Photo: NEOM / Unsplash
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park
Tubbataha is two isolated atolls plus Jessie Beazley Reef in the middle of the Sulu Sea, about 150km southeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a no-take marine park with a permanently manned ranger station on the North Atoll. Diving is liveaboard-only and the season is short: roughly mid-March to mid-June, when the seas are calm enough for the crossing. The rest of the year the southwest monsoon closes the park to visitors. The draw is steep coral walls, high hard-coral cover, and reliable reef sharks — grey reef and whitetip sharks appear on most dives. Big schools of jacks, barracuda, bumphead parrotfish and Napoleon wrasse are common. Bigger pelagics are the gamble: scalloped hammerheads, reef mantas, tiger sharks and whale sharks are all reported but none are reliable. Getting there means a 10-hour-plus overnight open-water crossing with no bail-out, so trips run 6 nights and book out 9–12 months ahead.
What makes it special
- Steep coral walls dropping into the Sulu Sea with hard-coral cover above 50% and 360+ recorded coral species
- Reliable grey reef and whitetip reef sharks on most dives, plus a manned ranger station on the North Atoll
- Large schools of bigeye trevally, barracuda, bumphead parrotfish and Napoleon wrasse
- UNESCO World Heritage no-take marine park with no commercial fishing, enforced by resident rangers
Price range
$–$$$
Trip length
6–7 days
Diver level
Advanced open water
Trip type
Liveaboard
Price is per person for a typical trip, excluding international flights ($ under $2,000 to $$$ over $4,000).
A 6-night/7-day Tubbataha liveaboard runs roughly US$1,600 on budget boats up to US$4,500+ on luxury vessels, most sitting around US$2,000–3,500 per person, excluding flights. The park conservation fee is PHP 5,000 per diver (about US$85–90 at 2026 rates); it is usually collected as part of the package. Fuel surcharges and the standard PHP 800 Puerto Princesa liveaboard/port terminal charges may be extra.
Best time to dive
- Current
- Moderate
- Water temp
- 27–31°C (coldest Jan, warmest May)
- Visibility
- 20–40m — Commonly 20–40m; best in April (often 30–40m). Early season (mid-March) can start nearer 20–30m and June visibility drops as the water warms and plankton increases.
- Getting there
- Demanding — Liveaboard only, with a 10h open-ocean crossing to reach the diving.
- Experience
- Advanced Open Water is the practical minimum. Many sites are wall and drift dives with variable current; operators generally expect prior experience with currents and often a minimum logged-dive count, and Advanced certification plus nitrox is recommended for the deeper pinnacle sites.
Nearest airports
- PPS — Puerto Princesa International Airport (Reached on domestic flights from Manila (MNL) or Cebu (CEB) — despite the 'international' name there are currently no scheduled international flights, so most divers connect via Manila; liveaboards depart from Puerto Princesa port)
Permit required
Entry is only via a licensed liveaboard operator holding a Permit to Operate from the Tubbataha Management Office. Individual divers do not arrange their own permits; the operator handles park clearance and collects the conservation fee.
Conservation fee PHP 5,000 per visitor/diver (about US$85–90); PHP 500 for divemasters; children 12 and under exempt. Usually included in or added to the liveaboard package.
Marine life
Sightings are never guaranteed — the bars show typical likelihood by month.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Napoleon (humphead) wrasse are common on the walls here — Tubbataha holds a healthy population of this endangered species.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | rare |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | rare |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Turn up mainly April–May during plankton blooms, often at current-swept sites like Washing Machine; not present on every trip.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | rare |
| February | rare |
| March | rare |
| April | rare |
| May | rare |
| June | rare |
| July | rare |
| August | rare |
| September | rare |
| October | rare |
| November | rare |
| December | rare |
Only a handful are documented each season — a genuine chance encounter rather than a reliable sighting.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | rare |
| February | rare |
| March | rare |
| April | rare |
| May | rare |
| June | rare |
| July | rare |
| August | rare |
| September | rare |
| October | rare |
| November | rare |
| December | rare |
Occasionally passes through the open water around the atolls, but Tubbataha is not a dependable whale-shark destination.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Herds of 20–40 are a common Tubbataha sight, grazing across the reef flats and shallow coral.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
The most reliable shark here — grey reef sharks appear on nearly every dive, often in groups of several, patrolling the walls and drift sites like Washing Machine and Amos Rock.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Regularly seen on the coral walls alongside green turtles; both species nest within the park.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | rare |
| February | rare |
| March | rare |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | rare |
| August | rare |
| September | rare |
| October | rare |
| November | rare |
| December | rare |
Reported mainly April–June, often on deeper walls and at the South Atoll, but sightings are unpredictable and never guaranteed.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | occasional |
| February | occasional |
| March | occasional |
| April | occasional |
| May | occasional |
| June | occasional |
| July | occasional |
| August | occasional |
| September | occasional |
| October | occasional |
| November | occasional |
| December | occasional |
Cruise the deeper walls and pinnacles, especially where current runs, alongside jacks and mackerel; seen on many but not all dives.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Seen regularly on the reef tops and shallow walls, often alongside grey reef and whitetip sharks.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Common on the reefs and walls; Tubbataha is an important nesting and foraging area, and turtles are seen on most days.
| Month | Likelihood |
|---|---|
| January | commonly seen |
| February | commonly seen |
| March | commonly seen |
| April | commonly seen |
| May | commonly seen |
| June | commonly seen |
| July | commonly seen |
| August | commonly seen |
| September | commonly seen |
| October | commonly seen |
| November | commonly seen |
| December | commonly seen |
Common and reliable, resting on sand plateaus and ledges; Shark Airport is named for its predictable whitetip aggregations.
Dive sites
Worth knowing before you book
- Liveaboard-only with a very short season — roughly mid-March to mid-June; the park is closed the rest of the year due to the southwest monsoon.
- Reaching the reefs means a 10-hour-plus overnight open-water crossing from Puerto Princesa with no land bail-out if weather or seasickness hits.
- Big pelagics are not guaranteed — hammerheads, reef mantas, tiger sharks and whale sharks are all occasional at best; the reliable draw is reef sharks and schooling fish.
- High demand and few operating boats mean peak April–May trips sell out 9–12 months ahead.
- Currents at drift sites like Washing Machine and Shark Airport can be strong and unpredictable despite the reef looking benign on calm days.
Sources & last checked
Checked July 2026
This is a researched draft, not yet human-verified. The seasonality and logistics are drawn from the sources below — confirm specifics (permits, fees, closures) with an operator before you book.
- Permits and Fees — Tubbataha Management Office
- Tubbataha Diving Guide 2026: Liveaboard Trips, Best Season & Prices — Philippine Dives
- Best Scuba Diving in Tubbataha Reef — Bluewater Dive Travel
- Diving in Tubbataha, Sulu Sea - Philippines — Dive The World
- Tubbataha Reef — Wikipedia
- Sea water temperature Tubbataha Reef — seatemperature.info
- Tubbataha Liveaboard diving — LiveAboard.com
Note on the data: Season, crossing time, prices, sites and fees corroborated across operator and guide sources. Conservation fee PHP 5,000 confirmed from the official Tubbataha Management Office permits-and-fees page; USD equivalent is approximate and moves with the exchange rate. Water temperature is not published per-month by a primary station; monthly values are built from seatemperature.info seasonal/monthly figures and interpolated for the closed off-season. Dive-site coordinates are approximate atoll-level positions, not surveyed GPS. Crossing time cited as 10–12 hours depending on operator and departure point. Water temperature: Warm year-round; the diveable months (March–June) run roughly 27–31°C, with June the warmest. Off-season values are interpolated from published seasonal averages since the park is closed and rarely measured by divers then. Access: Fly Manila (or Cebu) to Puerto Princesa, transfer a short distance to the port, then a 10-hour-plus overnight open-water crossing reaches the atolls; there is no day-trip or land-based option. Independently verified 2026-07-20 (confidence medium).