Technical Diving in Cebu (2026): Tec & Deep Sites

TL;DR: Cebu’s technical diving centers on three zones — Marigondon Cave off Mactan (cavern floor ~40m, sidemount/twinset, strong current), Malapascua’s deep wrecks (the Dona Marilyn at 17–33m, the Cebu Pioneer at 40–100m), and the Moalboal area, where TDI and PADI Tec courses actually get taught. Course costs run from about US$575–1,275 (₱33,000–74,000) solo, cheaper per diver in a group, climbing from Advanced Nitrox through Extended Range to full Trimix. Prerequisites are strict — Advanced Open Water, nitrox certification, a medical statement, and logged-dive minimums that reach 150+ for Trimix. This is a niche, gear-heavy, multi-day commitment, not a bucket-list add-on. Verified July 2026.

Most people who dive in Cebu never go past 30 meters, and that’s fine — the sardine run, the reef walls, and the thresher sharks at Malapascua Island are all recreational-depth diving. But Cebu also has a real technical diving scene, built around deep wrecks, a cavern off Mactan, and a handful of TDI and PADI Tec Rec instructor training facilities based mostly around Moalboal. This guide is for divers who already have an Advanced Open Water card (or better) and are asking what’s actually down there past 40 meters, which courses to take first, what centers teach them, and what it costs — not a general “learn to dive” guide. If you’re not certified past Open Water yet, start with our learn to dive in Cebu guide instead.

Tec Courses & Sites at a Glance

Course prices from Kasai Village Dive Academy, Moalboal, Cebu (solo vs. 2+ divers); other centers quote on request. Helium and gas fills are usually billed separately from the course fee. Confirm current rates locally before booking. Verified July 2026.

What Technical Dive Sites Does Cebu Actually Have?

Cebu’s technical diving isn’t concentrated in one spot — it’s spread across Mactan, Malapascua, and, if you count a short boat hop across the strait, Bohol.

Marigondon Cave, Mactan. Roughly 6.5km by boat from Scotty’s Dive Center, Marigondon is technically a cavern rather than a true cave — daylight is visible from anywhere inside — but the numbers put it firmly in tec territory: the roof sits around 29 meters and the floor near 40 meters, with the whole chamber about 10 meters across. Cebu operators require an advanced or deep-diver certification just for the entry depth, and the tidal current along the outside wall can turn strong to very strong with little warning. Sidemount or a twinset configuration is standard here, along with a primary light and a backup.

Malapascua’s wrecks. The Dona Marilyn, a 98-meter inter-island ferry that sank in a typhoon in October 1988, lies on her starboard side with her shallowest point around 17 meters and her deepest around 33 meters — divers report whitetip reef sharks, blue-spotted stingrays, and dense schools of glassfish around the hull. That range is within reach for an Advanced Open Water diver on a guided look, but real penetration work is a different skill set taught by Malapascua’s TDI wreck specialty courses. Deeper still is the Cebu Pioneer, sometimes just called the Pioneer wreck — one accessible section sits between roughly 40 and 55 meters, while the full structure reportedly continues down to around 100 meters, putting the bottom of it firmly in advanced trimix territory. Monad Shoal, the seamount where the thresher sharks show up at dawn, has a recreational-depth edge around 25 meters but the wall itself drops away to roughly 230 meters — a reminder of how quickly the terrain around Malapascua goes from reef-diving depth to deep-tec depth.

Cabilao, across the strait. Worth a mention with an honest caveat: Cabilao Island sits off Loon, Bohol, not in Cebu province, so it’s not a Cebu dive site in the strict sense. But its wall diving is well known among trimix-certified divers training out of Moalboal or Mactan, since it’s a short boat ride away — the wall near the lighthouse runs 40–45 meters and South Point drops to 50–60 meters, with an unexplored cave reported around 60 meters. Treat it as an add-on trip for already-certified tec divers, not part of the Cebu tec circuit itself.

What Technical Diving Courses Can You Take in Cebu?

Two agencies run the show — TDI (Technical Diving International) and PADI’s Tec Rec line — and both follow the same basic logic: nitrox and decompression theory first, then extended-range no-stop-ceiling diving, then trimix.

TDI’s progression, taught at centers like 7 Seas Dive Center and Tech Asia in Mactan/Lapu-Lapu City, and Evolution Diving Resort in Malapascua, generally runs: Intro to Tech → Advanced Nitrox → Decompression Procedures (sometimes combined) → Extended Range → Trimix → Advanced Trimix, with sidemount, advanced wreck, DPV, and gas blending offered as parallel specialties. Evolution is a TDI 5-star Instructor Training Facility, meaning it can also certify tec instructors, not just divers.

PADI’s Tec Rec progression, taught at Savedra Dive Center in Panagsama, Moalboal, and at Ocean Passion in Malapascua, runs Tec 40 → Tec 45 → Tec 50 → Tec Trimix 65 → Tec Trimix Diver, with a separate Tec Sidemount and Tec Gas Blender track. Savedra also teaches the TDI equivalents side by side, so it’s effectively agency-agnostic — worth a look if you’re not sure which certification path you want.

Neither agency’s course pages publish public pricing (most centers quote “email us for a course pack” and charge per group size), which is why the one hard price anchor in this guide — Kasai Village Dive Academy in Moalboal — matters: it’s a real, published rate card rather than a guess.

How Much Do Tec Courses Cost in Cebu?

Expect a floor of roughly US$575 (₱33,350) for an entry-level Extended Range Nitrox course and up to about US$1,275 (₱73,950) for full Hypoxic Trimix, based on Kasai Village Dive Academy’s published rates — cheaper per person when you train with a buddy or a small group. A few things push the real cost higher than the sticker price:

• Helium and specialty gas fills are usually billed separately from the course fee, and trimix blends get expensive fast as you go deeper.
• Equipment matters — sidemount rigs, doubles/twinsets, and stage bottles are either rented (add a daily fee) or need to be your own.
• Multi-day courses mean multi-day accommodation and food, on top of the course itself — factor in a week or more in Moalboal or Malapascua for a full progression rather than a single course.
• Course fees at other Cebu centers (Savedra, 7 Seas, Tech Asia, Evolution, Ocean Passion) are generally quoted on request rather than published — get a written quote before you commit, and confirm what’s included (tanks, boat fees, manuals) versus billed separately (helium, sofnalime for rebreathers).

What Are the Prerequisites?

Every step up the tec ladder has three things stacked against you: certification level, logged dives, and age. As a rough baseline across the centers surveyed for this guide:

• Entry-level tec (TDI Intro to Tech / PADI Tec 40 or equivalent): Advanced Open Water, an enriched-air (nitrox) certification, roughly 25–30 logged dives, 18+ (some intro modules allow 15 with parental consent), and a dive-medical statement.
• Mid-level (Decompression Procedures / Tec 45, Extended Range): Rescue Diver or equivalent, 50–100 logged dives with a chunk of those below 18–30 meters, and prior tec certification from the level below.
• Trimix: 100–150+ logged dives, a meaningful number of them deeper than 30m with staged decompression stops already completed, and every prior tec certification in the chain. No center reputable enough to be worth training with will skip you ahead on these numbers — they exist because the margin for error underwater gets thinner, not more forgiving, the deeper and more complex the dive gets.

Sidemount or Twinset — What Do You Actually Need?

For Marigondon Cave specifically, sidemount or a twinset is close to mandatory — the confined space, entry depth, and current make single-tank backmount configurations impractical for anything beyond a quick look near the entrance. For open-water wreck and wall dives like the Dona Marilyn or Cabilao’s wall, backmount doubles are more common, though several Cebu centers (Savedra, Ocean Passion, Evolution) also teach a dedicated sidemount specialty if you prefer that configuration generally. Talk to your chosen center before booking — gear configuration affects which specific course track you take, not just what you rent.

How to Choose a Tec Center in Cebu

• Match location to your target site. If Marigondon Cave and Mactan-area diving is the goal, train with Mactan-based 7 Seas or Tech Asia. If it’s Malapascua’s wrecks, train with Evolution or Ocean Passion right there. If you’re building a general tec foundation and haven’t picked a specialty yet, Moalboal’s Savedra or Kasai Village give you both TDI and PADI Tec side by side.
• Ask what’s included versus billed separately before comparing quotes — tanks, boat fees, and course materials are usually bundled; helium, oxygen top-offs, and sofnalime for rebreathers usually aren’t.
• Check instructor-level credentials, not just “we offer tec courses.” Facilities that also train instructors (like Evolution’s TDI 5-star ITF status) tend to have deeper bench strength in gear, gas blending, and dive planning.
• Don’t skip the medical statement or the logged-dive minimums. A center that waves those through to get your money is a center to avoid, not a shortcut worth taking.

The Honest Take

Technical diving in Cebu is a real, credible niche — Malapascua in particular punches well above its size for wreck and trimix training, and Marigondon Cave is a genuinely unusual dive for the region. But be clear-eyed about what you’re signing up for: this is not a one-afternoon add-on to a beach holiday. A proper progression from Advanced Nitrox to Trimix realistically takes a week or more of diving, multiple thousand-dollar course fees, and gear you’ll either buy or rent daily. If you’re chasing “technical diving” mostly for the label, recreational nitrox diving on the sardine run or the reef walls will scratch the same itch for a fraction of the cost and commitment. If you’re chasing it because you actually want to see the Cebu Pioneer’s hull at 100 meters or explore Cabilao’s unmapped cave, then it’s worth every peso — just budget the time to do the prerequisites properly rather than looking for a center that’ll wave you through.

Sources

• Evolution Diving Resort — Technical Diving Training, Malapascua
• Evolution Diving Resort — Cebu Pioneer Trimix Wreck
• Malapascua Diving — Technical Diving Courses
• Kokay’s Malapascua Diving — MV Dona Marilyn
• 7 Seas Dive Center — Tec Diving Philippines
• Savedra Dive Center — TDI/PADI Technical Dive Courses
• Kasai Village Dive Academy — Multi-Gas / Extended Range Courses
• Tech Asia — TDI Courses Overview
• Ocean Passion Malapascua — PADI Tec Courses
• Cabilao Sanctuary — Diving
• Course fees, prerequisites, and site depths verified against operator sites as of July 2026; confirm current pricing and gas-fill fees directly with your chosen center. Verified July 2026.

Once you’ve mapped out a course track, pair it with a place to stay near your training site — check dive resort options across Cebu or compare Moalboal-area stays on Agoda if you’re basing out of Panagsama. For the sites you can dive without a tec card, see our roundup of the best dive sites in Cebu, and if you want the full overview of diving here before committing to a tec path, start with Cebu for divers. If a center quotes you a package, compare it against similar dive activities on Klook first, or search GetYourGuide’s diving listings for alternatives.