Hello everyone, first of all, I would like to apologize in advance. This is my first time creating a post, so if I make any mistakes, please forgive me or give me some advice. Let's get started. I had the opportunity to go diving at Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. How do you pronounce it? Tub-ba-ta-ha, Tub-ba-ta-ha, Tub-ba-ta-ha... I don't know how to spell it. There are so many ways to spell it. Let's just write it like this, haha. Tub-ba-ta-ha, which is located in the Philippines. It is an island located southeast of Puerto Princesa City. It is a natural coral reef park that UNESCO has designated as a World Heritage Site. This park is only open for diving for 3 months a year, from mid-March to mid-June. After that, it is closed and no boats are allowed to enter. Only the rangers who are stationed at the Ranger Station will be left to look after the park. From what I have heard, this year there will only be 14 boats allowed to enter Tubbataha. They really take care of the park. Anyway, let's start our journey.



Image credit: http://tubbatahareef.org/



Approximate travel methods

I took a plane from Manila to Puerto Princesa City (Palawan Province), which took about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It wasn't too far, and I fell asleep before I knew it.

Then we will board the boat at the pier. Oh, I forgot! Anyone who wants to dive at Tubbataha must be on a liveaboard, which means diving, eating, and sleeping on the boat. When we arrived, the sun was nowhere to be found, I wanted sunshine, and it was raining. I pray that tomorrow when we go into the water, the sky will be clear.


We are traveling on this boat, Oceana Maria Scuba
This boat can accommodate only 12 divers. It is not a very large boat. There will be 6 bedrooms, 2 people per room.

My own bedroom, whoever wants to be on top or bottom, choose. I'd rather be on the bottom. I get seasick often. 555

This picture is a part of the bathroom that will be in the room. Notice that there will be a word of the month for the gentlemen. Please sit down to pee at the toilet bowl. Do not stand.

Before the trip, we had to take a test first. Just kidding! We just had to fill out some personal information, show our diving licenses, and attend a briefing on boat and diving procedures. For example, gloves are not allowed, and the rules are quite strict.

They also received souvenirs, which were different each year.

After we've taken care of everything, it's time to eat.
Dinner before we leave.

Please bring our house-made seafood dipping sauce, it's the best!


The boat trip to Tubbataha takes about 10-14 hours (I'd rather sleep than sit). The speed depends on the boat. The boat I took left the port around 5-6 pm and I woke up and jumped into the water. The first dive was at 7 am.



Let's get started and go diving, it's hot.
For each dive site, we will use a small boat or rubber boat to go to different dive sites.

The moment I jumped into the water, wow! The coral was everywhere. It was amazing.


I'm going diving and I don't know what to take pictures of. Everyone will probably think I have nothing to take pictures of, huh! No, I just don't know where to start taking pictures. 555 Just keep pressing the button. This is the digital camera era.


Most dive leaders will limit dives to no more than 40 meters, as this is the limit for each dive. This is because the area is very deep, with a vertical coral wall.


The coral is really abundant. Where do I even start? I'll just take pictures of everything.


Each one is a big tree.


Let's keep exploring the underwater world and looking at the coral reefs.


Very large, good thing the lens I used can capture it comfortably.


I like the color of this coral.


In this picture, I nudged my buddy and asked him to pose for a photo with the flashlight pointed towards us. I'm not sure if he understood, haha. We didn't actually have a long conversation about it. I just nudged him and pointed in that direction. Anyway, I guess he understood that I wanted him to include the coral in the photo. Okay!


Watching the coral, watching the sharks swim back and forth, it's a lot of fun.


At first, I was excited to see the sharks. I was also scared, but after several dives, I realized that they were just swimming around and didn't care about me. I stopped being afraid.


It's easier to find sharks here than Nemo.


You don't have to hide it, I know him.



If you're afraid of sharks, come diving here and you'll soon get over it. There are sharks everywhere.


Feel free to sunbathe and relax. I won't bother you.

Let's move on from sharks and take a look at other fish. This picture wasn't actually intended to capture a shark, and I didn't even see it when I took it. I wonder when it showed up! 555


Spotted Sweetlips

The dive leader told me that a school of barracuda is not as scary as a single one. If you see a single one, don't mess with it.


Diagonal-banded sweetlips


Nature is so beautiful.


And then what I wanted to see, I saw it, which was…


Wrong, this is not it.

This is not it.


Here's another picture.


Hmm... this is it, Manta. It's the first time I've seen it. I'm excited, happy, and full of joy. The way it flies in is so graceful.



Before I got on the boat, I asked the dive leader if we would see any manta rays. He said there was an 80% chance, which made me excited because I usually only have a 50% chance of seeing them.


Two years ago, when I first came here, I saw a whale shark. But this time, I still haven't seen the highlight, a 3-4 meter tiger shark. I'll try again next year.

Another angle


Finally, a black and white photo. Actually, the original photo was blurry, so I made it black and white.


What I didn't expect to see on this trip was a hammerhead shark, but it was too far away for me to get a good shot. It wasn't actually that far away, but my lens was too wide. 555



Be a hammerhead shark.

They actually came across two of them swimming around.

And the last picture came by chance. I don't know if I'll ever see it again.


It's a love triangle of turtles 555

Thank you very much for reading this far. I hope you all enjoyed it. If there are any mistakes, please forgive me.


I sincerely apologize. This is my first time making this mistake. Please advise me on how to correct it, and I will do so immediately.



Thank you.



I would like to add some details about the travel costs (apologies for not mentioning this earlier).

I traveled from May 24-30, 2016.

May 24, 2016 Stay in Puerto Princesa City for 1 night

May 25, 2016. Boarded the ship at 5:00 PM (departing for Tubbataha)

May 26, 2016 Dive 1: 4 dives, 7am dive

May 27, 2016 Dive 2: 4 dives

May 28, 2016 Dive 3: 3 dives (because we have to eat barbecue at Ranger Station)

May 29, 2016 Dive 4: 3 dives (including surface interval due to flight the next day)

Total 14 Dives

May 30, 2016 Travel back to Manila City

The cost of scuba diving is approximately 2,000 USD (I paid in Philippine pesos, which depends on the exchange rate).

Ticket price Cebu from Manila - Puerto Princesa 6,495.96 pesos (weight 30 kg)

Hotel cost 1 day before departure 888 pesos (to avoid problems with the flight, afraid of delay)

The cost of transportation from the airport to the hotel is 18 pesos (super cheap).



Date : May 25-29, 2559

Camera: Olympus OM-D EM-1

Lens: M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO

Housing: Nauticam NA-EM1

Dome Port : Zen 170mm Dome Port

Strobe: Inon z240 x 2

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/nickutchin


I would like to add more details and travel costs (I apologize for not providing this information earlier).

I traveled from May 24-30, 2559.

May 24, 2016 Stay in Puerto Princesa City for 1 night

May 25, 2016, boarded the ship at 5 pm (departing for Tubbataha)

May 26, 2016 Dive 1: 4 dives, 7 am dive

May 27, 2016 Dive 2: 4 dives

May 28, 2016 Dive 3: 3 dives (because we had to go eat barbecue at the Ranger Station)

May 29, 2016 Dive 4: 3 dives (allow time for surface interval due to flight back the next day)

Summary of all 14 Dives

May 30, 2016 Travel back to Manila City

The cost of scuba diving is approximately 2,000 USD (I paid in Philippine pesos, which depends on the exchange rate).

Ticket price Cebu from Manila - Puerto Princesa 6,495.96 pesos (weight 30 kg)

Hotel cost 1 day before departure 888 pesos (to avoid problems with the flight, afraid of delay)

The cost of transportation from the airport to the hotel is 18 pesos (super cheap).

I apologize for not informing you beforehand.

Comments