The Philippines Department of Tourism (PDOT) announced today that the Philippines is, once again, the World’s Leading Dive Destination at the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2021.
“This distinction is indeed a great privilege, yet, it underlines our great responsibility of protecting and conserving our underwater resources so that these will also be enjoyed and experienced in their pristine natural state by future generations,” said Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat.
This is the third consecutive year that the Philippines has won the said award.
It bested other dive destinations in the world, such as Maldives, Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Azores Islands, Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Cayman Islands, Fiji, Galapagos Islands, and Mexico.
The country boasts of having the best diving destinations with biologically diverse marine and aquatic resources.
The Philippines not only belongs to the magnificent Coral Triangle–dubbed as the Amazon of the Ocean that is home to 600 coral species, 2,000 reef fish species, and six out of the world’s seven species of marine turtles–but also, as marine scientists have pinpointed, is at the center of it, making the country home to the richest marine ecosystem on the planet.
The PDOT is constantly identifying potential destinations that may be developed for dive tourism.
Top diving spots in the country include the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Palawan, Anilao in Batangas, Malapascua and Moalboal in Cebu, Balicasag, Panglao, and Anda in Bohol, and Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro.
Recently, amateur and professional underwater photographers, divers, and marine enthusiasts masterfully captured the beauty of Anilao in the entries to the 7th Anilao Underwater Shootout (AUS), mounted by the PDOT.
Dubbed as the “World Cup of Underwater Photo Competitions,” the four-day event highlighted the town’s teeming marine biodiversity, including its world-famous nudibranchs.
Puyat said the event showcased the country’s readiness to welcome back tourists and reclaim its position as the world’s leading dive destination.
Supporting the department’s thrust to safely restart tourism in the country, Puyat also noted that more than 95 percent of the tourism workers in dive destinations are now fully vaccinated.
