Panglao is a beautiful island located southwest of Bohol. It is known as a perfect vacation spot, with beautiful beaches, luxury hotels and resorts, and many experiences for visitors. In particular, scuba diving to see plane wrecks and underwater creatures attracts many "diving enthusiasts" to come here every year.
The plane was located at a depth of about 10m below the seabed. Photographer Nguyen Ngoc Thien (36 years old, Ho Chi Minh City) went diving to see the plane wreck in Panglao in September. He said that tourists usually have two ways to approach this diving spot.
For the first way, from the center of Panglao, visitors can rent a motorbike or tuk tuk to Oceanica Resort (formerly known as South Palm Resort) for about 300 pesos (about 140,000 VND). From the gate, visitors walk through the resort area to reach the beach of this resort. This is the closest access to the plane wreck dive site from the mainland.
"The great thing here is that this resort has absolutely no entrance fee, you can leave your belongings neatly in a corner on the beach or simply find a table on the beach, order a drink and leave your luggage at the table. From the beach, just swim out about 500m to the plane wreck diving spot right at the edge of the cliff at the bottom of the sea," said the photographer.
However, Mr. Thien noted that first-timers or those with poor physical condition should consider this route. This is because the waves in this area are relatively strong and visibility is poor. It may take visitors 1-2 hours to swim from shore to the plane wreckage viewing point. The return swim is also strenuous and can cause seasickness.
He shared: "In addition, for first-timers, locating the plane wreck offshore, below the water surface, in strong waves is also not easy."
If you cannot swim far away, you can approach this swimming spot in the second way, which is gentle and safe but more expensive. Accordingly, from the center of Panglao, you can rent a boat and a local guide, and travel by sea straight to the dive spot to see the plane wreck. The boat will anchor above and wait for you to finish diving to take you back. The local guide will guide you to dive safely here.
The cost of renting a boat is about 2,500 pesos (about 1.1 million VND), hiring a tour guide is 500 pesos (about more than 200,000 VND). With this type of customer, tourists do not have to spend much effort swimming to the point to see the plane wreckage, and also save more travel time.
Because the location to see the plane crash is quite deep, visitors need to have diving equipment or a professional guide. Here, visitors can freely explore and take photos with the plane wreck that sank to the bottom of the sea for many years. In addition, you can also explore the world of extremely rich ocean creatures in Panglao.
Coming to Panglao, besides the experience of diving to see the plane crash, visitors can also participate in many interesting and exciting activities on Alona beach, relax at high-class hotels and resorts, have fun on the beach such as SUP, kayaking, swimming...
