Dozens of tourists on an island-hopping trip were rescued from a recreational boat during choppy seas in the Philippines.

Personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed 23 passengers were pulled to safety from the distressed boat, including 20 tourists and three crew members, on January 3.

The vessel departed from the Port of San Andres in Quezon province to Sombrero Island in Masbate when it developed a hole in its hull.

The PCG was alerted at 11:15 am local time and launched a search-and-rescue operation. Around 2 pm, officials located the RBCA Harlyn almost completely submerged.

One of the travellers said: 'This was not a joke. Although we looked calm and smiled, all 20 of us were nervous.

'At 8:30 am, we started loading our stuff and boarding the boat. Initially, we were told we would travel in two boats, but we were split into two batches because only one boat was supposedly available, even though we had reserved two boats for 50 people two months earlier.

'We went along with it to avoid cancelling the trip. Later, we found out there were actually two boats available for the journey to Burias Island, but only one was assigned to us. We decided to wait.

'Around 8:40 am, the first batch departed. Our batch waited at the port while having drinks. At exactly 10:12 am, we got a group chat message from the first batch: 'Our boat has a hole. Urgent, SOS,' followed by the boat name HARLYN 1.'

'We immediately went to the Coast Guard at the port and reported everything we knew. The Coast Guard only left San Andres Port around 11 am to check the damaged boat.

'By 1:36 pm - almost three hours after the report - the boat's location was finally confirmed. At 3:55 pm, all 14 remaining passengers were rescued. They had been in the water from 10 am to 4 pm. All their belongings, including phones, laptops, clothes, bags, and food, were lost.

'It is frustrating because we paid the boat operator, followed the boat's capacity, and still ended up in this situation. Other passengers heading to the same destination arrived safely, so we still do not know why the boat was in such poor condition.'

Footage shows the travellers on the partially submerged boat, remaining calm as they wait for rescue.

A statement from the Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog said: 'According to an inquiry conducted by Coast Guard Mobile Post (CGMP) San Andres, Quezon, the boat captain reported that their boat allegedly struck an unidentified hard object when they were already approximately 1-2 nautical miles from the shoreline of Sombrero Island of Burias Group of Island, Masbate, Bicol Region, causing water ingress that led to the boat becoming half-submerged.'

At least nine people were injured while boarding the rescue boat and holding ropes during the operation.

All holidaymakers and crew were transferred to the responding boats and brought safely to Sombrero Island. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.