First time to the Philippines - Tubbahata

[charlier]

Our first dive trip to the Philippines! A friend chartered a LOB trip to Tubbahata reef(s). My wife and I usually stay close to home, since Indonesia has such wonderful diving, but we really could not turn down this opportunity. I am curious how diving the Tubbahata atolls compare with similar dive sites in the Banda Sea or Seram Sea. From what I've gathered, the SSTs are ~28°C. We will report back.

 

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

Hi Charlier,

Diving in Tubbataha is amazing! It’s a marine park so the variety and quality of the underwater fauna and flora is very wide. Whale sharks, white tip sharks, reef sharks, tiger sharks, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, huge schools of fish, turtles, a very healthy coral and a beautiful macro life! These colouful reefs are mainly vertical walls or near drop off's rising out of great depths. I am sure you won’t be disappointed!
I invite you to read the latest trip blog on board the Philippine Siren diving Tubbataha last week. Here is also a video!

Enjoy Tubbattaha!

 

[charlier]

Thanks for the links and video. Its always nice to go to new area for diving. charlie

 

[jaric]

HI Charlier,

Check this video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P0sm5zoie0

Divers having the time of their lives at Tubbatha

Cheers ,

Jaric

 

[Hintermann]

I am going to Tubbataha in early April 2016 on board the Stella Maris Explorer and looking forward to it. I have even had a lucky break; A few months after I made the booking, the (new) management contacted me if I could extend my Tubbataha trip by one day (4 additional dives) at no extra cost. It turned out that a large group of 16 divers had also booked on my trip and they wanted a full week rather than the usual 6 days to and from Peurto Princesa. As it happened, I was in a position to stay a day longer and accepted it.

I am going to Tubbataha after an 18-dive package with Buceo Divers in Anilao. I have a feeling that the trip is going to be one of the best.

 

[Betterwet]

I just returned on April 28th from a trip to Tubbataha on the Stellar Maris Explorer and I thought you might want my thoughts on the trip.

Boat. Well organized, in great shape and clean. Crew really helpful from chase boats to dinning room staff. Some comments have been made about the satin sheets which are used for a reason (reduce chance of mildew, mold etc.) we found just fine. The Air conditioning in the rooms worked great which is a blessing in that climate.

Sea Sickness. The wind was up a bit when we were there and as a result the swells were enough to make the ride to and from the reef longer than normal and rough. I would highly recommend bring plenty of meds for sea sickness. I had a patch on the whole 6 days and I would say over half the divers on board did as well. There was one diver that lost I would say at least 2 days of diving as a result of being to ill.

Alcohol. You can purchase beer and wine on the boat. I think you could also purchase bottles of hard liquor which are pretty pricey. The local beer is good an cheap but if you want some thing other than beer and wine I would bring it. The wine we purchases was $25 a bottle and was fine.

Gloves. You can't use them in the park.

Sun. Watch out for the sun on the boat rides to and from the dives. By the third day some divers were getting pretty red. It is hard to believe in that short time you could get sun burned but look at how the chase boat driver is covered up and you get the idea.

Last day. The final dive on the last day is more than likely over by 3:00 pm if not earlier. Think about this as far as flights the next day. Also the boat will make a run for home port almost as soon as they can get you on board and the chase boats ready to make the trip. If the seas are rough as we experienced you will be trying to get stuff dry and pack while riding the swells. Also last night's dinner will be more a process of keeping your chair in one location then enjoying a last night celebration. One good place to dry out gear is the deck above the dive deck. It is hot up there with some good air circulation.

One Manalo Place. This is the hotel in Puerto Princesa that Janet at Expedition Fleet recommended to us. The hotel worked fine as far as a place to stay before and after the trip. It is located near the airport which may work to your advantage. It is not a resort or near the water etc. It has a restaurant but not a separate bar. The Breakfast buffet was pretty weak. They will cook you an omelet if you ask. But you need to ask. We ate dinner at the restaurant the night we arrived and I would have rated the meal a C- but the next day we had an outstanding lunch at the same place. What we liked was the lobster and spicy squid. So knowing what to order makes a big difference. I had considerable trouble trying to make reservations with this hotel directly and would recommend you have Janet deal with them if you end up staying there.

Day after the trip. You get off the boat around 8:00 - 9:00 depending on who has early flights. We were staying at the hotel that night so we had a whole day to kill. We setup for a driver to take us to see the under ground river. If you have the time and interest Janet can set this up for you. I do think it is important to get this done before you get on the boat to make sure the tours are not full. It is interesting but a lot of standing/sitting in some kind of line. I would guess thousands of people see this every day. After doing the tour I kind of think we would have rather spent the the time at a nice beach with cold beers. So if I did it again I would find a beach "resort" to stay at the night after the trip. The trade off is maybe being hours from the airport rather than 5 minutes.

Money exchange. For the boat you can pay in US dollars but you will need some pesos. Puerto Princesa is not the place to change money. It was the worst exchange rate I saw our whole trip. The best rate I saw was at the airport in Manila. I am sure you can get even better but it more than likely will require a trike ride to some place in Manila.

Flying to Puerto Princesa. We flew Philippines airlines. A little late getting back to Manila but other than than fine. Would recommend the 30 Kg bag limit option when you purchase the ticket so there are no surprises when you check in. Our bags were right at 50 lbs each so the 20 Kg per bag option was really not enough.

Manila. If you are staying over night in Manila I would highly recommend the Bayleaf Hotel. Outstanding food and service. The bar on the roof top over looking the city is not to be missed. 30 to 60 minutes from the airport depending on the traffic.

Ok that is what I can think of this morning. Let me know if you have other questions.

 

[Hintermann]

Thanks Betterwet. Nice feedback but the most important for me were that the boat is in good shape and the staff are efficient and helpful. That often can make or break a liveaboard trip as some friends discovered on a trip to PNG.

As an old liveaboarder - Stella Maris Explorer will be my 21st cruise - seasickness does not bother me and I take prophylactic cinnarizine anyway. I am OK with the sun too, being originally from the tropics. I will be arriving in Puerto Princesa the previous evening and my flight back to manila is not till late afternoon on the last day.

I am sure that SME is at least as good as Atlantis Azores and probably better than the Philippine Siren. I have been on the latter on the Borocay-Coron-Apo Reef cruise and felt that boat was OK at best.

 

[charlier]

Two weeks ago, we arrived back home after a week LoB trip to Tubbataha reef. My review of diving at Tubbataha is based on merely 15 dives at the South and North Atolls, with a check out dive at Jessie Beazley. The trip coincided with a waxing moon, so we never experienced much current. Perhaps it was due to the lack of currents, but I was struck by the lack of abundant fish life. Diving in the blue ocean or ascending to 3 to 6m along a heathy coral reef, the atolls lacks substantial fish biomass. We saw many white and blacktop sharks, some large (!!) dogtooth tuna, small groups of trevally, sweet lips, groupers, and numerous turtles. Unlike Raja Ampat, we did not experience great density or diversity of fish or a super healthy reef ecosystem. I am probably a bit overly critical, so take my comments with a grain(s) of salt.


Highlights include a juvenile whale shark on our checkout dive (within five minutes or so) at Jessie Beazley and a beautiful small manta at "Washing Machine", North Atoll. With only eight divers on the boat, we did not see many other bubbles or divers. Later that day, we saw a large whale shark at the same dive site. My personal favorite was a large bait ball of giant trevally at the end of our last dive. We spotted the bait ball at about 40 mins into the dive at about 19m. I admit, it was not the best practice, but I gently followed the school to 32 m, before I came to my senses and started my ascent. Not a smart idea at the end of a dive.


We saw mostly heathy hard corals, with soft corals. Interesting, we did not see many anemones, at least at our dive sites. Many dives, were slow and gentle with lovely shallow safety stops.


Would I return? That is a good question. Perhaps with strong currents, schooling fish and larger predators would be more common. Since Komodo Islands, Alor, Banda Sea or Raja Ampat are easily accessible, I am not sure that we would return to the Philippines. Other divers on our trip would probably disagree with my review. With healthy corals, whale sharks, a manta, and mellow gentle drift dives, many divers would be more than satisfied.

 

[divetraveller]

Well, i just got a total different view on it from my former partner in sea Explorers who joined a live aboard trip with the MY Siren just now to Tubbattaha.
He was very impressed indeed.
But of course, the beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes, from day to day things , current, visibility can change etc.
He was very happy, whale sharks, different kind of other sharks and so on.

with regards to the arrival, true, Tubbattaha is not so easy to reach, but neither is Raja Ampat easy to reach. 40 to 50 hours travelling time from Europe according to my information

Happy bubbles
dive traveller