Airplane Wreck Dive Site

The Airplane Wreck Dive Site off Mactan centers on a sunken twin-engine fuselage, now colonized enough by coral and sponge growth that it reads as much like a reef as a wreck. Artificial structures like this — whether deliberately placed or repurposed after the fact — are a standard tool across Philippine dive sites for concentrating marine life somewhere it wouldn’t otherwise gather. Mactan’s dive industry sits alongside the island’s economic zone and international airport, which is part of why it’s one of the more accessible dive regions in the country for visiting divers.

• Marine life has settled into the aircraft’s frame, drawing batfish, lionfish, and damselfish among the structure.
• The wreck sits at a manageable depth, accessible to both open-water and advanced divers.
• The cockpit and wings, framed by schools of fish, are the site’s most photographed angles.

Explore More in Mactan Island

• Cambuhawe Spring
• Mantayupan Falls
• Barili Heritage District