When I first arrived back in 2001, Dauin was one of the Philippines’ best-kept diving secrets, often overlooked in favour of more popular locations such as Puerto Galera or Anilao. Not anymore! In the ensuing decades, it has gained renown as one of the country’s diving hotspots. Personally, however, Dauin is special for two additional reasons. It is the place I decided to pursue underwater photography, and was the subject of my very first diving article (in this very magazine, to boot). 

For the dedicated macro enthusiast, there are a number of locations worldwide that have gained legendary status, and the Philippines certainly has its fair share. Yet one had always eluded me: Romblon. Although I had been aware of it for years, the opportunity to visit had never arisen. My last trip to the Philippines, ten years earlier, was hampered by an international summit that closed Manila’s airport for days, thwarting a planned visit. Now, a decade on, my chance had finally come.

On my fifth visit to the Philippines, I chose to begin my trip at a dive location that is still relatively unexplored: Anda, at the southeastern tip of the island of Bohol. I departed from Rome, with a stopover in Taipei, one of the most convenient and functional airports in Asia, before landing in Cebu. It was a practical choice, allowing me to avoid the traffic of Manila and gradually enter the archipelago.

It really is an unusual way to spend an evening… not so much a night dive as a nocturnal sojourn into another world. Sure, it is just underwater, and you have been there many times, but not like this, you haven’t!

Beneath you, deep water. All around, apart from the lights on the downline, there is complete darkness, and I mean absolute blackness.

In November 2013, the most powerful typhoon ever recorded hit land, razing the town of Tacloban to the ground. A week later, I was on the first flight carrying doctors and members of the press from Manila. It was my first time in the Philippines, and I could not help but fall in love with the people, seeing how they faced the worst moment of their lives without resignation, always with hope and sometimes even a smile.

I suddenly felt like I was in a neon video game with the underwater world transforming into vibrant greens, reds and yellows. A bright, glowing light snaked across the sand, and on closer inspection, it was an eel that was vivid green. Later in the dive, I saw the outline of a red fish in the sand. It turned out to be a scorpionfish with only the outline of its body glowing reddish-pink while its lacy appendages along its body did not. Hard corals, which during the day were a bland ivory color, were now dazzling green and yellow, with tinges of maroon.