Gary Hunt of France dives from the 28 metre platform in the Big Lagoon during the final competition day of the first stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in El Nido, Philippines on April 13, 2025. Dean Treml, Red Bull Content Pool

EL NIDO, Palawan — The sentiment was said repeatedly over the course of three days, as some of the world's best cliff divers converged in El Nido to open the latest season of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series from April 11 to 13.

"It's paradise," the eventual champion of the men's division, Gary Hunt, said at the conclusion of the leg.

"It's a cliff diver's paradise," the women's champion, Rhiannan Iffland, said on the second day of the competition.

"It's my favorite island in the whole world," said Xantheia Pennisi, who represents Australia but traces her roots to Tarlac through her mother. 

This was only the second time that Red Bull had brought the extreme sport to El Nido, with their inaugural stop taking place in 2019. Hunt and Iffland won back then, too, and in subsequent years they brought their gravity-defying, acrobatic skills all over the world — from Ireland to Indonesia to Italy, to New Zealand and Norway and Portugal.

Still, El Nido remains a special, treasured place for these athletes, who dove from three different locations over three days and made each leap a special moment for those who watched them.

The story of the El Nido leg belonged to Hunt, the 10-time champion who competed as a wild card this year after giving up his permanent slot in 2024 to pursue his Olympic dream. Out of the top three after the first two rounds, Hunt was flawless on the final day to claim the top of the podium in thrilling fashion.

Afterward, he spoke to reporters while looking out at the Big Lagoon, at the rocky outcrops jutting out from the blue waters, and at the 27-meter tall platform that he leapt from.

"It's just such a pleasure to be up there and just be serene. Just be like, 'what is this life?'" he said.

"How good is it to be alive right now in a place like this?" Hunt added. "My heart is full of joy and love."

READ: Australia's Iffland remains queen of El Nido cliffs

READ: Gary Hunt leaves best for last to retain El Nido crown

WHY EL NIDO?

Gary Hunt of France prepares to dive from the 28 metre platform in the Big Lagoon during the final competition day of the first stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in El Nido, Philippines on April 13, 2025. Romina Amato, Red Bull Content Pool

Choosing El Nido as a dive site came after careful consideration of several factors, according to Orlando Duque, the Colombian cliff diving icon who is now sports director of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. 

Even across Palawan, there are "loads of places" that they could have picked.

"To find the right spot, you actually have to take into account also safety, access, position for the judges," Duque explained. "It's not just as simple as finding the place to dive. We need all the safety, all the technical requirements."

"These are probably the best places for that," he said of the limestone cliffs of El Nido. 

Duque was the first-ever champion of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2009, and he was in El Nido in 2019 when they competed there for the first time. Six years later, it's clear that the island paradise still has a hold on him.

"I mean, it's just beautiful. This is what we like for cliff diving," said Duque. 

"Everybody remembers 2019 and when they announced we were coming back, it was like, yeah, everybody's really happy. This is one of those places you always wanna go back to," he said.

It may have taken them six years to return to El Nido, but Duque assured that the island was always on their mind when putting together the competition calendar.

"Trust me," he said, "We keep asking for it."

"There were other countries that were wanting the World Series to go there. So, we went to a few places, but it's always been in the back of our heads to return [to El Nido]," he said.

In 2019, the divers competed in the Small Lagoon and the Big Lagoon. This time around they added a new location — Lagen Island, where the athletes officially opened the competition on a hot Friday afternoon. The addition of the new dive site made their El Nido stop all the more special, said Duque, as it presented the cliff divers with a new puzzle to solve.

"The locations are beautiful, very different which is good because that makes it an interesting challenge," said Duque. "It's good when the divers have to think, you know."

"In Lagen and then in Small Lagoon, it's so different that it changes every reference point they have. So they really have to adapt to it and really quickly, because they only do one dive in warm-ups, and then it's competition," he explained.

"So it has to be very quick. It's good, it's good to have that kind of challenge."

Sports Director, Orlando Duque (C) of Colombia, reacts while talking on Lagen Island during the first competition day of the first stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in El Nido, Philippines on April 11, 2025. Dean Treml, Red Bull Content Pool

After diving off rocky ledges in the first two days, the athletes got on the platforms on Day 3 for the final two rounds held at the Big Lagoon. In front of a cheering audience, Iffland and Hunt secured their wins with high-scoring dives. In Hunt's case, he also upped the degree of difficulty (DD) of his attempts, allowing him to overtake the early leader in Romania's Constantin Popovici.

"It feels like the best place to high dive. I mean, it's tough climbing up the rocks, you need shoes. I've cut my feet a little bit," Hunt said afterward.

"But when you're up there," he added, "it just feels like the Mecca of high diving."

Iffland, meanwhile, put herself in the position to win a stunning ninth straight championship in the women's division after claiming the El Nido leg. She admitted that her training had been "up and down" leading into the competition, but once she got up the 21-meter platform, all that went away.

"Standing up on the platform, and I looked down at the Big Lagoon and I just went, 'Oh my god, wow.' That just filled me up with energy," she said. 

"I completely loved it here."

WATCH: The winning dives from El Nido stop of Red Bull Cliff Diving

WHERE TO NEXT?

Red Bull will bring the Cliff Diving World Series to Polignano a Mare in Italy in June, then to Stari Most in Bosnia and Herzegovina in early September before wrapping up the season in Boston on September 19.

At the moment, Duque cannot promise that they will be back in El Nido for next year's competition — but if he has a vote, the Palawan island would already be on the calendar.

"We don't know yet the calendar for next year," he said. "We haven't heard anything yet. It's not a yes, it's not a no."

"If they ask me, I'll say like, 'let's go back to El Nido'. That'll be my vote. This is as great as it is," he added.

There is one place that Duque hopes to bring his sport to, and that is the Olympic Games. Springboard diving is a mainstay in the Olympic program, and some of the Red Bull cliff divers have actually competed in the Games. 

Hunt, in particular, took a year off from cliff diving so that he could focus on the 10-meter board. He represented France in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, placing eighth in the synchronized 10-m platform with Loïs Szymczak.

High diving is already included in the program of the World Aquatics Championships, with male divers jumping off 27-m platforms and female divers off 20-m platforms. 

But Duque is the first to point out that cliff diving is still very different.

"I mean, diving is great," he said. "But diving in a pool is pretty much the same everywhere you go."

"Cliff diving — look. In three days, four dives only: three different locations. All completely different. It keeps them thinking, it keeps challenging them," he stressed. "They have to adapt to ever changing conditions."

"You don't get that in diving. The sport is the same — you're flipping and twisting in the air, but at the end, you don't get the same kind of feeling like we have in cliff diving when you change locations," Duque said.

They have been "working hard" to push for cliff diving's inclusion in the Olympic program, though it is not in the cards for 2028 in Los Angeles. Duque is not losing hope, however, for the 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane, Australia.

"Why not?" he said. "We have a good Australian representation."

"It takes a big effort from the local team to really push it. But yeah, the sport has everything. The sport has all it needs," he said. "It's challenging, it's difficult, it's a show, besides the competition."

"We're working really hard. All the divers really want to get to the Olympics, and hopefully one day we're gonna be there."

Rhiannan Iffland of Australia and Gary Hunt of France celebrate after winning at the Big Lagoon during the final competition day of the first stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in El Nido, Philippines on April 13, 2025. Romina Amato, Red Bull Content Pool

Thoughts of the Olympics — and, indeed, even of the next stop in Italy — can come later. For now, the cliff divers want more time on the island that has challenged and pushed them for the past three days, forcing them to think of ways to wow the Palawan audiences and glean high scores from the judges.

"Time to relax," a smiling Iffland said. "I have a few days more in El Nido. I think, just get out and enjoy."

"This environment is so me; I grew up in Australia, a little water baby. Now I've got time to hang out and relax without the pressure and the commitment of diving. So, I'm really excited. If anyone has some recommendations, toss them aboard."

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