Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Tubbataha is the Philippines’ first national marine park and has achieved many milestones through the help of passionate conservationists, scientists, and scuba divers over the past decades

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is remote and accessible only by liveaboards. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is home to 370 types of coral, 600 species of fish, 12 species of cetacean and 14 species of sharks.

North Reef
On this reef, a rich slope of corals on sand descends form 14-20 meters (45-65 feet) followed by a wall with overhang caves and crevices. The wall sinks deeper than normal sport divers should attempt to dive.
White tip sharks, grey reef sharks, nurse sharks, silky sharks and guitar sharks are quite common. Sometimes it is possible to spot whale sharks as well. Turtles, dog-toothed tuna, moray eels and eagle rays are also regularly seen. The rays most commonly seen are marble rays and stingrays, while mantas and eagle rays are less frequently sighted. Below 30 meters (98 feet), there are soft corals and huge gorgonian sea fans.

South Reef
This reef has a sloping reef top to between 10-20 meters (33-65 feet), and a richly decorated wall down to depths well beyond the capabilities of most divers. The reef is home to dog-toothed tuna, great barracuda, giant trevally, white tip sharks and even some larger predators like hammerheads and tiger sharks.

Jessie Beazley Reef
There is a rich coral slope from 5-10 meters (16-33 feet) followed by a steep wall that descends to about 40 meters (130 feet) before sloping out into even deeper depths. There are unusually large numbers of sabre squirrelfish, bigeyes, snappers, jacks, barracudas, Spanish mackerel, Napoleon wrasses, unicornfish and surgeonfish at this site. Sharks can be numerous too, particularly grey reef sharks.