With more than 7600 islands, choosing the right snorkeling spot is not an easy task. We’ve been touring the Philippines for over 30 years and have made a subjective selection with the top 10 snorkeling spots in the Philippines. You can also experience many of these destinations on our snorkeling tour – just contact us to get an individual offer.

Snorkeling is one if the most popular holiday activities in the Philippines

Apo Island

This “marine sanctuary” is very popular for both divers and snorkelers. Although some corals have been damaged by earthquakes and typhoons in recent years, Apo Island is still one of the best snorkeling spots not only in the Visayas but across the country. All year around you can find the peaceful sea turtles, that you can admire, especially when snorkeling up close!

Snorkeling with turtles around Apo Island

You can get to Apo Island either from Siquijor or from the south coast of the island Negros, around Dumaguete / Dauin.

Siquijor

Directly in front of the Coco Grove Beach Resort is another great snorkeling area. In general, it is not normal to find as many corals and fish in the immediate vicinity of the white sand beach as here.

Marine Sanctuary and white beach – a rather unusual combination

Apart from the marine sanctuary in Tubod, San Juan, there are also other beautiful snorkeling spots around the island of Siquijor – just hop on a motorbike and discover them.

Camiguin

The small volcanic island north of the main island of Mindanao is still one of the “hidden gems”, especially for adventure-tourists. On Camiguin Island there are not only many attractions to offer on land but also under water. Next to the “sunken cemetery” there are also excellent snorkeling spots with the “fish port”, around “white island” and also around Mantigue Island.

We found Nemo and many of his friends snorkeling around Camiguin

By the way, you can also learn how to scuba dive and freedive – the team of Kurma (Facebook) takes care of free divers, offers accommodation and excellent food. In recent years, larger marine animals have been seen around the island, including whale sharks.

Coron: Siete Pecados

Of course, Palawan should not be missing in this collection of top 10 snorkeling spots. However, we did not include El Nido and the Bacuit archipelago in our list, but Coron. Coron Town, the capital of Busuanga Island, is an excellent starting point to visit numerous snorkeling spots around Coron Island.

Coron is perfect for long snorkeling trips Photo by Travis under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license

Siete Pecados is particularly remarkable, here the corals are exceptionally colorful and rich in fish. Overall, the coral gardens in this area are really great, and in direct comparison to El Nido, Port Barton and Puerto Princesa (Honda Bay), Coron / Busuanga is clearly the best choice for snorkelers and divers in the Palawan Province.

Bohol

Around Bohol there are at least four magnificent snorkeling spots. Pamilacan Island, Balicasag, Cabilao and Anda are all in the top 10. Because they are all located in the province of Bohol, we have simply summarized them. The great underwater diversity and other attractions on the island, definitely puts Bohol high on out list, and on our round trips.

Only a few meters from the white beach of Pamilacan is an extraordinarily beautiful coral reef

Around Pamilacan and Balicasag, in addition to turtles, beautiful corals and jackfish swarms, we have occasionally discovered a “sardines run” (similar to Moalboal) and even larger animals: whale sharks appear here and there, and even other types of whales around Pamilacan. Cabilao is more well-known for smaller animals and frog fish, In Anda a whale shark occasionally gets lost, and apart from sea turtles, there are also nudibranchs, pipe fish, seahorses and other small animals.

Anilao, Batangas

Also in the north, (Luzon) there are some nice snorkeling spots, on the west coast of Batangas. Right in front of the Eagle Point Beach Resort, for example, there is a beautiful coral garden, and within easy reach is Sombrero Island. Another top spot in the north can be found near Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro.

Fining Nemo around Anilao, Mabini, Batangas

Puerto Galera, Mindoro

Mindoro is officially part of the Luzon Islands, but it is also part of MIMAROPA and geographically located in the western Visayas. Puerto Galera is located in the north of Mindoro Oriental and has attracted tourists for many years, especially on Sabang Beach. With the “Coral Gardens” nearby there is a great snorkeling opportunity, which attracts both beginners and advanced snorkelers. The variety of corals and sponges attracts both tropical fish, including lionfish, as well as rare crabs and marine flatworms.

Nalusuan

Nalusuan is a small island off Mactan Island. In this region, a then rich coral and biodiversity was destroyed by dynamite fishing within a very short time. But now there are some corals that attract bigger fish. Nalusuan has had special protection, and has expanded in recent years, so that in addition to many different fish also rays and reef sharks are spotted. In the course of our round trips we occasionally build excursions there.

On an island hopping tour with happy guests, close to Nalusuan Island

Moalboal

In the southwest of the island province of Cebu Moalboal attracts more and more tourists – not only because of the great snorkeling and diving opportunities. But it is above all place of the huge “sardines run” that can be admired here.

The famous sardine run in Moalboal. Photo by: Lakshmi Sawitri under the CC BY 2.0 license

Donsol

Last but not least, we added Donsol to our top 10 list. The experience of swimming with whale sharks in the great outdoors is simply mind blowing. We also want to promote the original “whale shark capital of the Philippines”, and consciously do not promote Oslob (Cebu), where the animals are fed and clearly changing their natural behavior.

Just before jumping into the water to snorkel with whale sharks at Donsol

One of our latest tours goes to Donsol in Sorsogon. The best viewing opportunities are between November and June, especially between January and April.

If you think we have forgotten an important snorkeling spot, please leave a comment. We are aware that there are several more spots in more than 7600 Philippine islands, but we wanted to limit ourselves to our top 10 here. If asked to single out one specific place, our choice right now would be Camiguin.

This article has been originally published on 29 January 2018 and last updated on 30 July 2019.