Cogon
One of our favourite Apo Island dives: a spectacular drift from sand to patchy reef and walls, with passing pelagics and, if you are lucky, a big school of jacks.
Cogon is one of our favourite dive sites at Apo Island. It is a spectacular, dramatic drift dive for experienced divers, taking you from sand to patchy reef and on to walls, usually carried by a current that runs south. The site is named after the cogon grass that grows along the shore.
The dive
The maximum depth is around 28 metres. The current normally pushes south, so Cogon is dived as a drift: you descend, get your trim, and let the water carry you along the changing reef. All that current brings plenty of nutrients, and with them plenty of life.
On the right day, Cogon is the start of a classic Apo drift: you begin here, drift through Mamsa Point, where the jacks and giant trevally hang in the current, and finish on the walls of Kan-uran. Three sites in one dive.
What you might see
- A big school of jacks, if you are lucky, sweeping past in a wall of silver
- Passing pelagics in the blue
- Schools of bigeye trevally
- Filefish and sweetlips on the reef
- Sea turtles
When to dive Cogon
We visit Apo Island all year, weather permitting, with water temperatures of about 25 to 29°C. Whether we dive Cogon on a given day depends on the current and the group. See when to dive Dauin and Apo Island.
Who it suits
Experienced divers who are comfortable in current. If you are not sure, talk to us: we can plan a gentler Apo site such as Katipanan instead.
Our tip
The current here normally pushes south, so Cogon is dived as a drift. Stay close to your guide, keep your hands in, and look out into the blue rather than only at the reef; that is where the jacks come from.
Good to know
- Apo Island is a protected marine area. The sanctuary fee is included in our day-trip price.
- A surface marker buoy is used on drift dives so the boat can follow the group.
- For Apo’s other big drift, see Coconut Point.
Dive Cogon with us
We visit Apo Island on full-day boat trips from Dauin, with three dives, lunch and sanctuary fees included. Which sites we dive depends on the day’s conditions. See our Apo Island day trips, or build your dive trip.