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Wreck your mind on a Mindoro Island ocean dive
The waters off Mindoro Island in the Philippines are home to 75 percent of the world's coral species -- and more dive sites than locals can count
Sabang Bay on Minodoro Island. More beautiful above the water or below? Click the link and decide for yourself. (Photo by Martin Young)We've always known that Mindoro Island in the Philippines stands alongside Thailand or Bali in any discussion of world-class dive sites. But lately we've been obsessing over this gorgeous island whose northeastern shores are part of the Coral Triangle, one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, home to more than 75 percent of all known coral species.
Most Mindoro Island dives set out from the charming but ragged little beach hamlet of Sabang Bay, five miles from the town of Puerto Galera.
With more than 30 mind-wrecking dive sites within a 10-minute boat ride from the Sabang Inn, Mindoro Island is good for at least a week's stay. Sabang Inn's dive center, Dive With Chot, run by longtime diver Chot Lucas, is always on the hunt for new sites. Chot'a divemaster Randy Gaba believes hundreds of great spots remain undiscovered around the island.
Artifacts, including gold from the 16th-century Spanish galleons that once sailed past Mindoro, are still occassionally found
