Puerto Galera Underwater Shootout 2026: 45 Photographers, 13 Countries and the Winners
· Culture · By Justin Carmack
The Department of Tourism brought a world-class judging panel and more than US$40,000 in prizes to Mindoro, all to put Puerto Galera on the global underwater-photography map.
Anyone who has dived Puerto Galera knows the place doesn't need much help looking good on camera. It sits on the edge of the Verde Island Passage, often called the "center of the center" of marine biodiversity. You can do a frogfish hunt and a ripping current dive on the same morning, often just minutes apart by banca. So when the Department of Tourism (DOT) wanted a stage for an international underwater photo competition, PG was an obvious pick.
From 16 to 20 September 2026, the town hosted the inaugural Puerto Galera Underwater Shootout. Here's who ran it, why, how it worked and who won.
Who Organized It and Why
The Shootout was organized by the DOT's Dive Philippines program, together with DOT Region IV-B (MIMAROPA) and the local government of Puerto Galera. Underwater360 was reported as media partner. Lalaguna Villas Luxury Dive Resort & Spa on Small Lalaguna served as official host resort for the organizing committee, judges and photographers.
The goal was tourism, and the DOT said so openly. Wenn Sorioso, head of Dive Philippines at the DOT, told ABS-CBN News the competition is meant to promote Puerto Galera as a premier diving destination in the international market. She said she hopes the town becomes a "magnet" that draws visiting divers.
The images are also part of the plan. Sorioso said photographs from the event will be used in the DOT's international promotions: brochures, ad placements abroad and the large Philippine pavilions at international dive shows. For the DOT, a week of skilled photographers shooting local reefs builds a library of fresh images of the destination.
The timing helps too. Puerto Galera was named Best Diving Destination at the DOT Tourism Awards 2025, and the Shootout builds on that recognition.
The Format: Two Classes, Six Categories, Five Days
The Shootout followed the classic resort-based format. Competitors stayed and dived with DOT-accredited resorts and could only enter images shot during the event window.
Two classes:
Open Class: any camera, any accessories. Professional photographers were placed here automatically.
Compact Class: cameras without interchangeable lenses only, judged separately to keep the field level.
Six categories:
Main: Macro/Supermacro, Marine Behavior, Wide Angle Close Focus and Nudibranch
Special: Cephalopod and Turtle Portrait
Each photographer could submit up to six images: one per main category and one per special category. The deadline was 8:00 PM on 19 September, with JPEG files and set file-naming rules. Main categories awarded first, second and third place in each class. The special categories gave one first place each, with Open and Compact entries judged together. The top prizes were DOT Open Class Best of Show and DOT Compact Class Best of Show.
The Rules: No Touching, No Cloning
Two rules matter in any shootout, and the organizers enforced both strictly.
The first was a no marine life manipulation policy. Touching, moving or damaging marine life meant disqualification, and participants were encouraged to report violations. For a competition built around nudibranchs, frogfish and other small macro subjects, that rule protects the reef.
The second limited post-processing to global adjustments such as white balance and contrast. Cloning, healing and selective edits were banned. What the judges saw was close to what the photographer actually shot underwater.
The Judges: Gutsy Tuason, Aaron Wong and Jerome Kim
Entries were judged by three well-known names in underwater photography:
Scott "Gutsy" Tuason (Philippines)
Aaron Wong (Singapore)
Jerome Kim (South Korea)
A panel of this level helped give the first edition credibility with serious shooters.
The Turnout: 45 Photographers from 13 Countries
ABS-CBN News reported that 45 professional and amateur underwater photographers, divers and marine enthusiasts from 13 countries took part. They came from the United States, Australia, South Korea, Germany, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Switzerland, Belgium, Macau and the Philippines.
Reports put the prize pool at more than US$40,000: camera gear, dive equipment, resort stays and more. Kraken Sports was among the named sponsors.
Several PG resorts got involved beforehand. Scandi Divers, for example, offered pre-competition packages so photographers could arrive early, learn the sites and tune their settings.
The Winners: 2026 Shootout Results
Awards were presented at the closing ceremony on 20 September, 6:00 PM, at Nansei Kaze Bar and Restaurant on the Sabang Baywalk.
Open Class Best of Show: Ronilo Corpuz
Compact Class Best of Show: James Magsino
Top category honors (Macro, Marine Behavior, Nudibranch, Wide Angle): Julienne Evangelista, PJ Arestorenas, Alex Elmbaek and James Magsino
Special prizes, Turtle and Cephalopod: PJ Arestorenas
Locally based shooters did well against the international field, and that is a good sign for Philippine underwater photography.
Not PG's First Photo Contest, but Its First Shootout
This was billed, accurately, as the first Puerto Galera Underwater Shootout. It wasn't the first underwater photo contest in town, though. Macromania ran macro photography and marine biology workshops at Fishermen's Cove, with an on-the-spot photo contest; its 2017 edition named winners, and a third edition was announced for May 2018. The DOT's Dive Philippines program has worked in PG before too, partnering with French association Objectif Atlantide on the "Underwater Investigation" marine-life challenge, which held its second edition in 2019.
The difference is scale and intent. This was a government-backed, multi-resort, international event with a headline judging panel. It is closer to the long-running shootouts in Anilao and Dauin than to a resort-hosted contest.
How the First Shootout Went, and What's Next
By the numbers, the first edition went well: a full international field, a respected judging panel, a five-figure prize pool and a new bank of images for the DOT to take to dive shows abroad. ABS-CBN reported the event as positioning Puerto Galera as a potential "global hub" for underwater photography.
For those of us running dive operations elsewhere in the country, this is good news. Every image that puts Philippine reefs in front of international divers helps all Philippine destinations, whether they're shooting frogfish in Sabang or flamboyant cuttlefish in Dauin. If the Shootout returns, put it on your calendar, and practice your buoyancy so you're nowhere near the reef when you take the shot.