From above the surface, they may look like rundown piers but deep down below these are two of the most incredible dive sites in the Philippines. While the DuCoMi (Dumaguete Coconut Mill) seems slightly illegal to dive at, the Bacong Pier was open for the public to enjoy.
BACONG PIER & DUCOMI PIER
We dove at both sites on the same day and will share all of the details with you about what I think is the best freediving spots in Dauin, Negros.
WHERE ARE THE PIERS LOCATED
Many local divers and freedivers haven’t even heard of the piers. This is because Dauin has so many awesome dive spots that you are spoiled for choice. The piers are actually quite close together, just about 1 kilometer apart. They are both on Google Maps and I will pin the Bacong Pier below, and you can see that the DuCoMi is just a kilometer south along the same stretch of beach.
HOW TO GET TO THE PIERS
We were staying further south at a dive resort in Dauin but just walked out to the main highway and caught the local bus for 8 kilometers in a northern direction. We then walked a couple of hundred meters from the highway to the coast to reach the DuCoMi pier.
We asked the security if we could enter the beach and he let us in but it felt a bit odd. No one bothered us for our whole one-hour dive until the end when a different security guard asked us to get out of the water. A huge ship was coming in so I’m not sure if it was just due to the ship or if it isn’t allowed in general. At Bacong Pier, there were no fences or security and we weren’t encountered by anyone else.
MY FREEDIVING VLOG FROM BACONG AND DUCOMI
DUCOMI PIER
We didn’t really have a resource like this blog post for our adventure. I thought we were meant to go to the Bacong Pier but the driver told us to get out at the DuCoMi pier so we thought we’d give it a shot. DuCoMi actually stands for Dumaguete Coconut Mill.
It’s a fully operational factory facility and the pier has boats docking in and out throughout the day. This makes it seem like such an odd place to turn up with an underwater camera, fins, and snorkels but we went for it. There was security at the entry of the factory but you just pass by and go straight to the beach. We left all our gear on the shore while we went diving and it was fine.
It was a short 100-yard swim to reach the pier and there was a boat docked there while we dove. a few of the crew watched us and said hello. They seemed unperturbed.
We reached the pylons and that is when the fun started. We first began swimming and diving around the edges of the pier as we weren’t quite sure about it. This was already amazing as the pylons extend to the bottom of the ocean, which appears to be at least 20 meters deep in some parts.
We then began to swim through the pylons and dive down directly underneath the pier. The pier itself has about a 1-2 meter gap beneath the surface of the water and the cement so you can come up for air almost anywhere safely without getting trapped under the pier.
We dove down time and time again playing with the light and exploring the different arrangements of pylons. There were a lot of fish here and also lots of swallows under the pier. There was quite a lot of coral but nothing compared to the marine life at Bacong Pier.
This pier was all about the structure of the pylons and the atmosphere they create underwater. Scuba diving at the DuCoMi pier with lights would be simply incredible and you would be able to capture some amazing scenes and different angles.
BACONG PIER
After our first session at DuCoMi pier, we were basically ready to call it a day. We assumed that was the pier and were more than satisfied. However, a local worker told us that Bacong is the better pier for freediving. We were curious and decided we might aswell head down to Bacong and check it out.
We walked out back to the main road and then halfway down to Bacong, we cut back along the beach to have lunch at South Beach Grill. They have wood-fired oven pizza and a pretty good menu with beachfront access. It’s a great spot to stop off in between the two dives.
We left our valuables there and just took the fins and camera down to the beach. Following the coastline, we ended up down at the Bacong Pier after a 15-minute walk. Here we set off to explore the second pier of the day and were completely blown away.
Just like at DuCoMi, you have a huge arrangement of pylons beneath the surface. However, the coral on the pylons was immense and so vivid. Fish swam everywhere and we were in shock at how incredible this freediving site was.
To top it off, a turtle was hanging out down the back of the pier and swam right past us as we went for a few dives down amongst the coral to greater depths. I’m not exactly sure of the exact depth of these pylons as we couldn’t see where they touched the bottom even with a few deeper dives so it could very well be 20-30m+.
This would be another amazing spot for scuba-diving and lights at greater depths would make for great photos.
At the Bacong Pier, there is no bother of boats and security. In addition, marine life and coral are immense. These two factors make the Bacong Pier my pick and the site I would recommend visiting for practicality, experience, and safety.
I hope you have an awesome diving or snorkeling experience at the piers of Dauin on Negros Island.