and frogfish.

This is definitely one of our top spots - so we really hope you can make it here when you visit Bohol & Panglao!!

Thanks for the amazing briefings as always Cloma Jericho

📍 Pamilacan Island, Bohol
🗺️ Dive Site: Dakit Dakit
⛴️ Bangka from Alona Beach approx 45-60min
🌮 Snacks on board!
🤿 Choose between 2 or 3 dives!

It’s so great to have seen the dive industry strengthen in numbers of women especially over the last 10-15 years.

Social media has surprisingly been such a powerful asset in informing, showcasing and introducing people to the world of scuba diving, and numbers have risen from 33% of women in diving instructors 2010 to 40% now in 2026.

Women in diving are SO important. And we are so happy to see this number grow.

The world of diving is brighter and better for it.

Happy women’s dive day!!!