Camiguin Sunken Cemetery

As the rising sun clears away the shadows of the previous night over the island of Camiguin, an imposing silhouette of a large cross stands guard over the location of the old capital of the island. Due to a fatal volcanic eruption of Mount Vulcan, the sea now hides the old capital, which was founded during the Spanish era.
According to local historians, Mount Vulcan had four historic eruptions. The first one was in 1827 but records of this eruption were nil. The second one was in 1862 when thick ashes from the crater flowed and overtook people who were fleeing towards the sea, resulting in 326 fatalities. The third one started in 1871. Previous experience had taught some of the Camiguin people of the dangerous whims of Mount Vulcan. Thus, when earthquakes were felt, they fled as far away as possible from the volcano, but some stayed behind. There were spasmodic eruptions and the people who fled decided to stay away until the time when the volcano finally subsided in 1875. But when they returned, they have lost their land and their friends.
The whole capital of Camiguin, with its cemetery, sunk under the sea. In the following years, the sunken land and the gravestones can still be seen when the tide is low. But in 1948 until 1953, Mount Vulcan erupted again, sinking the whole area deeper, to around twenty feet. In 1982, a large cross was built on the solidified lava to mark the site that became the graves of the ancestors of the Camiguin people. It has become a sunken cemetery. Now, it is one of the world’s most unique diving sites.

The Pearl Farm & Costa Marina Samal Island in Davao

If your looking for a great destination island hopping escape in Southern Philippines, Then you are looking for a world class destination getaway in Davao. The Pearl Farm Beach Resort in Samal Island Davao is one of the popular and great destination for island hopping in Southern Philippines.

Pearl Farm Beach Resort is located in the southern part of the Philippines in Samal group of Island that consists of an archipelago of nine islands that stretch out over a land area of 26,000 Hectares. The Pearl farm is situated on the hillside cliff covered on the quiet side of Samal Island off Davao City with lush vegatation, a beautiful area that is transformed into a world class resort. The Samal Island is known to be very beautiful with a tranquil and very exotic island with magnificent white sand beaches and an excellent and very abundant marine life. Samal Island in Davao has a beautiful landscape with excellent rock formations, mangroves, coconut elements, flowering plants and fruit-bearing trees. Saml Island is indeed an island paradise that is good for holiday getaway so that you can have peace of mind and can totally relax that has excellent batural attraction sceneries and flourishing flora and fauna.

This is called Pearl Farm because it was once an 11-heactare spread pearl farm with thousands of white-lipped oysters, transported from the Sulu Sea, were cultivated for their pink, white and gold pearls. Now this farm is transformed into a world class beach resort called the Pearl Farm Beach Resort that gives local visitors and tourists a perfect setting for a relaxing and escape to a busy and stressful work in the city. The Pearl Farm Island Resort is a precious gateway where guests can revel in tropical pleasures, relish life’s flavors and feast on nature’s bounties.

The Pearl Farm beach resort is also known for its air-conditioned Samal Houses that are patterned after the stit houses of seafaring Samal tribes of the Sulu archipelago. You can see schools of tiny fishes that frolics between the sturdy poles that support the houses. At night time, you can hear the relaxing sound of waves of the sea that is very soothing to your ears and can ive you peace of mind. You will get tempted to the prestine crystal clear blue waters of the Pearl Island beach resort because it is so inviting.

There are lots of things to do to enjoy yourself in Pearl Farm Beach Resort in Samal Island. There are lots of water activities can be done like Jetskiing, hobie cat sailing, scuba diving and many more for water sports enthusiasts. Beacuse Samal Island is very abundant in marine life, you can see lots of rare aquatic species underwater such as pawikan (marine turtle), the giant taklobo clams and colorful marine life species. Explore the vast of unexplored depths of Samal island and see the beauty that lies underwater. Great opporunities awaits to the enthusiastic beginner or an expert scuba diver. It is also great for underwater photography.

If you want to explore the or sail around the calm seas of Samal island, you can get a bance and do some island hopping. Explore the magnificant and dazzling coral gardens of Samal Island. See the beautiful surrounding landscape of the Resort and follow the wooden footbridges and walkways as they meander through the exotic gardens of the resort. Island structures are made of natural materials such as bamboo, wood, rope, stone and coral.

The Parl Farm Beach Resort is landscape and designed to reflect the rich culture, heritage and history of the indigenous tribes that once live here in the past. The Maranao Restaurant features delicious Filipino and International Cuisine with fresh seafood specialties. A wide assortment of exotic tropical fruits uch as bananas, durian, santol, papaya, green mandarin, mangosteen and mangoes grow abundantly in the fertile landscapes of Davao and neighboring provinces, as well as Samal Island itself, giving Pearl Farm the ease to serve them fresh at the Maranao Restaurant. The Parola Bar was once a lighthouse lookout post when this Resort was once a pearl farm. The Parola bar has an ambience with great music, drinks and conversation that is very inviting to the guest to spend the night in the resort.

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River- - Another's Philippines Finest

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. It features a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 8.2 km. navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. The underground river is reputed to be the world's longest. At the mouth of the cave, a clear lagoon is framed by ancient trees growing right to the water's edge. Monkeys, large monitor lizards, and squirrels find their niche on the beach near the cave.

Tubbataha Reefs - - Philippine's Finest

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is home to some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world. Rising from the volcanic depths of the Sulu Sea in the western Philippines, these magnificent atolls encompass an astonishing diversity of marine life.

The park is an underwater sanctuary where nature can thrive. Tubbataha is the Philippines' only marine natural Park and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a place of global importance, being preserved for generations to come.

From majestic whale sharks to elusive seahorses - Tubbataha supports an unparalleled variety of marine creatures. Colourful reef fish crowd corals growing in the shallows while sharks and manta rays haunt the steep drop offs to the open sea.

A team of rangers are stationed on the reef year-round and, from March until June, divers visit Tubbataha to experience the wonders of this unique underwater world.


The word “tubbataha” is a combination of two Samal words which means “a long reef exposed at low tide”. This reef is made up of two coral atolls divided by an eight-kilometer (5 miles) wide channel. The South Atoll, the smaller of the two is five kilometers in length and three kilometers in width; while the North Atoll, the larger of the two is 16 kilometers (10 miles) long and five kilometers (3 miles) wide.

Vivid corals cover more than two-thirds of the area and the waters around the reef are places of refuge for numerous marine lives. The seemingly diverse ecosystem of this sanctuary rivals the Great Barrier Reef – having 300 coral species and 400 fish species.

In 1993, the United Nations designated Tubbataha as one of the two World Heritage Sites found in the Philippines. The other site is the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao.

Tubbataha has become a popular site for seasoned sports divers because of its coral “walls” where the shallow coral reef abruptly ends giving way to great depths. These “walls” are not only wonderful diving spots but they are also wonderful habitats for many colonies of fish. There are giant jacks, hammerhead sharks, barracudas, manta rays, palm-sized moorish idols, parrot fishes, and moral eels living in the sanctuary. Tubbataha is even home to the hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) which are endangered species.

Aside from being a marine sanctuary, Tubbataha is also renowned for being a bird sanctuary. A lighthouse islet, at the southern tip of the South Atoll, supports a large number of seabirds which nest there. Around the Tubbataha, there are tens of thousands of masked red-foot boobies, terns, and frigate birds resting during their annual migrations. To minimize any external intrusions, the Philippine Coast Guard maintains a small monitoring station on one of the many permanent sand bars.

Tubbataha National Marine Park is truly a national treasure worth protecting. As a senior official of the DENR says,

“As a World Heritage Site, Tubbataha should be protected and preserved so that future generations will also have the opportunity to see one of the greatest wonders of the world.”

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The Dark Green Leather Coral makes a great pick for beginners thanks to its ease of care in the home aquarium, if kept in systems large enough to accommodate its relatively large size. Referred to as Sarcophyton Coral, Mushroom, Leather, or Trough Corals, they are found in various shades of green and tan, with white or gold polyps. Sarcophyton Corals are relatively peaceful, but adequate space should be provided between them and other corals in the reef aquarium. Some can produce toxins which are harmful to other reef inhabitants. The Dark Green Leather Coral requires medium lighting combined with medium to strong water movement. For continued good health, they will also require the addition of iodine, strontium, and other trace elements to the water. Culturing by the experienced hobbyist is often accomplished by cutting off a portion of the Coral's crown and attaching that piece to live rock or placing it in the sandy bottom of the reef aquarium. The symbiotic algae zooxanthellae hosted within its body provides the majority of its nutritional needs from the light driven process of photosynthesis. It will also benefit from additional food such as microplankton, baby brine shrimp, or foods designed for filter feeding invertebrates. The Dark Green Leather Coral is mounted on an aragonite block that can be placed easily and securely in or between the rockwork in the reef aquarium.

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The Pearlberry Acropora Coral is a new release from Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums (ORA™) which occurs in many shades of blue, purple, and pearl, making it a wonderful addition to a reef aquarium. Many of the brightly-colored Pearlberry Acroporas will even fluoresce under actinic lighting giving your aquarium a stunning look during sunrise and sunset simulations.

The ideal conditions for the Acropora coral is an established reef aquarium with bright lighting provided by preferably intense metal halides. They can also thrive under multiple T-5 or compact fluorescents if placed high in the aquarium. Under the right conditions, the growth rate of the Acropora coral is much more rapid than most of the other corals found in an established reef aquarium.

To maximize their growth rate, it is imperative to maintain a high pH, alkalinity and calcium levels, and to keep phosphate and nitrate levels as close to zero as possible. If conditions are ideal, these corals can also be cultured and grown into a new colony from living fragments or broken pieces.

Along with lighting and water quality, Acropora corals prefer strong, intermittent water flow within the aquarium. This is best accomplished with a wavemaker and multiple powerheads. Acropora corals receive a majority of their nutritional requirements from photosynthesis, but will benefit from the addition of zooplankton.

The Pearlberry Acropora Coral is mounted on a small black plastic plug that can be placed easily and securely in or between the rockwork in the reef aquarium.