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Destination Portfolio: Aaron Halstead, Anilao
By Aaron Halstead, July 10, 2024 @ 10:00 AM (EST)

A beautifully colored painted frogfish perched on a sponge, waiting for prey
 

In the pantheon of great macro and critter diving destinations, Anilao, an area at the southern tip of Luzon Island in the Philippines, surely has its place. The case could be made that it rivals locations like Lembeh Strait and Bali in Indonesia, or Dumaguete in the Philippines, when it comes to sheer abundance and diversity of spectacular and strange marine life. The diving is also often quite easy and non taxing.

Located just three hours’ drive south from Manila, Anilao’s coastline is dotted with dive resorts catering to beginners as well as the most hardcore underwater photographers. While the area is known for its critters, it isn’t simply a “muck” diving destination. While there are classic muck sites, Anilao’s diversity is due in large part to its huge variety of underwater environments and habitats: muck, sandy and seagrass beds, rubble slopes, bustling reefs, wrecks, and plunging walls. Lots of variety in habitat leads to lots of variety in marine life, and if there is a famous Indo-Pacific macro subject out there, chances are you can find it in Anilao. Everything from Rhinopias, frogfish, countless cephalopods and seahorses, to a staggering number of nudibranch species.

It would be remiss to gloss over perhaps Anilao’s biggest claim to fame these days: blackwater diving. While blackwater really kicked off in Hawaii, Anilao has quickly become one of the most popular places in the world for this unique type of drift dive, and every single night, new or extremely rarely seen animals are appearing in front of photographers’ cameras. 

For underwater photographers and critter nuts, Anilao is a must-do destination. Even for those who have been to other well-known macro destinations, each is a bit different and Anilao is definitely worth the visit. Hopefully, the portfolio here gives a little taste as to why!
 

A broadclub cuttlefish peers curiously at the camera while hovering near some soft corals
 

A small goby perches on coral with a pretty bokeh background made up of crinoid arms
 

A bubble coral shrimp in... bubble coral! One of many shrimp species to be found in Anilao
 

A ghost goby sitting on the stem of a sea pen
 

A superstar critter everywhere they can be found, the hairy frogfish is always a top target for photographers in Anilao
 

A perfectly rim-lit painted frogfish, the most common frogfish species in most of the Indo-Pacific, Anilao included
 

While not overly common, seahorses can be seen once in a while on the mucky, sandy plains and seagrass beds of Anilao
 

A female paper nautilus riding a salp chain, accompanied by two itty-bitty males
 

Certain macro critters gain huge sizes like this enormous and aptly named giant frogfish, which is commonly sighted on Anilao’s reefs and walls
 

An ornate ghost pipefish blending in perfectly with the crinoid it will spend most of its life living in
 

Sea pens are host to any number of other marine organisms, from gobies to porcelain crabs
 

Anilao is one of the best locations on Earth for spotting paper nautiluses on blackwater dives—this one is riding a jellyfish
 

A slow shutter image of one of Anilao’s many painted frogfish
 

One of the world’s most charismatic cephalopods, the flamboyant cuttlefish is a relatively common occurrence on the sandy slopes around Anilao
 

Anilao is famous for its nudibranch abundance and diversity—they are everywhere!
 

To see more of Aaron’s work, please give him a follow on Instagram and visit his website, www.d1ver.com.

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