Sugba Lagoon in the municipality of Del Carmen is one of the most spectacular natural features in the Philippines. The lagoon stretches over more than 900 hectares, its shallow turquoise water fed by the sea through a narrow mangrove-lined channel. You paddle or take an outrigger boat through the channel to reach the main body, then look out over a vast expanse of still water with forested hills on three sides.
The main activities are paddleboarding, kayaking, and swimming from the bamboo platforms moored in the centre of the lagoon. Local boatmen run trips from the Del Carmen pier, a thirty-minute ride each way. Go early morning if you can — the colours are most vivid before midday and the crowds are thinner. The lagoon is also home to a significant population of coconut crabs and various wading birds that feed along its banks.