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Home > About The Philippines > The Philippines - Coasts & Reefs The Philippines - Coasts & ReefsGreater than the Great Barrier ReefIf you are looking for water adventure, look no further. The Philippines has some of the world's most magnificent white sand beaches, spectacular coves, rare coral reefs, and abundant marine life.
And with a coastline that stretches 36,389 km, more than twice the length of that of the United States, it is easy to understand why many call the Philippines "Asia's Beach Capital."
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Action Asia Magazine says, "The Philippines is to scuba divers what Switzerland is to skiers, and Hawaii to surfers." The Philippine archipelago is surrounded by Southeast Asia's main bodies of water: the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and Luzon Strait.
The lowest spot in the world is the "Philippine Deep", which is 37,782 feet deep. It is said that Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, can easily be submerged in the "Philippine Deep", with 8,754 feet of space to spare.
The Philippines has one of the earth's richest marine environments. The Philippine islands have 25,060 km2 of coral reef with 577 coral species (of the 800 species in the world). It has the highest fish diversity in the world, with over 2,400 fish species.
The islands of Visayas offer some of the best dive sites in the world. In Sogod Bay alone (a small bay in Southern Leyte, Visayas), marine biologists identified nearly 300 reef-building coral. That is
nearly as many species in just one small bay as can be found on the entire Great Barrier Reef in Australia, or around 4 times the total number for the whole of the Caribbean!
Both the largest and the smallest fish in the world can be found in the Philippine waters. The whale shark that grows to 50 feet or more in length and weighs several tons is the world's largest fish. The smallest fish in the world is dwarf pygmy, with an average length is 9.66 millimeters (.38 inches).
The world's rarest and most expensive shell, "Glory of the Sea" is found in the Philippines. Also found in the archipelago are 'Tridacna gigas,' the world's largest shell (with a length of one meter and weighs 600 pounds) and the world’s smallest shell (less than one millimeter in length). The world's largest pearl, "The Pearl of Allah," was also found in the Philippines.
The Philippines is home to many rare and endangered species, including giant clam, dugong, whale shark and sea turtles. There you will also find a great variety of turtles (including leatherback, green, olive ridley, hawksbill, loggerhead, flatback) and marine mammals (spinner,
spotted, bottlenose, Risso's, and Fraser's dolphins, as well as the short-finned pilot whale, dwarf sperm whale, and Curvier's beaked whale).
