Sonok Point

Sonok Point is listed by Sogod Bay Scuba Resort as a dive site in Southern Leyte. The operator describes an exposed point off southern Panaon.

A 2008 reserve directory lists a Son-ok sanctuary point about 3.36 km from this operator map pin. Their exact relationship is unresolved. This listing does not establish a whale-shark encounter location or authorize targeted scuba encounters. The source pin is an operator map location, not a surveyed navigation waypoint.

This partial guide preserves the operator’s published location while further checks are pending. Current entry arrangements, depth limits, currents, visibility and seasonal conditions remain unconfirmed here. Confirm the intended site and a suitable dive plan with a local operator.

Structure described by the operator

A blog that links to Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, in a post whose address carries a May 2008 date, describes Sunok Point as about an hour by boat from Padre Burgos, starting at around 10 metres with a terrace-like wall stepping down to 20 metres and then dropping at its end to around 45 metres. One side of the terrace is described as a sloping reef of soft corals, fans, barrel sponges and whip corals, the other as a wall with large fans and soft corals where snappers, rainbow runners, surgeonfish and sharks were reported, with green tree corals and soft corals on top, scorpionfish, frogfish and fusiliers, current that can be strong, and nitrox described as a must. The post also says the point had been made a fish sanctuary. The resort's current map data, captured on 7 October 2026, lists 8–40 metres, advanced level, a 45–60 minute boat ride, and an exposed point near the southern end of Panaon where current and clean water raise the odds of larger pelagic encounters. The 40 and 45 metre figures are the same operator's listing range and route description at different dates and are not reconciled here.

The whale shark association

Several operators link the point with whale sharks. Padre Burgos Castle Resort's current page calls Sunok Point a habitual home to whale sharks from November through May; Peter's Dive Resort lists Sonok among places where whale sharks have been found in recent seasons and stresses that location and numbers change with the food supply each year; Sogod Bay Scuba Resort's 2019 listing on Bluewater Dive Travel calls Sunok an established dive site that became popular for whale sharks between early November and May and adds that sightings cannot be promised. These are seasonal operator reports about the wider southern Panaon coast and do not change this record's position that the pin is not an encounter location and that any whale shark activity is governed by local interaction rules.

Spelling and status

The resort writes Sonok Point on its current map and Sunok in its older post and listing; Padre Burgos Castle Resort writes Sunok; the 2008 reserve directory noted above uses Son-ok. The sanctuary status in the 2008-dated post and the 3.36 kilometre offset to the directory point remain unreconciled, so the protected boundary and the usual mooring are still to be confirmed with the operator. Visitors should expect a long boat ride, current, and a plan that accounts for the deep end of the terrace.