Tubbataha Reefs
Philippines · Sulu Sea
A UNESCO marine park 150km offshore in the middle of the Sulu Sea, Tubbataha is reachable only by liveaboard during a tight 3-month window. Two atolls and a small reef bracket pristine walls that drop into deep blue, with reliable encounters with grey reef sharks, jacks, tuna and the occasional whale shark, hammerhead or thresher.
How this reef is doing
ⓘ How we measure thisReef state
Reef fish biomass inside this fully protected park is the highest recorded among Philippine reefs and several times that of the fished and open areas outside, which hold only a fraction of it (Muallil et al. 2019).
Coral cover
Fish life
Heat
Warmer than usual right now, but not hot enough to bleach.
Fishing
Quiet water, and fishing is fully banned here.
Sources · MERMAID and partner coral surveys · NOAA Coral Reef Watch · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity
What you will see
28 species across the dive sites here
Green Sea Turtle
Seen 4 days ago
at Coron Bay
Least concern
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Seen 4 days ago
at Coron Bay
Critically endangered
Gilded Triggerfish
Seen 1 month ago
at North Atoll Wall
Least concern
Denise'S Pygmy Seahorse
Seen 1 month ago
at North Atoll Wall
Least concern
Whitetip reef shark
Seen 1 month ago
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Vulnerable
White-tip reef shark
Seen 1 month ago
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Vulnerable
Grey reef shark
Seen 1 month ago
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Endangered
Reef shark
Seen 2 months ago
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Vulnerable
Lionfish
Seen 3 months ago
at Coron Bay
Least concern
Batfish
Seen 3 months ago
at Coron Bay
Least concern
Nudibranch
Seen 6 months ago
at Coron Bay
Schooling barracuda
Seen Jun 2025
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Least concern
Bluefin Trevally
Seen Jun 2025
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Least concern
Midnight Snapper
Seen Jun 2025
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Least concern
Bigeye trevally
Seen Jun 2025
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Least concern
Dogtooth tuna
Seen Jun 2025
at North Atoll Wall
Least concern
Harlequin Sweetlips
Seen Jun 2025
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Least concern
Napoleon Wrasse
Seen Jun 2025
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Endangered
Hawksbill turtle
Seen Apr 2025
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Critically endangered
Manta ray
Seen May 2024
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Vulnerable
Reef Manta Ray
Seen May 2024
at North Atoll Wall
Vulnerable
Bumphead parrotfish
Seen Apr 2024
at South Atoll
Vulnerable
Blacktip reef shark
Seen year round
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Vulnerable
Schooling jacks
Seen year round
at Shark Airport (North Atoll)
Sweetlips
Seen year round
at Coron Bay
Scalloped hammerhead shark
Seasonal visitor
at North Atoll Wall
Critically endangered
Yellowfin tuna
Seasonal visitor
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Least concern
Scalloped hammerhead
Rare sighting
at Jessie Beazley Reef
Critically endangered
Dive sites
Shark Airport (North Atoll)
white-tip reef shark · grey reef shark · schooling jacks · hawksbill turtle
Coron Bay
green sea turtle · hawksbill sea turtle · lionfish · batfish
Jessie Beazley Reef
whitetip reef shark · grey reef shark · blacktip reef shark · schooling barracuda
North Atoll Wall
scalloped hammerhead shark · dogtooth tuna · grey reef shark · bigeye trevally
South Atoll
reef manta ray · bumphead parrotfish · green sea turtle · whitetip reef shark
What divers say
The walls at Tubbataha are what every Caribbean wall wishes it was — twice as alive, half as touched.
We had a thresher cross under us at Shark Airport and the whole boat lost its mind at dinner. That's a normal day there.
Good to know
Park fee
~PHP 18,000 (~$320) conservation fee, usually added on top of the trip price.
Weather risk
The Sulu Sea crossing is the variable. A bad squall can cancel a day; build flexibility into return flights.