Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Tubbataha protects two coral atolls and the Jessie Beazley Reef in the middle of the Sulu Sea, roughly 150 km southeast of Puerto Princesa. The park's isolation is the point: sheer walls drop from reef flats patrolled by gray reef and whitetip sharks, snappers and jacks school in the thousands, and seabirds nest on the islets above. Proclaimed a national marine park in 1988 and inscribed by UNESCO in 1993, it is the Philippines' flagship no-take reserve and one of the few places in the Coral Triangle where reef-fish biomass approaches natural levels. All diving happens from liveaboards during a short spring weather window, overseen by rangers stationed on the atoll year-round.

The rules that bind divers

The entire park is no-take: no fishing, no collecting, no anchoring on reef. Liveaboards operate only during the mid-March to mid-June season, when the Sulu Sea calms; the park is effectively closed to visitors the rest of the year. Every vessel and diver enters under a Tubbataha Management Office permit with a per-diver conservation fee, arranged by the boat, and crews check in at the ranger station on arrival. Dive briefings follow park protocol: no gloves, no touching or chasing wildlife, and no landing on the islets, which are seabird and turtle nesting grounds.

Fees & permits: Per-diver conservation fee collected through the liveaboard as part of the trip; the amount is set by the Tubbataha Management Office and changes periodically.