Camotes Sea

Camotes Sea
An outrigger on the sea near Olango Island
Camotes Sea Location within the Philippines Show map of Visayas Camotes Sea Camotes Sea (Philippines) Show map of Philippines
Location	Visayas
Coordinates	10°30′0″N 124°20′0″E / 10.50000°N 124.33333°E / 10.50000; 124.33333
Type	sea
Basin countries	Philippines
Settlements	Baybay Cebu City Danao Ormoc

The Camotes Sea is a small sea within the Philippine archipelago, situated between the Central Visayan and the Eastern Visayan regions. It separates Cebu from Leyte hence is bordered by Cebu to the west, Leyte to the east and north, and Bohol to the south. At its center are the Camotes Islands, but it also contains Mactan Island, Olango Island, Lapinig Island (in Bohol), and various other small islets.

Northwards, the sea is connected to the Visayan Sea. Southwards, it is connected to the Bohol Sea (also called the Mindanao Sea) in two ways: to the southwest by the Cebu Strait (and its three channels, the Mactan, the Olango, and the Hilutangan), and to the southeast by the Canigao Channel.

The Camotes Sea also contains the Danajon Bank, which is a double barrier reef in the Philippines, which is a very rare geological formation, and there are only 6 double barrier reefs in the world. It comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge due to a combination of favorable tidal currents and coral growth in the area.