Tubbataha (May 2025)
The transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 was quite troublesome, even if one take PAL. I had to collect our luggage, take a bus outside the terminal after passport immigration and get transfer by PAL bus to Terminal 1 for the domestic flight. There was a gap of 7.5 hours in Manila Airport before the next flight to Puerto Princessa. The lounges in Terminal 2 did not recognise Priority Pass, so i couldn't enter the lounge. The aircond in the terminal was at full blast.
The flight from Manila to Puerto Princessa took 1.5 hours. There was someone wearing green shirt holding a signboard M/V Maris Stella, the name of our boat. There was a group of Taiwanese divers (ex colleagues from Trend Micro) as well as two ladies from Canada (G and A) in the same flight as me. The French Canadian lady currently stay in KL while the other Canadian lady was based in Hong Kong. There was a Japanese diver from Hiroshima, who has visited Tubbataha 10 years ago. A van picked us up and sent us to the jetty. Before that, we went to KFC to get simple take-away lunch to eat in the van. On the boat, we met a Korean diver who was a regular diver in the Philippines.
The owner of the boat was a Filipino Chinese. We spoke briefly before he left the boat. I was in a triple room together with a Mainland Chinese from Shenzhen and a French. I met a newly wed couple W and N from the UK, a Swedish diver P and a California lady diver D. Together with G and A, we formed a group of 7 and dove together as part of Team B. Joining us in Team B was my Chinese roommate and a couple from Guangzhou. The Guangzhou couple used full face masks for diving and their 12L tank was depleted faster than ours so we normally did not see them towards the end of our dives. They switched to 15L tanks the next day.
The boat sailed at 7pm towards Tubbataha National Park smoothly. I could hear the engine sound from my room. I didn't feel seasick.
The next day, we dove in the Shark Airport in North Atoll. We saw a reef manta at the end of our first dive.
We dove South Atoll on the 2nd day, 2 hours away by boat. During our first dive, we saw a jelly fish and an eel bumped into an octopus under the rock. We also saw the Napoleon Wrasses doing twirling. The morning sunshine changed the seabed into a warm light show. We could see white sand under the water. During the third dive, we experienced down current when we were about to start our safety stop. The dive guide had to inflate our BCDs and asked us to kick harder in order to reach the surface. We were surrounded by bubbles as Team A was doing their safety stop despite the strong current. Luckily the down current happened when we were quite shallow. From the boat, the bubbles made by the Team A divers below us looked like a washing machine in motion, hence the name of the dive site I guess.
We dove one more day at the South Atoll. One of the diver from Taiwan managed to get approval for a drone permit prior to the trip and captured panorama videos of the atolls and the nearby area.
The next day we return to North Atoll to dive at the western side. We saw schools of jackfish, trevally, big eyes etc. We also visited the ranger station to buy T-shirts.
On the last day, we went to dive at the smallest reef in Tubbataha - Jessie Beazley Reef. In total we completed 19 dives in this trip. Phil had his 100th dive and celebrated his special dive with birthday suit in the sea.
The return journey in Manila Airport was easier, no need to collect luggage, it was sent all the way to the final destination.
The youtube video on this liveaboard adventure:
Notes:
1. One need to fill up immigration form online by scanning QR code before going through the immigration counters and customs in Manila. This practice is getting more common.
2. PAL serves meal for the segment between Singapore and Manila, and snack between Manila and Puerto Princessa. There were free connecting buses for PAL passengers that need to transit between terminals.
3. Tubbataha is in the middle of Sulu Sea. The nearest port is Puerto Princessa. Liveaboards are allowed to sail there between March to June every year. No snorkeling or night dive is allowed. Dive guide cannot use dive stick in pointing out stuff.
4. We didn't see any whale shark in this trip. The trip after ours saw whale shark in the blue.
5. There was a jacuzzi in the boat but didn't quite work.
6. I didn't sense that we were pushed down by the current but some of my divemates who were monitoring their depths saw the depth steadily increased as we were trying to group together and did our safety stop by linking our hands. Down current could be dangerous. We read the news about a diver from China had an unfortunate encounter in Indonesia while trying to rescue her falling gopro.
7. There was free wifi onboard when the boat was moored. When the ship was moving, the connection with Starlink become intermittent.
8. The dive sites were not far from where the boat was moored normally.
9. We saw a new ranger station under construction nearby the existing ranger station. We went to the ranger station to buy T-shirts and souvenirs.
10. The food served on the boat was very delicious. Our group love the OTAP biscuits and the mangoes served on board.
11. Majority of the divers were Asian.
12. Drone was not allowed to capture images from the Bird Islet near North Atoll.
13. I really love the Arroz caldo (chicken porridge), it is the most delicious thing ever.
14. My boat mates mentioned halo halo as one of the sweetest dessert but satisfying.
Thanks for reading this short blog, please feel free to visit my other travel blogs. You can click HERE to access them.
The flight from Manila to Puerto Princessa took 1.5 hours. There was someone wearing green shirt holding a signboard M/V Maris Stella, the name of our boat. There was a group of Taiwanese divers (ex colleagues from Trend Micro) as well as two ladies from Canada (G and A) in the same flight as me. The French Canadian lady currently stay in KL while the other Canadian lady was based in Hong Kong. There was a Japanese diver from Hiroshima, who has visited Tubbataha 10 years ago. A van picked us up and sent us to the jetty. Before that, we went to KFC to get simple take-away lunch to eat in the van. On the boat, we met a Korean diver who was a regular diver in the Philippines.
The owner of the boat was a Filipino Chinese. We spoke briefly before he left the boat. I was in a triple room together with a Mainland Chinese from Shenzhen and a French. I met a newly wed couple W and N from the UK, a Swedish diver P and a California lady diver D. Together with G and A, we formed a group of 7 and dove together as part of Team B. Joining us in Team B was my Chinese roommate and a couple from Guangzhou. The Guangzhou couple used full face masks for diving and their 12L tank was depleted faster than ours so we normally did not see them towards the end of our dives. They switched to 15L tanks the next day.
The boat sailed at 7pm towards Tubbataha National Park smoothly. I could hear the engine sound from my room. I didn't feel seasick.
The next day, we dove in the Shark Airport in North Atoll. We saw a reef manta at the end of our first dive.
We dove South Atoll on the 2nd day, 2 hours away by boat. During our first dive, we saw a jelly fish and an eel bumped into an octopus under the rock. We also saw the Napoleon Wrasses doing twirling. The morning sunshine changed the seabed into a warm light show. We could see white sand under the water. During the third dive, we experienced down current when we were about to start our safety stop. The dive guide had to inflate our BCDs and asked us to kick harder in order to reach the surface. We were surrounded by bubbles as Team A was doing their safety stop despite the strong current. Luckily the down current happened when we were quite shallow. From the boat, the bubbles made by the Team A divers below us looked like a washing machine in motion, hence the name of the dive site I guess.
We dove one more day at the South Atoll. One of the diver from Taiwan managed to get approval for a drone permit prior to the trip and captured panorama videos of the atolls and the nearby area.
The next day we return to North Atoll to dive at the western side. We saw schools of jackfish, trevally, big eyes etc. We also visited the ranger station to buy T-shirts.
On the last day, we went to dive at the smallest reef in Tubbataha - Jessie Beazley Reef. In total we completed 19 dives in this trip. Phil had his 100th dive and celebrated his special dive with birthday suit in the sea.
The return journey in Manila Airport was easier, no need to collect luggage, it was sent all the way to the final destination.
The youtube video on this liveaboard adventure:
Notes:
1. One need to fill up immigration form online by scanning QR code before going through the immigration counters and customs in Manila. This practice is getting more common.
2. PAL serves meal for the segment between Singapore and Manila, and snack between Manila and Puerto Princessa. There were free connecting buses for PAL passengers that need to transit between terminals.
3. Tubbataha is in the middle of Sulu Sea. The nearest port is Puerto Princessa. Liveaboards are allowed to sail there between March to June every year. No snorkeling or night dive is allowed. Dive guide cannot use dive stick in pointing out stuff.
4. We didn't see any whale shark in this trip. The trip after ours saw whale shark in the blue.
5. There was a jacuzzi in the boat but didn't quite work.
6. I didn't sense that we were pushed down by the current but some of my divemates who were monitoring their depths saw the depth steadily increased as we were trying to group together and did our safety stop by linking our hands. Down current could be dangerous. We read the news about a diver from China had an unfortunate encounter in Indonesia while trying to rescue her falling gopro.
7. There was free wifi onboard when the boat was moored. When the ship was moving, the connection with Starlink become intermittent.
8. The dive sites were not far from where the boat was moored normally.
9. We saw a new ranger station under construction nearby the existing ranger station. We went to the ranger station to buy T-shirts and souvenirs.
10. The food served on the boat was very delicious. Our group love the OTAP biscuits and the mangoes served on board.
11. Majority of the divers were Asian.
12. Drone was not allowed to capture images from the Bird Islet near North Atoll.
13. I really love the Arroz caldo (chicken porridge), it is the most delicious thing ever.
14. My boat mates mentioned halo halo as one of the sweetest dessert but satisfying.
Thanks for reading this short blog, please feel free to visit my other travel blogs. You can click HERE to access them.
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