Cave diving · Asia
Cave diving in Philippines
The Philippines has a growing list of explored underwater caves on limestone islands, including the Enchanted River in Hinatuan (Surigao del Sur), the Pawod cave on Mactan (Cebu), the Casili system in Balamban (Cebu), Bababu Lake (Dinagat Islands) and springs and cenote-like pools on Siargao. Much of the published exploration and survey work comes from the volunteer Filipino Cave Divers group, founded in late 2012.
How access works
Caves are subject to the national cave-classification system run by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and several sites are managed by local government units as tourist areas. No national cave-diving permit procedure was found; Filipino Cave Divers has asked visiting cave divers to contact the group, and local and DENR arrangements should be confirmed site by site.
A general summary; each site page gives its own dated access information.
2
Cave systems
Pawod Underwater Cave System
Hinatuan Enchanted River Underwater Cave System
2
Entrances and dive sites
| Site | Cave system | Type | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Enchanted River (Hinatuan)Barangay Talisay, Hinatuan | Hinatuan Enchanted River Underwater Cave System | Spring | Access status not verified |
| Pawod Underwater CaveBarangay Agus, Maribago, Mactan Island (Lapu-Lapu City) | Pawod Underwater Cave System | Cave entrance | Access status not verified |
1
Dive centres and guides
| Provider | Where | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Filipino Cave Divers | — | 2026-10-14 |
A listing is not an endorsement.
Every fact on this page, with its source (4)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Filipino Cave Divers was established in late 2012 and has published reports on Pawod, Casili, the Hinatuan Enchanted River, Bababu Lake and caves on Siargao Island.Self-description by the group. | Reported | [1] |
| The FCD guidelines page refers to the DENR Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau Cave Classification Manual (2008) and a 2021 DENR cave classification.The DENR documents themselves were not opened. | Reported | [2] |
| In a 2015 reply on its guidelines page, FCD asked an enquirer about guides and permits to contact the group by email.2015 statement. | May be out of date | [2] |
| The Hinatuan local government owns 27 hectares around the Enchanted River and has declared it an eco-tourism area.As of March 2015. | Reported | [3] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction