Kalanggaman (Calanggaman) Island: Incredible Wall Dive Photos

Two Ornate Ghost Pipefish

 When I talked to my dive guide at Malapascua about finding rare small underwater creatures he told me about two nearby places; Calanggaman Island and Gato Island. Calanggaman, he said, is a long sand bar dotted with coconut palm trees that drops steeply off into the abyss. Gato on the other hand, was described as a solid rock topped with jungle surrounded by nudibranchs and sea snakes. I immediately added both destinations to our dive plans during my stay in Malapascua. First on the list was a two dive day trip to Calanggaman Island.

Denise's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise)

Can You Find the Sea Horse?

 I was already impressed by J.N., our local dive guide and creature finder by his skill in spotting wildlife on our first few local dives. When we dropped over the underwater cliff edge on the outskirts of Calanggaman, J.N.'s critter vision went into overdrive. He found pygmy sea horses no bigger than your pinky finger nail. Ornate ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, camouflaging crabs, and scorpionfish were all spotted along the wall.

Octopus curious about the my GoPro

Candy Crab. You Have to Look Twice.

 The wall itself reminded my of the backside of Molokini Crater in Hawaii. They both descend vertically into the blue abyss, despite the incredible clear water. The big different between the two is that when you look at the wall here at Calanggaman, it is covered in soft corals ranging from huge sea fans to colorful crinoids. Sponges of all different colors mix in with a few hard corals giving the scuba diver an overload of color in an otherwise blue green world. The animals have adapted to be brightly colored which works well in this tropical underwater paradise.

Longnose Hawkfish deep in a black coral tree

Bright orange Frogfish!

Down the gullet of a scorpionfish