Taal Volcano, in the Philippines, has been called the smallest active volcano in the world. It is located about 70-km south of Manila on an island inside a lake called Taal Lake. What makes Taal Volcano more unique is the fact that the volcano itself has a lake of its own inside its crater which is called the "Crater Lake." One can even swim inside the Crater Lake but don't stay too long because the lake's water is a very diluted form of sulfuric acid with high concentration of boron, magnesium, aluminum and sodium in salt form. The first recorded scuba dive inside the crater was made by a team led by Thomas Hargrove in 1986 to a depth of about 20 meters or 60 feet. There is even a tiny island in the Crater Lake which Hargrove's team also explored. Taal Volcano, one of the Philippines' 22 active volcanoes inside the so called Pacific Ring of Fire, usually marveled at from Tagaytay City by people trying to escape the heat of Metro Manila, is in itself a tourist destination for adventurers looking for a different high by hiking/trekking to the crater lake within Taal lake which is actually a crater of a big caldera. Drive through the scenic countryside to the ridge of Tagaytay and down to the town of Talisay in Batangas. Upon arrival, board motorized outriggers to Taal Volcano Island 30 minutes away. Light trekkers can view the caldera from the rim of the crater. Islanders are renting out horses for minimal fee. Return to the shoreline resort for a sumptuous lunch. Strong trekkers can hike through the expanse of hardened black lava up to an easy incline and down to the crater for a close-up view of the caldera. The lake inside the crater invites hikers to a relaxing swim. Return to a shoreline resort for a sumptuous lunch. The marine life study of Taal Lake indicates that the body of water here may have been, in fact, salt water in pre-historic time. Even today, one can dive to uniform depth of 30 feet all around the lake bottom and still find traces of an ancient beach littered with seashells.