Mindanao, Philippines from the Sky

Of the islands that comprise the Mindanao Region of the Philippines, Siargo is probably the best known to the traveler community.  It's situated to the northeast of the main island of Mindanao, in the province of Surigao del Norte.  Siargo has some of the most magnificent natural scenery in the Philippines, with stunning white sand beaches, coral reefs, and mangroves.  Contributor Deka0831 used her drone to bring us this amazing aerial tour of the island, ranked as the #1 island in the 2019 CN Traveler survey.

The Philippines' Surigao del Norte province sits on several islands, with the largest portion on the north end of Mindanao, the major island of the southern part of the Philippines.  Contributor Franz Pilot shot this aerial video of this region, which was close to the site of a major World War II naval battle (collectively known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf), for the Philippines Department of Tourism.  Using an Inspire 1 and a Phantom 4 Pro drone from DJI, his video captures the beauty of the area, including the Hinatuan ("Enhanted") River.

After Sirgao, the most well known of the smaller islands of the Philippines Mindanao region is probably Camiguin.  Covering a modest land area of about 240 square km (about 90 square mi), Camiguin is situated in the Bohol Sea, a body of water which lies off the northwestern part of the main island of Mindanao.  As you will see in this drone video by Deka0831, Camiguin represents a stunning little bit of paradise, with a hilly interior surrounded by appealing white sandbars and sparkling blue seas.

Contributor and drone pilot ArgeeDelacruz used a combination of ground and drone footage to create this video of the city of Davao, Philippines and the surrounding area.  Davao is the largest city on the island of Mindanao, the southernmost of the major Philippines islands and the second most populous after Luzon.  Davao City is the center of a metropolitan area which is the third largest in the country, after Greater Manila on Luzon and Cebu City on the island of Cebu in the Central Visayan Islands.

To get a sense of what the Philippines' third-largest city looks like from the air, check out this drone video by contributor and pilot Nehvolution.  He flies over Davao, the largest city in the southern region of the country.  It sits in the southeastern part of the island of Mindanao (the main island of the region), on the Gulf of Davao.  The video will take you through the center of the city and its suburbs; together they make up the Davao metropolitan area, which is the third-largest in the Philippines.  

Here is a great aerial tour of the island of Samal in the southern Philippines, compliments of contributor and drone pilot Nehvolution.  Samal is in the Davao Gulf of Mindanao, the main island of the southern part of the country and its second most populated after Luzon.  Samal is close to Davao City, the capital of the Mindanao province and the center of the country's third largest metro area after Manila and Cebu City.  Proximity to Davao City led to heavy bombing damaga on Samal in World War II. 

Check out this fantastic drone video of an almost-unkown island in the Philippines.  Tenusa Island is part of the Sulu Archipelago, a group of islands lying to the west of Mindanao, the main island of the southern Philippines.  Tenusa (Bihintinusa) is a tiny island lying off of the southern coast of Basilan, the largest of the Sulu mini-archipelago.  Barely visible on a map, and with no permanent residents, Tenusa sparkles in the Sulu Sea.  The video was created by contributor and drone pilot Ian Gongona. 

Liwanderers used a combination of drone and ground camera footage to create this impressive aerial tour of Mindanao, Philippines.  Mindanao is an oddly shaped island which includes a "finger" pointed at hunreds of smaller islands in the Sulu Sea to its west in the Sulu Sea.  The island itself has a population of over 20 million, and the region (which includes the outlying islands) is closer to 25 million.   This culturally distinctive region is often referred to as the Southern Philippines due to its position within the archipelago.  

Check out this beautiful drone video of a small island in the southern Philippines, compliments of contributor Ian Gongona.  Mantigue Island is located just a few km/mi from the island of Camiguin in the Bohol Sea.  Camigiguin in turn is located just 10 km (about 6 mi.) off the northern coast of Mindanao, the principal island of the southern part of the Philippines archipelago.  Part of the province of Northern Mindanao, Mangigue is accessible via a 30 minute boat ride from "mainland" Mindanao.  

Check out this amazing drone video of a "sunken cemetery" in the southern Philippines, compliments of contributor and pilot Ian Gongona.  It's located just off of the island of Camiguin, a few km/mi. from the northern coast of the much larger island of Mindanao.  Due to changes in the landscape caused by a series of eruptions of nearby Mt. Vulcan, the gravesite which existed here became submerged.  In the early 1980's, a cross was put into the lave to mark the location of the now-submerged graves.  

Check out this beautiful drone video of the an area of the southern Philippines, compliments of contributor bukopando.  The Davao Region occupies the southeastern part of Mindanao, the giant island which is the core of the large region known variously as Mindanao and the Southern Philippines.  The Davao Region coastline forms the large body of water known as the Gulf of Davao, at the head of which is Davao City, the regional capital and third largest urban area in the country after Manila and Cebu City.  

Check out this beautiful drone video from an island in the southern Philippines, compliments of shoot2thrill.  It's called the Island Garden City of Samal, often shortened to simply Samal. It's actually two islands in the Gulf of Davao, a gulf which sits in the southeastern part of the island of Mindanao.  The two islands - Samal and the smaller Talikud - are situated near the north end of the gulf, just a few hundred yards/km from Davao City, the provincial capital and the third-largest city in the country.  

Filming surfers with a first person view (FPV) drone requires extraordinary piloting skills, which are on full display in this amazing piece by AirVuz contributor and FPV pilot janjan.  The video was filmed in the Cloud 9 area on the Philippine island of Siargao, one of the country's top surfing spots.  As you can imagine, flying this close to the surfers (and the waves) presents unique challenges, making the resulting video all the more impressive.  This video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in December, 2023.   

AirVuz contributor shoot2thrill brings us this excellent drone video from the southern Philippines.  The island of Samal is located in the Gulf of Davao, a large inlet of the Philippine Sea on the southeastern side of Davao, the main island of the southern Philippines.  The island is part of the metropolitan area of Davao City, which lies on the western side of the Gulf and is the third-largest metro aera in the Philippines, after Manila and Cebu City.  Samal is a major resort destination.  

Mati is a municipality on the giant island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.  Its land area covers the heads of Pujada and Mayo Bays, two small inlets just to the east of the much larger Gulf of Davao.  The area is part of the province of Davao Oriental, which covers much of southeastern Mindanao east of Davao City.  In this drone video by AirVuz contributor and pilot choypictures, you'll get an aerial view of Dahican Beach, a beautiful spot which lies on the eastern side of Mati, on the northwestern side of Mayo Bay.  

Cape San Augustin is a very long and narrow peninsula which forms the eastern side of the Gulf of Davao on Mindanao, the southernmost of the main islands of the Philippines.  In effect, the cape "covers" the entrance to the gulf, at the head of which sits Davao - the provincial capital and the country's third-largest city after Manila and Cebu City.  In this drone video by shoot2thrill, you'll get a bird's eye view of the cape, which (as you might expect, given its position) is topped by a lighthouse.  

The city of Davao on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao is enormous in terms of land area - it covers a land area of over 2.4k square km (about 940 square mi.), almost twice as much as the much-larger (in population) capital city of Manila.  Davao's outer districts are many km/mi from the city center and are quite rural.  In this drone video by shoot2thrill, you'll get an aerial view of an estate in the Toril District.  It's well to the south of central Davao, and a bit inland from the Gulf of Davao.

If you want to understand why the Philippines island of Siargao was ranked as the #1 island in a recent survey by CN Traveler, check out this stunning drone video by top AirVuz contributor and pilot enoksen89.  The island, which includes numerous small "satellites", is situated in the southern province of Surigao del Norte, more or less due east from the provincial capital Surigao City (which lies at the northern tip of the island of Mindanao).  With dozens of reefs, coves, and white sand beaches, it is truly a tropical paradise.