The Municipality of Moalboal in the southwestern portion of the province of Cebu has become a famous tourist destination due to the presence of several dive sites surrounding the town, which includes Copton Point dive spot. The dive spots in Moalboal offer a magnificent sight of coral reefs and exotic marine plants and animals. Some of the diving spots are protected marine parks or sanctuaries.

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The Copton Point dive site is located on the west point of the northern part of the Panagsama reef. The dive site is about six kilometers from Panagsama Beach and about 11 minutes ride from there. The Savedra Fish Sanctuary established in Copton Point in 2001, serves as a resting place for marine life in the area.

An interesting sight at Copton Point is the sunken wreck of a small light plane intentionally put there in 1993. The Savedra Dive Center based in Panagsama Beach put the plane there as an added attraction and as an artificial reef in the dive site. The plane has no parts, with only the body left intact. Small corals now cover the plane wreck and it is a haven for some species of fish and other small marine animals.

The dive starts to a deep descent of 17 meters along the mooring buoy rope to the sandy slope with beautiful Staghorn corals. The airplane wreck is approximately seven meters down the slope at the wall’s edge at a depth of 20 meters. After you visit the plane, you can go in either a northeast direction or south.

The coral slope at the dive site is rocky with nice corals such as table corals, big sea fans and staghorn corals. The corals are home to fishes such as the ring-tailed cardinal fish, black and white damselfish, spotted eagle ray fusilier, yellow ribbon sweetlip, emperor fish, puffer fish, and blue-finned triggerfish. You can also see turtles in the area.

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Location of Moalboal

The Copton Point dive site is located in the Municipality of Moalboal, Cebu. Moalboal is in the southwest coast of Cebu and about 88 kilometers from Cebu City. You can take a Ceres or Librando bus from the Cebu South Bus Terminal or the vans for hire. The estimated travel time from the city to Moalboal is about 2 ½ hours. Once you get to Moalboal, you can take a tricycle to the main resort area of Panagsama Beach where most of the tourist accommodations and dive shops are located.