Liveaboard Diving in Tubbataha

Divers on a liveaboard to Tubbataha are in for some spectacular diving. Tubbataha National Park covers almost 100,000 hectares of the pristine reef; it is, therefore, no surprise that it has been named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and has earned designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tubbataha sits in the middle of the Sulu Sea, east of Palawan, which is the last frontier of the Philippines in its own right. The atolls of this park lie 10 to 12 hours away from the nearest landmass by boat, which has saved them from the overexploitation plaguing most of the Philippines archipelago. North Atoll, South Atoll, and the smaller Jessie Beazley Reef to the northwest of the main atolls constitute the different areas of the park. Between them, they offer almost 20 different dive sites to explore. A Tubbataha liveaboard is the only way to visit the area. And with the low volume of boats and the high volume of marine life, a liveaboard in Tubbataha promises to be the trip of a lifetime.

The northern tip of North Atoll holds a couple of great shark-watching locations. First off, is Washing Machine, aptly named for its intense currents. At this dive site, a high diversity of shark species can be seen, such as whitetips, blacktips, and grey reef sharks. Next comes Shark Airport, a high-volume cleaning station whose size dwarfs all the other cleaning stations in the atolls. As you drift along the plateau at this dive site, be prepared for anything and everything to swim by you. Schools of grey reef sharks and whitetip sharks may even be joined by silky sharks, guitar sharks or whale sharks. In general, the northern tip of North Atoll attracts a lot of life, both on the seafloor and in the blue. Remember to look out for rays and turtles too!

The southern-southeastern tip of North Atoll offers a shipwreck dive site, Malayan Wreck, alongside an incredible wall with additional dive sites called Wall Street and Amos Rock. In this area, hammerhead sharks can often be seen, and grey reef sharks and whitetip sharks are consistently present. Adding even more pelagics to the mix, expect giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, a couple of different barracuda species swimming in large schools, turtles, and manta rays if you're lucky. Amos Rock sports a pleasant abundance of corals hard and soft, and in this general area of North Atoll, eye-popping benthic lifelike colorful crinoids and insanely patterned nudibranchs or flatworms bring the seafloor to life to match the show in the open water.

In the south-southeast of North Atoll, new reef life favorites include pygmy seahorses on huge gorgonian sea fans, African pompanos, and leaf scorpionfish. When the current picks up, larger reef species such as red snapper, giant grouper, and napoleon wrasse come out to play. Some of the other blue-water favorites include rainbow runners, which sometimes flash by in seemingly endless schools, and Spanish mackerel, whose o-shaped gaping mouths make a bizarre sight as they hunt for prey. Near the surface is the best spot to see mantas and eagle rays, along with green turtles and hawksbill turtles.

The northern tip of South Atoll is another area where divers can be wowed by schools of hammerheads, particularly at the dive site Ko-ok. While you're waiting for these incredible sharks to emerge from the blue, you'll have an equally amazing time traversing the pristine coral plateau under schools of circling jacks. The north of South Atoll is known for reef fish, turtles, and large pelagics, including sharks and manta rays- in other words, the iconic Tubbataha experience. In the south of South Atoll, Delsan Wreck holds a cleaning station whose clientele includes large reef fish, sharks, and even an occasional tiger shark.

To the northwest of Tubbataha, Jessie Beazley reef is included on your Tubbataha liveaboard itinerary. Here again, hammerhead sharks are present. Grey reef sharks, silky sharks, and even whale sharks can also be seen. Pristine coral, with a particularly impressive area of branching Acropora corals, puts the icing on the cake at this dive site. Note that the current on Jessie Beazley can be strong, so heed your dive guide while you're enjoying the marine life that the fast-moving water brings in.

Itinerary details

The length of liveaboard itineraries in Tubbataha can be 6, 7, or 11+ nights, with a budget ranging from 280 to 500 euros per night. Most itineraries spend the entire time among Tubbatahaís outstanding dive sites, but there are two liveaboard.com trips that combine Tubbataha with diving in other excellent locations. The first is a Seadoors trip that uses Cebu as the departure port and includes diving in Balicasag (Bohol), Apo island (Negros), and Calusa (Palawan) on its way to Tubbataha. The trip ends in Puerto Princesa. The second itinerary is a transit trip either from Batangas to Puerto Princesa or vice versa, run by the M/V Discovery Palawan. This itinerary goes to Apo Reef (Mindoro) and the Cuyo islands (Palawan). Liveaboards in Tubbataha range from the super luxurious S/Y Siren with its billowing sails to refurbished merchant vessels and dedicated M/V diving yachts- all enjoy different degrees of luxury, but consistently offer great diving amenities.

The experience level required by Tubbataha liveaboards is usually Open Water, with a range of zero to 40 logged dives. The exception is Solitude One, which requires certification of Advanced Open Water and fifty logged dives. Note that while the Philippines is not as infamous for fast-moving water as the Maldives or Indonesia, Tubbataha is as exposed as one can get. Its location in the middle of the sea will certainly subject it to some open water conditions in terms of waves and currents. However, inexperienced divers are well taken care of on all the boats. You will depend on your dive guide to advise you of any particular challenges or experience requirements at a given site.

Liveaboard departures

Puerto Princesa, Palawan's capital city, is the departure location for most Tubbataha liveaboards. Flights to Puerto Princesa run regularly from both Manila and Cebu City on Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. To get to Manila or Cebu City, direct flights are available from many Southeast Asian countries. International flights will usually transfer in the region before flying into the Philippines. For the one liveaboard itinerary starting in Cebu City, travelers will have an easy time flying from Manila to Cebu City or arriving in Cebu City on an international flight plan. For the liveaboard itinerary connecting to Batangas, travelers will fly into Manila and transfer to the Batangas port on a bus.

Visitors with some extra time in Puerto Princesa can take their pick from premier land and sea activities near the city, including island-hopping, jungle explorations, and Palawanís other World Heritage Site - the Puerto Princesa Underground River. Puerto Princesa is only a van-ride away from many dive sites with 100% coral cover in areas like Port Barton and famous El Nido. Entry-level divers in Palawan can enjoy these sites, many of which are shallow reef slopes in protected bays.

Best time to travel

The Tubbataha diving season is only from March through June. This is when the seas and skies are at their calmest. Therefore, expect all Tubbataha liveaboards to run their trips during these months.


Tubbataha Diving Reviews

  • 8.9 Fabulous
  • 71 Verified Reviews
  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sina H
  • United States United States

Awesome! One of the healthiest reefs I've seen! Great spot to see pelagics & sharks. Very strong current though and every dive was very deep. Only fun for experienced divers!

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Seadoors

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Rachael E
  • United States United States

Beautiful! Most days incredible visibility. We did get rain (early April) and a few dives were low vis.

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Philippine Siren

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Robert B
  • United States United States

It’s not a UNESCO World Heritage site for nothing

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Discovery Palawan

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jayne F
  • United States United States

Super but would liked to have seen more whale sharks

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Philippines Aggressor

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Ralph C
  • United States United States

Fantastic. Sharks, rays, giant schools of Jack, Barracuda, snapper. Plenty of bumpheads. Not at all disappointed.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Azalea

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Anish T
  • United States United States

Great reefs and fish life. No big animals were seen. Prepare for lots of wall dives some drift.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Infiniti

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Maria T
  • United States United States

beautiful healthy corals, large schools of fish, unfortunately we didn't see many big sharks or whale sharks, but schools of reef baby sharks were super cute

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Infiniti

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Kim C
  • United States United States

We had fantastic weather, flat seas and good visibility so the diving was easy overall. The condition of the reef is fantastic and well managed. There was only one other live aboard in the region so the sites were not over crowded. The closest parallel experience was diving in Sipadan in the 90's.

Diving Tubbataha in June on the Stella Maris Explorer

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Ryan L
  • United States United States

It was ok. Disappointed by the lack of pelagics, but otherwise great.

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Philippines Aggressor

  • 6.0 Review score
  • Martha F
  • United States United States

very good - healthy reefs with lots of fish

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Atlantis Azores

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Mitchell N
  • United States United States

We had nearly 100% sunny skies making the visibility nearly perfect! Natural light is the best lighting there is! Healthy coral, reefs, sea life etc etc etc.

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Infiniti

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Steven D
  • United States United States

The corals are huge and so diverse. AMAZING coral. We had bad luck tho and didn't see any whale sharks or hammerheads. We had 2 groups on our boat, and the other group did see ONE whale shark on one of our dives, but no luck for us. That said, you can't control nature, and it's not the staff's fault. Just gotta come back I guess.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Narayana

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Daniela H
  • United States United States

Incredible, every dive brought something exciting

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Philippines Aggressor

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Dan E
  • Sweden Sweden

Great, the corals i super nice and loads of fish. How ever we missed the big sharks like whale and tiger. Not lucky enough =(

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Philippine Siren

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Kevin L
  • Canada Canada

Great! Lots of big things!

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Discovery Palawan

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Audrey H
  • Singapore Singapore

Brilliant. Coral is pristine, and abundance of marine life. Amazing to see so many sharks: white tips, gray reef, black tips, whale sharks. I loved that we were so remote that the sea was clear of waste and garbage which unfortunately plagued so much of the other more accessible dive sites.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Discovery Palawan

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Craig H
  • Canada Canada

Diving in Tubbataha was very good, reefs are healthy and well cared for. The fish population, both large and small, are booming. There are sharks (white tip, reef black tip and grey reefs) on every dive with whale sharks on 1 in 3. Others on the boat (with video!!!) also saw hammerheads, tiger sharks and just the week before a marlin.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Discovery Palawan

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Ngung Chia S
  • Singapore Singapore

Excellent. Some sites get repeated too often but given a small dive areas, that can be understood.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Discovery Palawan

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sabine F
  • Germany Germany

Awesome, fantastic, wonderful, extraordinary, amazing, marvelous, beautiful...... We saw all a diver heart is looking for: Whalesharks, Hammerhead sharks, Whitetip Reef shark, Nurse shark, Grey Reef shark, even a Tiger Shark. Manta Rays, lot of turtle, schools of Jackfish, Barrakuda, Batfish...... But most important a beautiful, intact coral reef with huge fan coral, barrel sponge and the whole bunch you expect

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Solitude One

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Shireen K
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Amazing diversity of life and very well protected.

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Infiniti

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Agata P
  • Poland Poland

Very good. Visibility was generally amazing. Water was smoother than most lakes.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Seadoors

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Sybil E
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Tubbataha diving was amazing. Turtles, whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, barracudas, schools of fish and beautiful corals.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Seadoors

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Mirosław K
  • Poland Poland

Really good. Great organization on the board, great assistance under the level of the sea. Many interesting places to dive, different and many of fish, corals, etc.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Discovery Palawan

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Aleksandra L
  • Belarus Belarus

very clear water, lots of sharks, other fish, very colorful and lively corals

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Seadoors

  • 8.0 Very good
  • dae jin K
  • South Korea South Korea

the best dive a lot of fish a good view

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Azalea

  • 7.6 Good
  • Günter E
  • Germany Germany

Tubbataha has a lot of different things to see and experience. Here you can see everything in one place!

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Azalea

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Pau F
  • Spain Spain

Great. We just missed the hammerheads, but we saw plenty of whale sharks and the diving spots are amazing.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Infiniti

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jonathan L
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Mostly wall dives with some current. (Bigger current, bigger fish) This trip also visits Cagayancillo with amazing sea fans.

Diving Tubbataha in June on the Infiniti

  • 6.8 Review score
  • Lee G
  • Australia Australia

Good, but I wouldn't want to spend more than 5 days there. Also so much plastic and litter floating past us

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Infiniti

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Andrzej B
  • Poland Poland

no lack with weather therefore not a lot of big fish

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Discovery Palawan

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Zander R
  • Australia Australia

Diving was amazing. Lots of beautiful wall dives with abundant macro sea-life. Saw a whale shark and a lovely manta, many sharks on each dive, lots of turtles and had pretty reasonable visibility. The sunset excursion onto the ranger station sand bar was a real treat.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Stella Maris Explorer

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • JI YOUN K
  • South Korea South Korea

Wonderful!! If you want to be in a remote area one day, I recommend it. You can't keep in touch with anyone!! Huhu.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Azalea

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Gordon R
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Very good, but fell short of my admittedly high expections on volume and proximity of bigger stuff (the latter important to me as a dive photographer). Perhaps in part due to absence of divers during Covid lockdown period.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Stella Maris Explorer

  • 7.6 Good
  • Alexander B
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Pretty good, lots of mantas

Diving Tubbataha in June on the Discovery Palawan

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Christian K
  • Denmark Denmark

Great action diving and big fish despite challenging weather conditions

Diving Tubbataha in February on the Infiniti

  • 7.2 Good
  • Mohamed L
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Diving was good lots of fish and nice walls

Diving Tubbataha in March on the Seadoors

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Zelda K
  • Hong Kong Hong Kong

The ocean is pristine and beautiful.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Palau Sport

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Edwin P
  • Netherlands Netherlands

Good visibility. Many big animals. Many walls that go from 10m to 80m. Some smaller stuff, but mostly focused on bigger animals. Here and there some current. Dive guides are very good at rerouting their paths.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Infiniti

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • David T
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Very peaceful as a few lone atolls 100 miles from land. Whale shark, hammerheads and marbled rays.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Infiniti

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Alvennia W
  • Indonesia Indonesia

Wonderful. Many sharks and super healthy reef.

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Infiniti

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Vikram J
  • India India

great viz, comfy dives, mild currents

Diving Tubbataha in April on the Philippines Aggressor

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Mikolaj R
  • Poland Poland

Beautiful dive spots. Unfortunately, we were not lucky with sightings of either whale shark or hammer head sharks.

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Stella Maris Explorer

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Howard L
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Too many divers too close together

Diving Tubbataha in May on the Philippines Aggressor

  • 9.2 Superb
  • KyooHwang H
  • South Korea South Korea

Although we didn't see whale sharks, we were able to see Manta sharks, etc., and it was a great pleasure to see the well-preserved coral and small fish in the sea

Diving Tubbataha in June on the Stella Maris Explorer

  • 7.6 Good
  • Moritz S
  • Germany Germany

Fun drift diving with diverse diving spots

Diving Tubbataha in June on the Azalea

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Ovid M
  • Canada Canada

Beautiful hard and soft Corals and abundant smaller species of fish. Decent schools of Jacks and Baracuda, and many smaller sharks. Seemed to lack larger sharks and large pelagics.

Diving Tubbataha in June on the Philippines Aggressor