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Caves and caverns of Cebu and Coron

Pawod Cave (Agus, Mactan)

  • Max depth21 m
  • CertificationFull cave
  • SpecialSidemount

Diving and fills

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Fills nearby

  • Kasai Village Dive Academy (Moalboal)Air, nitrox, oxygen, trimix and argon (according to the SSI listing).
All fill stations and places to stay ↓

The dive

You enter a round collapse about 33 m across and look in the silty pool for an opening of 1 by 3 m.

For certified cave divers only (Scotty's: full cave or GUE Cave 2). In 2017 Filipino Cave Divers found three divers about to enter with a single backmounted cylinder, small lights and a thin rope; they didn't find the entrance. Never dive it without cave training, a cave line and full equipment.
A thick layer of silt with no current to clear it: one careless fin kick and the visibility is gone within seconds. After rain the visibility is almost nothing; don't dive then.
Profile and sections

You enter a round collapse about 33 m across and look in the silty pool for an opening of 1 by 3 m. Beyond it lies Doc's Chamber, a room of 15 by 20 m, and the Bernillian Tunnel, the only branch, runs to The Well, where fresh water rises from the floor 152 m further on. When it is dry, visibility inside is good to excellent, more than 20 m.

Dr Alfonso Amores started looking for caves in 2002, and Pawod was the third spring he explored, at first alone, as there were no other cave divers then. According to him the springs at Agus cove dried up 40 to 50 years earlier because Mactan's groundwater was over-pumped. Scotty's puts the cave at about 2,000 m² at most and itself says that may be optimistic.

Practical: Scotty's keeps the cave for technical cave divers and uses it for cave training; prices on request only.

Depth and profile
To 21 m at The Well, the farthest point (Filipino Cave Divers); Scotty's gives 18 m at the spring and 3–10 m on average. Doc's Chamber is 11 m deep at most.
Configuration
Sidemount; backmount is possible, but Paul's Peril is a vertical restriction that is tight with cylinders on your back (estimate).
Who can dive where
  • CaveAt least Full cave
  • Whole caveConfigurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR
  • Whole caveGoes down to 21 m (trimix or deco may be needed) · doesn't decide who may dive
  • Whole caveExperienced divers only · doesn't decide who may dive
Experienced diversDepends on water level or swellEntry or dive feeThrough a dive centre or guide

This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.

How to get there

A freshwater spring in Barangay Agus on Mactan's ring road, 15–20 minutes' drive from Scotty's. The entrance in the silty pool is hard to find: go with a dive centre that knows the cave.

Plan your route ↗

Around Pawod Cave (Agus, Mactan)

Fills1 fill station · ? km
  • Kasai Village Dive Academy (Moalboal)

    Kasai Village, Moalboal, Cebu

    Air, nitrox, oxygen, trimix and argon (according to the SSI listing).

    Not stated: ask.

    Dive resort in Moalboal that calls itself a rebreather and tech trimix centre, with training on the rEvo, Poseidon and Liberty. The Kasai cave lies at the foot of its house reef. Cave courses or guided dives inside the cave are not mentioned: ask beforehand.

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Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training. Compiled from web research (Oct 2026): Scotty's Action Sports Network's pages on Pawod and Marigondon, Filipino Cave Divers on the Pawod cave system (2013) and their 2017 warning, the PADI Travel page of 7 Seas Aquanauts, Kasai Village's own page (2019) and its SSI listing, the dive-site pages of Sangat Island Dive Resort and Pirates Diving Center in Coron, Zentacle, Wikipedia (Coron Island, Coron, Mactan Shrine), the chamber list of divephilippines.com.ph (undated), Cebu Daily News (2019) and divers.ph (2024) on the chambers. Savedra in Moalboal no longer offers cave diving; its caves without another dive centre (Casili, Tuble, Saavedra Cave) are therefore left out. No source gives coordinates for the caves. Certification and configurations are partly estimates.