Boracay is a beautiful tropical island located at 200 miles (315km) south of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This island resort is one of Philippines' most popular tourist destinations because it is consistently voted by popular scuba diving and travel magazines as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world.
There are many dive centers and operators in Boracay offering diving trips to top rated but hard to reach dive sites such as those in the Sibuyan Sea, Tablas, Romblon and Semirara. Close to Boracay are also excellent dive sites catering to divers of varying diving skills. Non diver will find snorkeling in Boracay an enriching experience because of its rich and diverse marine life near the beaches.
Friday's Rock is a nearby rocky outcrop in Boracay's western shore. Expect to see a variety of brilliant colored soft and hard corals, flittering butterfly fish, curious wrasses, darting damsels, playful blue tangs, ominous stingrays and snappers when diving around Friday's rock. Hidden under the rocks, crevices and corals are big scorpion fishes and lion fishes.
There are two great dive sites near the main island of Boracay, known as Punta1 and Punta2. Punta 1 is a shallower dive of the two spots and is a drop off of about 24m (80ft) and Punta 2 starts at 30m (100ft) and goes way down to about 50m (170ft). These two dive spots are home to various species of garoupas, trigger fish, angel fish, sweet-lips, tuna, barracuda and the occasional reef shark.
At the southeast coast of Boracay is Crocodile Island (the island is named as such because of its shape). The island a very popular dive location and is a wall dive to about 25m (80ft) in depth. This dive site is also very rich in marine life so much so that many species of fish and corals make this location their permanent home.
Crocodile Island is also home to some poisonous banded sea snakes some of which are long as two meters (6.5ft) in length. Scuba divers need to be very careful of sea snakes because all sea snakes are poisonous and their bites lead to fatality.
Another great dive location near the main island is the Laurel Island. This dive site is for the more experienced and advanced divers because the undercurrent here can be very strong and because of this, drift diving is the main scuba diving activity here. Furthermore, the strong undercurrent encourages corals to open up their brightly colored yellow and orange polyps to feed on passing planktons. Divers can also find big colorful sponges and huge waving gorgonian sea fans here.
At northern tip of Boracay is a dive site known asYapak. This is a deep wall diving location starting at about 30m(95ft) and descending into the depth of 60m (190 ft). Once again, the undercurrent here can get pretty strong. Scuba divers will encounter larger pelagic fishes here, such as barracudas and various species of sharks.
Hammerhead sharks and giant manta rays are the main attractions when diving in Yapak. Other excellent dive sites around Boracay are Carabao (buffalo), Cathedral Cave, Buruanga, Black Rock and Dog Drift. Is it any wonder why Boracay is consistently rated as one of the best scuba diving site in the world?
There is a dizzying array of scuba diving flippers in the market. Buying your first pair can be a confusing exercise. For you, all scuba diving flippers are equal. This is not the case though. Experienced divers can tell you that there are different scuba diving flippers. A type of flippers will be ideal for snorkeling, and another will be best for deep sea diving.
As you gaze at the shelf of scuba diving flippers, you will be amazed to see all the bright colors of the rainbow ? green, orange, yellow, pink, and blue. The manly scuba diving flippers are usually in their staid black color. Choosing the color alone can be a tough; but concentrating on what you really need for your diving jaunts can be harder.
If you are a novice in diving, you will be better off choosing slim finned scuba diving flippers. This type of flippers, have open toe pockets designed to add force to your kick. Of course, you really have to kick that hard until you are ready for powerful fins. With frequent practice, you become comfortably familiar with the rhythm and nuances of your flippers.
Snorkeling or Diving Flippers?
There is no hard and fast rule that dictates exclusivity of flippers for snorkeling and diving. The different designs in the market respond to the different needs ? smaller flippers for gliding underwater and stiff flippers for speed.
First, ask yourself what you need from your scuba diving flippers. Do you need speed? Do you need better propulsion? Or do you need something for easy underwater navigation? Those questions will guide you in the selection of your scuba diving flippers.
You will note that scuba diving flippers have fins. These fins make it possible for you to swim faster. Technology has designed better fins that remove the drag when you kick your flippers to be able to propel yourself forward. The fins push against the water upward or downward for the pull without the tow.
Scuba divers choose the open heel fins. These are worn with boots, are stiffer and therefore strong enough to fight the drag. The full foot fins are smaller and cannot give the required push if you need swifter forward motion. This type is recommended for snorkeling. With this information, you need not be confused about the flippers you need.
Battle for Speed
The next problem would be in the choice of the scuba diving flippers. There are blade fins, slice fins, rotating blade fins, and much more. If you started with the basics with scuba diving flippers, you will have the experience of the kick and the speed. You will go for the fins. You will now choose again, which among the fins would indeed give you the cutting edge.
The paddle fins are recommended for scuba diving because these can give provide the better propulsion, and divers can move about underwater. The paddle fins have been reinvented, this time with pivoting blades. This gives you the greater push, and the convenience of walking through the water.
Now, have you decided what scuba diving flippers will you get?
Both Chris Chew & Alexes Lebeau are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Chris Chew has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Online College and Cosmetic Surgery. Chris Chew have been scuba diving for three decades. See his travel websites at and. Chris Chew's top article generates over 823000 views. to your Favourites.
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