Scuba divers will never stop telling you: The Philippines is one of the best places in the world to dive. Just ask dedicated locals as well as visitors from all over the world, including award-winning underwater photographers and marine biologists, who come for stuff big and small.
The combined stench of rotting fish and guano was incredible. Soaked and shivering, we shelter beneath a dripping grove of Argusia trees on Tubbataha’s South Islet, counting birds. Chilly raindrops are the least of our concerns-more exotic stuff was falling from above.
So the wakeboarders have discovered the Philippines, and the surfing scene is alive and stoked. After almost 1,000 dives and 22 years of making bubbles here and abroad, I still believe that, illegal fishing and embattled coral reefs notwithstanding, our country offers some of the best diving on earth.