Filipino families usually rush to cemeteries to remember their departed loved ones. That’s not the case with Camiguin’s Sunken Cemetery.
Instead, visitors rather than family members typically visit the tombs at Camiguin's most historic and captivating cemetery.
The only indication of the resting place is a massive cross that rose from the water. No gravestones or individual markings exist for Camiguin's lost residents.
The Sunken Cemetery in Catarman, a part of the province's community where one of the first settlers of Camiguin lived and was buried alive after Mt. Vulcan or Daang Bulkan erupted, is one of the most well-known destinations on the island.
The five-hectare cemetery fell and sank to the bottom of the sea in 1871.
All about the cross
A looming cross was erected in honor of this site of loss. This man-made wonder, full of myth, is admired by tourists from all over the Philippines and the world.
The graveyard's original cross was destroyed by Typhoon Ruping in 1981 before a concrete replacement was constructed in its place.
The underwater tombstones stretch at least half a hectare from a former church similarly submerged by Mt. Vulcan's lava. Some of them still have distinguishable features that are now uncommon in modern burial lots and tombs.
Some claim that when visitors view this building standing by itself in the middle of the sea, they will experience a wave of melancholy.
Accessible by boat, the site is a place of devotion and introspection where guests can stand on its modest foundation above the water.
Protected Marine Area
Once home to several tombstones, the area is now also a sanctuary for corals and other marine life.
Since it was made available for free diving and snorkeling, the location has given the people a means of livelihood, boosting the province's economy.
Recently, the island had its Dive Festival, wherein the festival-goers revisited the island's most revered marine spaces, including the sunken cemetery.
The sunken cemetery receives a lot of tourists not only in the summer but also on Holy Week and All Souls' Day.
Even though the residents of the old town were buried when the volcano erupted, the entire Camiguin community observes these holidays as days to honor their ancestors.
Flowers are laid along the shores of Punta Pasil, the location of the historic graveyard that may have also served as the old Catarman's symbolic resting place.
