Camiguin

Camiguin is a small volcanic island off the northern coast of Mindanao, and its diving is shaped entirely by that geology. The Sunken Cemetery — a cross-marked reef where an 1871 eruption swallowed a coastal graveyard — is one of the Philippines' most atmospheric dives. Whale sharks visit the waters near Balingoan channel with regularity between November and May, and the island's lack of mass tourism means reefs still carry dense hard coral and schooling fish that have largely vanished elsewhere in the Visayas. Black sand slopes host exceptional muck fauna, and the nearby Mantigue Island marine sanctuary gives every dive a ribbon of colour that is hard to match in Mindanao.