Tourist Activities

Padre Burgos Castle Resort is a dive resort, accredited both by PADI and by the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving, offering year-round guided scuba diving and extraordinary snorkeling excursions in Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte. The area is justifiably renowned as offering the best shore-based diving in the Philippines, with marine life of all shapes, sizes and colours ranging from pygmy seahorses through to magnificent whale sharks and an incredible variety of extremely healthy and undamaged hard and soft coral.

There are over 30 dive sites in the area, each offer something quite different. At Lungsodaan are Max’s Climax, Voltaire’s Rock and Buluarte with dives ranging from 15 up to 40 metres having pygmy seahorses, frogfish and hawksbill turtles. Big fish are also common with black and white snapper, harlequin sweetlips, trevallies, steephead parrotfish and various unicornfish. Learn More!

Snorkeling options abound in Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte with some of the quietest and least disturbed coral reefs in the Philippines. The ‘house reef’, just a handful of metres in front of our superb private beach, has excellent corals, a huge variety of fish and is frequently visited by sea turtles. There are plentiful other snorkeling sites nearby which can be accessed on foot, via a very short ride on public transport, or with the resort’s excellent 2-person kayak.

Snorkeling boat tours for small groups, with a minimum of just 2 people, are conducted all year-round in our superb motor banca, Monarch of the Bay. Departing from the resort’s private beach the tours take in 1, 2 or 3 of the best snorkeling sites in Sogod Bay according to guests’ wishes. Dolphin watching is included in the 1-site tours, while the 3-site tour is a wonderful full day outing including lunch at one of the great beaches around the bay. Most of the dive sites also offer superb snorkeling and, from November through May, snorkeling with whale sharks is a truly outstanding wildlife experience.

Snorkeling tours are also available to non-residents, and to book a place just call or e-mail us.

Whale shark snorkeling with Padre Burgos Castle Resort offers you undoubtedly the best whale shark experience in the Philippines. There are very few tourists around, so the whale shark sanctuary is always uncrowded, the water visibility is usually excellent, snorkeling with the whale sharks is a totally natural experience, and sound ecological practices are strictly observed. The whale shark season in Southern Leyte usually starts around early November and, in a good season, runs through until the end of May, but can end much earlier without warning. The chances of seeing whale sharks during the season are very good, but some seasons are more reliable than others – check our Whale Shark News page for current information.

We lead small groups, with a minimum of just 2 people, on wonderful and unforgettable full day whale shark tours. Departing from the resort’s private beach the tours include dolphin watching, snorkeling in 2 superb marine sanctuaries, a superb lunch and up to 3 hours’ whale shark interaction.

Our whale shark tours are also available to non-residents, and to book a place just call or e-mail us.

A wonderful adventure for all ages, dolphin watching with Padre Burgos Castle Resort is a totally natural wildlife experience. There is never more than one boat with the dolphins and sound ecological practices are strictly observed. Dolphin watching is offered as part of our fabulous whale shark watching tours and can also be combined with a snorkeling excursion, or it can be undertaken as an activity in its own right. Dolphins are common all year round in Southern Leyte, and we have a 95% record of finding dolphins on our dolphin watching tours.

There are 27 species of dolphins resident in Philippine waters and the most common dolphins in Sogod Bay are melon-headed whales and Fraser’s dolphins, which are often found together in large pods of 50 to 150 dolphins, as well as spinner dolphins, pan-tropical spotted dolphins and short-finned pilot whales, which can grow up to 6 metres in length. Species seen less commonly in the waters of Southern Leyte include bottle-nose dolphins, Risso’s dolphins and quite rare pygmy killer whales.

Dolphin watching tours are conducted in our superb motor banca, Monarch of the Bay, for small groups of a minimum of just 2 people and are also available to non-residents. To book a place just call or e-mail us.