Quick Notes: Tubbataha Dive Experience

Related to my previous post, I am posting a brief summary of my experience.  I made notes on all our dives with side comments in my phone and now inputting it here for safekeeping.

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1st day

• 2 dives on Jessie Beazley Reef – 1st multiple shark experience, really awesome to see them in their natural habitat
• 2 dives on Shark Airport – 1st dive saw multiple sharks again (with some resting on the reef); 2nd dive was a night dive wherein we saw multiple large colourful  lobsters

2nd day

• 1 dive on Shark Airport – failed hammerhead search
• 1 dive on Seafan Alley – beautiful corals and sea of fishes; as if trapped in an aquarium
• 1 dive on Black Rock – Manta (saw it first)!; strong current though and almost ran out of air; I have to thank Richard (our dive master) for keeping me calm and collected on this one
• 1 dive on T Wreck – chill dive; beautiful corals with a random small turtle

3rd day

• 1 dive on Delsan Wreck – saw a Whale Shark for the first time… it was more than 40 meters deep though so I did not get that close; I wished the photographers did not swarm it as much, it may have swam higher
• 1 dive on Triggerfish City – only saw one triggerfish (so I was wondering about the name); mountain of corals and loads of turtles (one turtle though looked like it was either sick or sleeping); Bonus:  upside down shark near the boat right after we surfaced — thought it was trapped but it was not.  My co-divers said it must have been a wild night
• 1 dive on South West Wall – sharks were swimming far away but still beautiful corals; corals were not as beautiful as the other sites but all alive and well; nice to see
• 1 dive on a site near Amos Rock – felt like we were swimming in a coral maze; few shadows of sharks; Bonus:  swam with dolphins for a few seconds/minutes prior to the official dive starting point
• Side trip:  Visited the ranger station after the last dive; amazing people and may they continue to protect the Tubbataha Reefs

4th day

• 1 dive on Amos Rock – not so good visibility (by Tubbataha standards), which may be due to the rain during the night; school of shark and barracudas; beautiful corals with small fish (common in Tubbataha — wonderful)
• 1 dive on Malayan Wreck – small wreck but saw a blue spotted ray; school of jacks
• 1 dive on Wall Street – chill dive; Tubbataha standard of beautiful wall and corals; Sea fan pictorial with Alice at 90ft

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All in all, Tubbataha was the best dive site I have been to so far – good visibility, wonderful corals and marine life.  For first timers, be prepared for mostly deep and drift dives.  Generally, the drift is not that strong, though this depends on weather and sea conditions.  Visibility is great.  Though from what one of my co-divers said, there are times when it was even better.

 

Quick Notes: Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Palawan

I visited Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park from May 29 to June 3 via M/Y Sakura liveaboard (my first one).  I flew to Palawan morning of the 29th then in the afternoon embarked on a 10 to 14 hours boat ride to Tubbataha.

As stated in the handout I received during the orientation, “The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is the only purely marine World Heritage Site in Southeast Asia.  The Park contains roughly 10,000 hectares of coral reefs and lies at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the global center for marine biodiversity. 

The Park is a major source of coral and fish larvae, enriching fisheries in surrounding areas.  Its islets are one of the last intact seabird habitats in the Philippines.”

It has seventeen (17) dive sites tagged in the map.  Eight (8) in the North Atoll, seven (7) in the South Atoll and two (2) in the Jessie Beazley reef.

On average, we did four (4) dives per day except for the last day wherein we only did three (3).  I personally decided not to skip any of the fifteen (15) dives to maximize the experience.  We were blessed with generally fair weather with scattered rain especially during the evening.

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It was like a dream.  Though some of my co-divers said it was not the best visibility, every dive was a great dive.  The corals are pristine with the reef wall full of large sea fans.

Marine life is diverse.  And most of all, lots of colors abound.  It was everything I envisioned it to be.  So beautiful.

 

We were also blessed with sightings of sharks (loads of different varieties), whale shark, turtles and manta.

Yes, there is a whale shark there somewhere. Taken at 100ft deep.

To keep it short and simple, it was the best site I have been to. The ocean is alive and wonderful.

I did take some photos but mostly I just spent most of my time admiring and absorbing everything my eyes could land on. It is not everyday I get to see majestic beauty.  It also helped that I knew I was with a group of diver photographers so I know they will have loads of photos.

All I can say is that we have been so blessed.  I hope we all strive to preserve it.  God is wonderful; what a beautiful world.  Hopefully I can return some time in the future.

To learn more about Tubbataha, you can visit http://www.tubbatahareef.org.