Sumilon Island

Sumilon Island sits off the southern tip of Cebu, roughly an hour's drive from Dumaguete if you cross from Negros, or reachable by boat from Oslob on the Cebu side. It's a small, protected marine sanctuary that punches well above its size, and I've always found it refreshingly uncrowded compared to the circus around Moalboal's sardine run just up the coast.

The reef wraps around a modest island and drops from about 3 metres down to 25–30 metres on the steeper outer walls. Visibility regularly sits at 15–20 metres, occasionally better in calm conditions. Currents are mild most of the time, which is exactly why this place suits beginners so well — you can drift gently along the wall without fighting anything alarming.

Entry from the beach is straightforward, and the shallows are dense with hard and soft corals in reasonable health. I say reasonable because some bleaching is visible on the upper reef, as is the case across most of the Philippines, but the deeper sections still show good coral coverage and the fish life more than compensates.

Reef fish schools are thick here — fusiliers, snapper, and surgeonfish in particular. Turtles are a near-certainty on most dives. If you time your visit alongside Oslob, the sardine run at nearby Pescador Island is an easy add-on, though that's a different day trip entirely.

Day boats from Oslob handle most dive traffic; there are no liveaboard routes based here. A handful of small operators on the Cebu southern coast run trips, and accommodation on the island itself is limited, so most visitors come as a day excursion.

Best visited between March and June for calmest seas; Open Water certification or confident snorkellers are perfectly well placed here.