Philippines Wreck Dive Videos (January 8, 2026)
Scuba diving off the coast of Boracay, Philippines, I explored a ship wreck that’s been under water for more than 20 years and growing it’s own coral reef. It’s called the Camia Wreck, and I loved the AI summary from Uncle Google:
The Camia Wreck in Boracay is a popular, intentionally sunk cargo ship (Camia II) from 2001, serving as an artificial reef teeming with marine life like groupers, batfish, and colorful corals, ideal for recreational divers and training (Wreck, Deep, Nitrox), with depths around 25-30m, offering penetrations for trained divers and a vibrant fish spectacle for all.
While I’m happy to share the story, my dive master took some video that does a much better job (each video is about 30 seconds, so it’s quick). This first one explores the inside of the wreck itself:
In this next video, I thought my dive master was taking a picture so I was posing for a still picture that turned out to be a video. That’s one of the challenges in scuba diving — communication. So here I’m hamming it up for a picture that turned out to be a video:
And now for more of the ship itself. It truly is difficult to capture just how big this ship is. We spent the bulk of the dive circling the ship. We started at the base (around 25 meters / 82 feet in depth) and then made our way up the ship exploring all the sea life surrounding it. This gives you an idea of what that’s like:
In this final 30 second video, we see the brightest part of the ship in the sunlight with clear colors and fish checking us out. This is the top of the ship that’s angled to the sun. Same ship, much more colorful given the light above us. This is a good representation of what you see underwater:
I turns out, my dive master was also taking pictures along the way. It was a really amazing dive and I’m so grateful to Go Diving for not only accommodating me on this advanced open water dive, but also for taking so many pictures and videos along the way to capture the essence of the dive (so that I can share it with you).
As I was uploading all these videos and pictures, I’m reflecting on how much scuba diving has enhanced my life over the years. I got certified in 1992 while I was attending Salem State College (now Salem State University). Thrilled that scuba diving was offered as an elective, I did my first open water dive in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It was freezing cold (even in the summertime) and I was so focused on the test, it took my buddy pointing out that there was a crab attempting to pinch my 6 millimeter wetsuit (good luck, crab, not a chance). But that got me fully present to the experience rather than just “passing the test.”
Since then, scuba diving has been a big part of my life — from vacations to my honeymoon to this current trip around the world. Just some of the places I’ve had the pleasure of diving include:
Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Austrailia — The Cathedral Dive was one of the most spectacular dives I’ve ever done
Red Sea, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt — Most sea life I’ve ever witnessed underwater. Literally moving fish out of the way as the waters were teaming with fish of every kind.
Monterey Bay, California — Where I played “tug of war” with my left fin with a sea lion. Yep, he was acting like a puppy that wanted to play underwater.
Kawaii, Hawaii — Honeymoon diving with Elena was memorable for all the reasons you can imagine. Just married (September 3rd, 2000), beautiful coral reefs, and we heard many whale sounds.
Baia, Italy — You can see related post for all the details on this underwater adventure to scuba dive the ruins of the ancient world of Italy.
And I’ll stop here as I’ve logged more than 120 dives including my advanced underwater certification training in Jamaica. All over the world there are incredible places to explore and so far I’ve done all of this via wetsuits (I’ve not yet applied for my dry suit certification for extremely cold water dives).
Scuba diving is the closest I’ve come to flying. Yes, jumping out of an airplane it more technically “flying” (see related post), but it’s more akin to falling than flying in that you’re only going one direction: down! And yes, I’ve spent 40 hours flying actual airplanes and that’s an incredible feeling that is machine-produced. When scuba diving, I experience weightlessness. A few subtle movements from my fins and I’m moving around in space. Yes, there’s limited time underwater, but that freedom to go anywhere and explore new worlds is incredible.
If you aren’t certified yourself, you can still try it. Local dive shops offer exploration dives to non-certified divers. There are restrictions to be sure, but you’ll get the feelings and sensations I’m talking about. Just beware, once you try it, it quickly becomes a life-long journey; one that I’m enjoying 34 years later.
