Olango Reef Flat
Raf's Reef Brief:
Visited June 27, 2025
Written August 8th, 2025
Location Lowdown
The Olango Reef flat is a raised island group only 5km away from Mactan Island, home of (in my opinion) the nicest airport in the Philippines. Right next door is the massive Cebu City, the largest city in the Visayas region of the country. The island group is renowned for its bird & wetland sanctuaries, but it's really the sandbars and scenic piers that attract island-hopping tours. As a result, the flat is frequently traversed by the hordes of tourists passing through Cebu City, for better or for worse (yes, that's forshadowing).
The reefs around Olango consist primarily of fringing reefs that bound the inner reef flat and wetlands. These fringing reefs generally consist of a 2m deep seagrass dominated backreef before a tidal reef crest at 2-4m, which give way to wide sandy slopes that eventually drop off at around 10m. Thick branching corals like Isopora and a diverse array of submassive corals dominate the crest and fore reef. There are two (poorly regulated) Marine Sanctuaries on the reef flat, one at Gilutongan Island and the other at Nalusuan Island.
Raf’s Recommendation
Olango's corals really surprised me! being right outside a major city and within the path of 2021's Supertyphoon Odette, I expected nothing but devastation here. Thankfully, I was wrong! The two marine sanctuaries, especially at the one at Gilutongan Island, have some large very diverse hard coral patches with only moderate amount's of damage. While you won't find any shallow, far-as-the-eye-can-see colonies of branching Acropora, the density and variety of hard corals is totally worth a visit. It is truly a miracle these reefs have survived so much— considering the next door Cebu City brings in dozens of terrible divers, hundreds of boats, graffiti-ed coral, and tons of trash! Seriously, the tourism here has all the worst practices South East Asia is famous for.
Consensus: I would recommend diving & snorkeling Olango's corals! The two marine sanctuaries are easy to bundle through joiner tours and the corals are standout survivors when compared to other famous Visayas destinations that were leveled by Supertyphoon Odette.
The Reef Brief
One day on Mactan was enough for us to snorkel both Marine Sanctuaries at Olango. We chartered a private boat to get more time in the water by avoiding the "Instagram" stops, but looking back a joiner tour would have given us enough time. We did not get the chance to scuba dive due to our schedule, but a shallow dive profile would have been a much better way to experience Gilutongan Island's hard coral drop-off.
1. Gilutongan Island, Hilutungan Channel
Best Area: Good
Worst Area: Poor
Viewing Method: Shallow Scuba Diving
Difficulty: Low
The marine sanctuary at Gilutongan Island (which confusingly goes by either the name of the island or the channel depending on who you ask) has awesome wide patches of very diverse hard corals. There are a line of white buoys that separate snorkelers from the shallow reef crest, which no one is allowed to pass. Therefore, the snorkeling area consists of a sandy slope starting at 4-5m depth at the buoys and continuing to the drop-off at 8-10m. The biggest patches of coral are at the dropoff, but some are located closer to shore, so just keep swimming till you see all the good stuff. Watch out for boats since all of the island-hopping tours stop here, though usually only to feed the fish.
Starting our snorkel right on area 1a, the first sight is an excellent ~10-20m wide patch of high coral cover right at the ~8m deep dropoff. That is, if you can even see the reef past the swarm of sergeant majors in your face expecting you to feed them. As for our mooring location, it does not seem that we moored at 1 for any specific reason; other boats had moored at random along the entire stretch from 1b to 1d.
Despite being a too deep for optimal snorkeling, the dense high cover hard corals at 1a's dropoff were very impressive considering the amount of tourists this site gets (forshadowing). This site would make an awesome shallow dive.
Now facing the shore, there are also some nice but small patches of hard corals dotting the sand near the buoy line at 1a. Everywhere you look there's a great variety of Echinopora, Porites, Acropora, and more.
Unfortunately 1a also shows us our first signs of Cebu City's overtourism with not just one but TWO vandalized corals... seriously unbelievable.
Fighting the current southwest to 1b, sandy rubble becomes more and more common. We are joined by the local Great Trevally (Caranx ignobilis). There are 4-5 resident trevally at this site, presumably to take advantage of the rampant fish feeding here.
Upon reaching area 1b, we were disappointing to find several stands of destroyed Acropora rubble. At this point the great patches of hard coral dotting the drop off and bouy lines from 1a had died off, so this is where we turned around.
The swim to 1c included almost getting run over by several local bangkas. They speed right through the snorkel zone to sell coconuts to the island-hoppers, so make sure to keep an eye out (or better yet, bring a marker buoy) for your safety.
There are some fantastic, super diverse patches of hard corals towards the buoy line between 1a and 1c,
Which are also present near the drop off too (note the divers here, more on that shortly)
Now passing 1c, the awesome hard coral action near the buoy line remains strong with some gorgeous foliose Montipora colonies.
At the dropooff we find the most impressive bit of coral cover so far, though most of the coral patches from 1a to 1c are pretty much just as good.
But when swimming towards 1d, the hard coral cover fades into the sandy sea grass beds. This seems to be the most common benthic cover around Gilutongan Island and is present between each of patches shown previously.
Making our return to the boat, we are greeted by hordes of people (literally, we're talking dozens of boats and hundreds of tourists) tearing up the reef. At the surface, large groups of snorkelers feed the fish (a very harmful practice you can read about here) while in view of a local MPA ranger on a kayak! We were told by locals that rangers here are only care about enforcing fees and nothing else, which we've unfortunatley observed to be a common problem across the Philippines.
Meanwhile at depth, entire groups of divers and their guides kneel and step on the amazing coral cover we saw from 1c to 1a. The divers were not capable enough to understand my angry hand gestures, which shouldn't be surprising considering their utter lack of skill and respect for the environment they claim to enjoy.
And that's all I have to say for Gilutongan Island. I was very pleasantly surprised by the density and diversity of the coral cover preset, and shocked that it's been able to withstand the insane amount of boat traffic, terrible divers, fish feeding, garbage, and coral graffiti that we witnessed. And the worst part... we saw all this during the LOW season!
2. Nalusuan Island, Olango Channel
Best Area: Moderate
Worst Area: Poor
Viewing Method: Snorkeling
Difficulty: Low
Nalusuan Marine Sanctuary is just outside the manmade resort island from which it gets it's name. The island-hopping tours stop here primarily for a photo-op on the resort's pier and lunch at it's restaurant, so the water is less busy than Gilutongan. There is a buoy line in front of the reef crest here like at Gilutongan, but our boat claimed snorkelers are allowed to cross this one. The benthic cover of the entire site is generally sandy slope dominated by seagrass, but there are some worthwhile colonies about. There is also much more coral mortality & predation present. Aside from some long gone Acropora rubble there isn't much to see along the 10m+ deep dropoff, so stick to the buoys for the best of the reef crest at 2-4m. I only got to snorkel west of the pier, but I did see boats moored on the east side which may be worth checking out based off the satellite imagery. Mild current eastward.
Jumping in the water at 2a, we are greeted with a wide 10+ meter deep sandy slope full of degraded coral rubble. A quick free dive to the bottom reveals a handful of surviving Acropora & Isopora colonies, but not much else.
Making or way north east towards 2b, we encounter some small yet impressive patches of live hard coral dotting the sand slope. The coral cover along this part of the slope is dominated by a favorite species of mine, Isopora palifera
Reaching the start of area 2b, the number of Isopora palifera colonies really increase as they merge with sub-massive corals to make up the start reef crest.
Now totally above the reef crest just north of the buoy line, the Isopora domination starts to disappear asthe entire stretch from 2b to the pier generally consists of patchy, moderate cover sub-massive colonies stemmed by the tides. The benthic cover north and south continues to be made up of sandy sea grass beds. Coral mortality is notable with a decent percentage of colonies long gone.
But the lower cover here doesn't mean there arnt nice coral to enjoy! These large Porites bommies themselves colonized by several Acropora & Pocillopora species was a sight to behold.
Inbetween 2c and 2d we get a decent burst of large, healthy Porites colonies (with some surviving Acropora sprinkled throughout).
Though hiding in their cracks we find our first examples of the nasty Crown of Thorns Starfish, possibly explaining the mortality rate among branching hard corals on this stretch of reef.
We can see the aftermath of this coral predation on my favorite part of the reef, where two large colonies of Montipora and Acropora intersect just after area 1c. One of the Acropora colonies is virtually completely gone.
But the survivors are simply gorgeous and the high biomass of fish (particular these Green Chromis) in the video below make these two small colonies my favorite spot at this site.
And with those stunning Acroporids mentioned, that's a wrap on Nalusuan Island east of the pier. The coral cover is overall sparse between the sea grass beds and the colonies present show obvious mortality, but there are still enough colonies left to warrant a visit. Despite not having nearly the amount of coral as Gilutongan Island, the lack of a 'circus' here made surveying the reef much more enjoyable.
Unvisited Areas of Interest
A quick gander at the local dive shop maps or island hopping tours reveal a slew of dive sites all along the nearby Mactan's coast. After scouring images and videos of these sites on YouTube, I wouldn't expect to find any coral cover as large or dense as on Olango, though there's always a possibility. A chat with a local dive shop reaffirmed this theory.
On Olango Island itself, there are two fish sanctuaries to the that we were not able to visit that don't seem to be included on any island hopping tours. For those with a private boat, there are kilometers of fringing reef all along the Olango Reef Flat to explore. However there seems to be a large amount of local fishing and development constantly taking place on the flat, so I can't say my hopes are high for these non-protected areas (if you even consider the terrible practices at Gilutongan & Nalusuan as protected in the first place).
Logistics
How to Get There
Travel to and from Mactan Island has two general options. Firstly, you can fly into Mactan directly (including internationally) and take a Grab, regular taxi, or public transport (multicab, bus, etc.) option from the airport. Our recommendation is to use Grab for the least amount of hassle and the best price clarity possible.
The second option is to come from Cebu City, which is possible via Grab, regular taxi, or public transport (multicab, bus, etc.). It's hard to give a blanket price for these options, as they depend on distance and availability. The bridges connecting Cebu City and Mactan often have a lot of traffic, and we never experienced a ride less than 30-40mins between the two.
Cebu City is reachable easily from the entire island of Cebu, via the Ceres bus line, which has its end station terminals in the city (North and South terminals depending on which direction you're going/coming from). Many ferries also depart from/arrive to Cebu Port to/from the rest of the Philippines. Both bus and ferry times are usually posted online on the respective company's FaceBook page.
Where to Stay & Eat
Hostels, hotels, and resorts are all present both on Mactan Island itself and in Cebu City. There is no shortage of options. We stayed at the OYO 685 K Fortune Apartelle, located on Mactan. It was budget-friendly yet provided good AC & a hot shower. There was also a decent ramen restaurant downstairs as well as a laundry shop next door, which we took advantage of.
We only stayed briefly and didn't explore many food options outside of the aforementioned ramen shop and the malls by the bus terminals in Cebu City; however, there is no shortage of streetfood vendors (avoid) local Cantinas (₱100+/meal) and tourist oriented restaurants (₱300+/meal). The mall options took card payments, whereas local options mostly took cash. There are plenty of convenience stores on Mactan, including two an 8-minute-walk away from our accommodation. We did not look for a water purifying station but I assume they are present to rent a 20L jug for your cheapest source of purified water.
What to Do
Island hopping tours are the main attraction on Olango itself and there are an endless number of operators to choose from who all offer the same stops & activities. Private tours start at ₱6000 and joiner tours ₱1500/head. This rate is very standardized- don’t expect to be able to haggle much. Most include lunch and consist of white sand beaches, sandbars, or the snorkeling destinations above. Tour schedules and itineraries do not vary and are essentially the same option everywhere: Gilutongan, Nalusuan, and Caohagan Island. We saw multiple tours stop and have their lunch on Nalusuan Island (us included), so we assumed that this is the typical lunch stop for tours.
There are also several dive shops located on Mactan Island and we saw several dive trips at Gilutongan when we were there. They mainly cater towards the many Korean tourists flying in.
What to Bring
•Cebu is considered malaria free in 2025 (according to our doctor); please consult a travel physician for official recommendations. We still recommend a bug net for your bed treated with permethrin (and the string to hang it), and treated long sleeve clothing to prevent Dengue.
•A complete travel first aid kit with antibiotic and antidiarrhea prescriptions is always recommended.
•All manner of bites, stings, scratches, and burns can be prevented with proper clothing both above and below water. Synthetic hiking pants paired with a hooded SPF rated synthetic shirt dry quick and prevent sunburn (including the neck, ears, and palms). Treat them with permethrin and you’ll rarely find yourself getting bit by bugs. This clothing is a great way to save on sunscreen and bug spray over long trips. A hooded longsleeve/longpants rashguard or wetsuit set will prevent jellyfish stings, hypothermia, and sunburns while diving and snorkeling. Always snorkel with a hood; exposed necks burn fast.
•If you are insistent on short sleeve clothing, sun screen (reef-safe only) and bug repellent (DEET over 15%) are your best friends. Bug repellent is commonly available but expensive. Sunscreen is hard to find.
•There are many ATMs across Mactan Island. Most function well unless there was a recent brownout that day. The island-hopping & snorkel tours still rely on cash, so be prepared to withdraw and carry an adequate amount.
•Outlets are the hybrid style that take US and EU styles with no ground.
•English is commonly spoken in urban and touristy areas throughout the Philippines. Knowledge of local phrases and words will please locals and help you find local prices.
Disclaimers:
•Coral conditions and prices are only accurate to the last day of visit.
•No information on this website constitutes research, advice, or training and is not intended to be used as such. Travel and participate in water activities under your own discretion and only with proper training. All opinions are my own and all statements are based on my individual experience and memory. Please contact us to correct a mistake.
•All photos, videos, maps are my own unless stated otherwise. All rights reserved.
•As always, these articles are heavily inspired by www.whatsthesnorkellinglike.wordpress.com. Credit and cudos to the amazing example they have set.