Just a few hours from Manila, Batangas is a macro paradise. Its reefs are crawling with rare and unusual critters—nudibranchs in neon hues, pygmy seahorses clinging to sea fans, flamboyant cuttlefish flashing colors, and frogfish lurking in the rubble. Shallow coral gardens and deeper walls both deliver, but it's the incredible concentration of small life that makes Batangas one of the Philippines' best places for close-up exploration.
Anilao is all about its version of the vertical migration. Twice a day, billions of tiny creatures rise and fall from the deep ocean, creating the largest movement of biomass on the planet. Divers here experience it firsthand during blackwater dives, drifting at night as alien-like larval fish, glowing jellies, and other deep-sea organisms ascend from the abyss. By day, the reefs are equally rich in macro life, making Anilao a double wonder.
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