Bohol Sea

The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, occupies the water between the Visayas and Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Bohol and Leyte close it from the north, while Mindanao borders it from the south. Siquijor and Camiguin are its two principal islands. The coastline includes Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Butuan, Dumaguete, Ozamiz and Tagbilaran, placing several regional ports within one connected maritime setting.

The basin is opened by straits rather than enclosed. Surigao Strait reaches east to the Philippine Sea. The Canigao Channel and Cebu Strait join it with the Camotes Sea, and a passage between Negros and the Zamboanga Peninsula links it to the Sulu Sea. These routes made the Bohol Sea part of an inter-island corridor, allowing movement among the central Philippines, northern Mindanao and the Sulu world.

Its waters support clownfish, lionfish, barracuda, dolphins and extensive coral formations. Rorquals, including blue whales, have returned to the sea, an uncommon development in Asian waters. Around these channels and islands, fishing grounds, coastlines and sheltered crossings form a maritime landscape where ecology and navigation meet. The concentration of port cities along its shores shows how closely settlement follows the basin.