National Heroes Day Dive 2025: Coral Restoration with University of San Carlos and Shangri-La

While many Filipinos were celebrating the National Heroes Day holiday with rest or family outings, we spent it underwater—helping restore corals together with the Marine Biology Faculty of the University of San Carlos (Dan and Tristan) and Shangri-La Mactan’s marine biologist, Lloyd.

It started Sunday night. While still waiting for our plane at Ilo-ilo airport, my wife told me that they needed one more volunteer diver for Monday’s coral substrate retrieval and deployment. At first, only four from our group were needed, but since I was already free, I said yes. We arrived home past midnight in Lapu-Lapu, and by 7 AM we were already preparing gears for an 8 AM meet-up at Shangri-La.

On the way, we stopped by a carinderia near the Lapu-Lapu Shrine for a quick 10-minute breakfast. By the time we reached the parking lot, Val, Cristy, Joan, and Regie were already waiting. We entered through the employees’ gate, got visitor IDs, and proceeded to Scotty’s Dive Shop where we met Lloyd and waited for the USC professors. While waiting, we shared our pasalubong—fresh Bibingka from Ilo-ilo—with the group.

Gearing Up for Coral Work

By 9 AM, the professors arrived bringing all materials needed:

• Yellow basket loaded with stainless steel rods (over a foot long)

• Pre-cut Mactan stones (about 2x2 inches)

• Spacers (pre-cut hoses) for securing

The task: retrieve the old coral substrates (installed April 2025) and replace them with new ones. These were placed across 6 different sites at varying depths. The goal: find out which area and substrate type corals prefer to grow on.

The Dive – Heavy Gear, Shallow Waters

The hardest part of Shangri-La dives is the long walk from dive shop to beach—and carrying sidemount tanks (around 17 kg each) is no joke. By 10:01 AM, we descended.

• Max Depth: 8.6 meters

• Dive Time: 52 minutes

• Visibility: 8–10 meters

• Water Temp: 31°C

• Current: Slight

Each diver was assigned 2 stainless rods, each rod holding 10 coral substrates—20 per diver. We were tasked to remove the old ones and replace them with new. It took about 10–20 minutes per site. Once finished, we placed all retrieved substrates into a box to be brought to the laboratory for analysis.

Though shallow, the dive was fulfilling. Along the way back, we passed through a patch with many sea urchins and reef fish—a reminder that even if Shangri-La’s corals are damaged, the sanctuary still supports abundant marine life.

Lunch Like a Hero

After surfacing, we returned the collected substrates, cleaned up, and headed to the employees’ canteen of Shangri-La. The spread was delicious—rice, fish, veggies, cold cuts, cheese, coffee, juice, and dessert. We filled ourselves after the tiring work.

By early afternoon, we packed up, said goodbye to the professors and biologists, and went home tired but fulfilled.

This dive reminded us that being a hero is not just about the battlefield—it can also be about protecting what’s beneath the waves.