The Tubbataha Reefs in Sulu Sea is considered as the world's richest bio-geographic area. Derived from two Samal words meaning, "long reef exposed at a low tide", Tubbataha was declared as the country's first national marine park in 1988.

 

The marine park covers 33,200 hectares and contains what is believed to be the world's largest grouping of marine life, per unit area. Scientists claimed that more than 300 coral species, and at least 40 families and 379 species of fish were recorded in the area. Among the species identified in the area were manta rays, sea turtles, sharks, tuna, dolphins and jackfish. In 1993, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed Tubbataha Reefs as a world heritage site.

 

Tubbataha Reef is an atoll coral reef in the Sulu Sea that belongs to the Philippines. It is a marine sanctuary protected as Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park. The reef is composed of two atolls, North and South Reefs. Each reef has a single small islet that protrudes from the water. The atolls are separated by a deep channel 8 kilometers wide. Over one thousand species, including many that are endangered, can be found at on the reef. These include manta rays, lionfish, tortoises, clownfish and sharks.

 

 

 

 

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) lies in the middle of the Sulu Sea and falls under the political jurisdiction of Cagayancillo, an island municipality situated 130km to the north. The park is around 150km south-east of Puerto Princesa City - capital of the Province of Palawan - the usual jump-off point for visitors and dive boats going to Tubbataha.

 

 

Tubbataha is well known to fishermen of the southern Philippines but until the late 1970s, Cagayanons were the primary users of the reefs' resources. During the summer, they would make fishing trips to Tubbataha in fleets of traditional wooden sailboats. Tubbataha's isolation and its susceptibility to harsh weather once protected it from over-exploitation.

 

But by the 1980s, fishermen from other parts of the Philippines started visiting Tubbataha in motorized boats, many using destructive fishing techniques to maximize their catch. In 1988 - in response to a vigorous campaign by Philippine scuba divers and environmentalists alike - President Corazon Aquino declared Tubbataha a National Marine Park. 

 

 

 

 

After more than twenty years of conservation efforts, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is home to no less than:

• 48 species of fish
• 369 species of corals (about half of all coral species in the world)
• 44 species of birds
• 9 species of dolphins & whales
• nesting hawksbill& green sea turtles

Tubbataha Reef is now known that Jessie Beazley and Tubbataha Reefs are sources of coral and fish larvae, seeding the greater Sulu Sea. This is of huge significance, since the Philippines - the second largest archipelago in the world - relies heavily on its marine resources for livelihood and food.

 

 

Guests going to Tubbataha have to take domestic flight out of Manila or Cebu to Puerto Princessa and back. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines are flying to this route. Transition trips in March embark from Batangas, and in June disembark at Batangas.