One of the Philippines’ treasures is the world renowned Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. This location of high quality marine habitats is almost 100,000 hectares and lies in the center of the Sulu Sea.
Home to a great diversity of marine life such as whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and Napoleon Wrasse, it is listed on the World Heritage Site in 1993. It is also serves as a nesting site for birds and marine turtles in its North Islet thus protecting the few remaining colonies of breeding seabirds in the region. The property also offers a demonstration site to study the responses of a natural reef system in relation to the impacts of climate change.
Tubbataha was first discovered in the late 1970s and became recognized as one of the most remarkable coral reefs on our planet. It is quite isolated for it is a 10 hour boat ride from Pueto Princesa, Palawan to the site. It is also advised that only experienced divers can dive into the Tubbataha frontier. Conservation fees are also provided by visiting divers so as to help in the protection of the park from illegal exploitation.
Tubbataha is home to:
600 species of fish
360 species of corals (about half of all coral species in the world)
11 species of sharks
13 species of dolphins & whales
100 species of birds
Nesting Hawksbill & Green sea turtles.
Dive Season:
Mid March until Mid June, visibility is between 30-45 meters.
How to get there:
From Manila, there are regular flights to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. If you availed of dive operator’s services, they usually transport their guests from the airport to the pier.
It takes 10 hours to get to the Tubbataha Park from Puerto Princesa.
Information from: http://tubbatahareef.org
Photos from: www. bestourism.com
