Gato Island

Gato Island is a small island off the northern coast of Cebu, near Malapascua, in the Visayas region of the Philippines. It is a known dive site in the area, popular for its cavern and swim-through terrain cutting through the island's rock, with a tunnel running beneath the island that draws boats over from Malapascua. The reef bottom tops out at a maximum depth of around 25 metres and is rated a beginner dive, though the caves and tunnels are treated as a genuine overhead environment and should be respected as such. Divers regularly find nudibranchs on the reef, and sightings of batfish, frogfish, ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp, seahorses, snapper, squid, and stonefish have also been reported. Sea kraits and other sea snakes have been noted moving through the cracks and tunnels as well, alongside the white-tip reef sharks the site is best known for. Good buoyancy and comfort in tight spaces make the tunnel section more manageable, even though the overall dive is graded for beginners.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Sky Blue PhyllidiaPhyllidia coelestisReported here · unconfirmed
• Varicose Wart SlugPhyllidia varicosaReported here · unconfirmed
• Dusky NembrothaNembrotha kubaryanaReported here · unconfirmed
• Striped ClingfishDiademichthys lineatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Crested NembrothaNembrotha cristataReported here · unconfirmed
• Whitetip Reef SharkTriaenodon obesusReported here · unconfirmed
• Painted PhyllidiaPhyllidia pictaReported here · unconfirmed
• Hairy Red Hermit CrabDardanus lagopodesReported here · unconfirmed
• Ornate GhostpipefishSolenostomus paradoxusReported here · unconfirmed
• SeahorseSeahorseReported here · unconfirmed
• Mantis shrimpMantis shrimpReported here · unconfirmed
• NudibranchNudibranchConfirmed present · 3 independent sources
• SquidSquidReported here · unconfirmed
• Ghost pipefishGhost pipefishReported here · unconfirmed
• FrogfishFrogfishReported here · unconfirmed
• BatfishBatfishReported here · unconfirmed
• SnapperSnapperReported here · unconfirmed
• StonefishStonefishReported here · unconfirmed