Chocolate Island
An islet toward mainland Cebu ringed by soft coral over rock and boulder, with a sheltered side to dive whatever the current is doing.
Last updated October 2026
The dive
An uninhabited islet stands in open water toward the mainland, and the dive follows its perimeter. Soft and leather corals grow thickest against the rock, with barrel sponges and sea fans among them. From there the island's sides taper to a floor of sand and rubble 16 to 18 metres down, so the whole profile is one long slope.
The profile stays shallow from entry to exit. Small animals reward a slow pace along the base of the slope.
Where current runs, the method is to put the island between you and the flow. Some part of the fringe is always in shelter, so a current changes which side you start on and the dive goes ahead.
What makes it special
Soft and leather corals carpet the rock and boulder around the whole islet, and the small animals that make the site live in and around them. Most macro diving off Malapascua is over sand and rubble, which makes a coral setting for the critters the reason to come this far out.
A magazine writer on his sixth visit to Malapascua made it the highlight of his trip, with corals he had never come across before and well over 100 pictures from a single dive1. Divers on other trips describe the reefs out here more modestly, as decent shallow macro ground.
A community conservation project on Malapascua collected reef data at three dive sites, and this is one of them, alongside Monad Shoal and Gato Island2.
Photographer's notes
Bring macro. The shallow profile gives long bottom time, and frame counts climb with it1. The two ends of the slope ask for different things: soft coral and sponge in ambient light on the shallow rock, and frogfish and cuttlefish on the sand and rubble below, where the guide's eye matters more than the lens.
Nudibranchs and other sea slugs are reported here in numbers, which suits a slow pace and a macro lens.
Know before you go
The run is 20 to 35 minutes toward mainland Cebu, and a chamber for Malapascua was announced in early 2025, so ask where the nearest working one is and what emergency oxygen the boat carries, and travel with insurance that covers hyperbaric treatment. Nitrox earns nothing at these depths.
Why Dive Chocolate Island
What makes this dive site stand out.
- Soft coral over rock
Soft and leather corals, barrel sponges and sea fans on rock and boulder
- Always a lee side
An island fringe, so some part of it is out of the current
- Gentle slope to sand
The island's sides taper to a sand and rubble floor and do not drop away
- Macro hunting ground
Flamboyant cuttlefish, frogfish and nudibranchs are what guides look for here
Depth & Profile
Location
11.3060°N, 124.0638°E
Conditions & difficulty
The Visayan Sea is dry from November to April, with March to June the calmest. Diveable year-round.
Open Water is the minimum one operator sets, and the shallowest published depth is 3 metres. Operators sell the site as easy and suitable for all divers.
Summary
Shallow and gentle. The one variable is current, which can run strong; when it does the dive is worked in the island's shelter.
Safety considerations
What can go wrong here, and what divers do about it. Conditions change - take the briefing from the operator on the day.
- Current: Current can run strong around the island and is the one thing that changes from day to day.Work the sheltered side of the island and follow the guide's choice of where to start.
- Remote location: The run is 20 to 35 minutes of open water toward mainland Cebu, and a recompression chamber for Malapascua was announced in early 2025.Ask what emergency oxygen the boat carries, ask the centre where the nearest working chamber is, and carry dive insurance that covers hyperbaric treatment.
Marine Life
Regulations
The island is not among the eleven areas protected by Daanbantayan municipal ordinance in the 2018 reef monitoring list, which predates a network ordinance reported signed in 2021. A Government Environmental Fee of PHP 140 per person is collected at Maya Port on arrival to the island, as of 2026-10. It is an island entry fee and not a site fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the name Chocolate Island come from?▾
No documented origin exists. Staff on the island tell visitors that the island looks like chocolate or that it once made chocolate, and an instructor who dived the site for months says none of those stories is true. It has no connection to the Chocolate Hills of Bohol, a grass-covered land formation about 200 km away.
Is Chocolate Island a morning or an afternoon dive?▾
One operator files it as a good second dive of the day. The run out takes 20 to 35 minutes, so it suits a day with a slower pace than a short hop to the inshore sites.
Can you dive Chocolate Island at night?▾
Yes, centres run night dives here. Because the site is a boat trip of 20 to 35 minutes, a night dive means arranging the boat with a centre in advance.
References
- 1.Scuba Diver Magazine (Divernet), November 11, 2025 — The Other Side of Malapascua Diving
- 2.Save Philippine Seas — Shark Shelter
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