Sulu Seduction - Dragonfly Media

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TUBBATAHA Those are some of Tubbataha’s signature dives; their names a warning of the mask-ripping currents that can sweep the sites, particularly on those facing the open ocean. But the waters were calm and the weather cooperative for the whole of a recent 18-dive trip. Black Rockin’ Operators only visit Tubbataha during a tight window from March through June, outside of typhoon season and when the seas are at their calmest. Ever since I’d heard about Tubbataha six years ago I’d wanted to visit. A site so remote had to have something special to offer divers, and getting there would be part of the challenge. It delivered. Although there were no mind-blowing encounters with whale sharks or schooling hammerheads, both of which can be spotted with a bit of luck, each dive turned into a procession of highlights – a series of interesting encounters with relatively big stuff. There were green or hawksbill turtles on the majority of dives, white tip sharks on most, a healthy population of Napoleon wrasse and frequent encounters with big dogtooth tuna, large grouper, and giant barracuda. We set sail on the Stella Maris on Sunday night, leaving laidback Puerto Princesa (or “PP” as it’s affectionately known), the capital of Palawan, in our wake. Despite the isolation of the reefs, they can be reached within 24 hours from Hong Kong. I set out on Sunday morning with a flight to Manila, transferred on the short hop to “PP,” caught my live-aboard that evening and was diving in paradise the next morning. After a night at sea, the ship’s engines shuddered to a stop just after dawn. Outside the porthole the sea stretched level and featureless to the horizon, where a weak sun turned a bank of clouds pewter, the light as flat as the water. The only sign we’d arrived were two tiny nubs of black rock edging out of the sea. This was Black Rock, site of our tryout dive. It was early, and the start of a long live-aboard day, little more to do than eating, diving and sleeping. Up at 6 a.m., with time for coffee and a biscuit during the briefing. Black Rock was worth the early rise though. The site sits on the northeast corner of the southern atoll, the black rock that gives the site its name only visible at low tide. We made an easygoing excursion along a plateau, a shallow dive on the edge of a shelf that heads off into the depths. Two titan triggerfish gave us reason to be wary at the start of the dive. If they’re breeding they defend their territory relentlessly, and can take a chunk out of your fins – or worse. This wasn’t mating season so the aggressive fish were relatively sane, just eyeing us up. Then a white tip shark cruised below us along a sandy stretch at the top of the reef, travelling in tandem with a bluefin trevally curiously close to the shark on its right. Back on the boat, the dive crew explained that trevally often hunt like that with white tips, snapping up any scraps of fish as the shark chomps its prey. One of the great excitements of diving at Tubbataha is the healthy shark life. At most Southeast Asian beach resorts, sharks tend to be almost fished out. But these reefs offer regular sightings of small reef sharks such as white tips and the chance to see bigger stuff such as hammerheads off in the deep water. above: Beware the titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) at Black Rock opposite page, from top: An anemone closes up for the evening; clouds of pennant bannerfish (Heniochus chrysostomus) rain down on “the Cut” At Delsan Wreck, a current-washed dive on a deep shelf, the main attractions were the Cut and the Crack. The Cut is a large cleft into the reef, around 20m across and 30m deep, an indent often washed with heavy currents. The Crack is a crevasse almost wide enough to dive, formed where a section of the reef has collapsed away from the wall, as if someone took a hefty meat cleaver to the coral. When the current is running, grey reef sharks like to move into the Cut and chase the many schooling fish feeding there. Our dive crew chief, Paul Collins, told us he’d seen a tiger shark at the Cut two weeks before, which scared off the cluster of grey reef sharks, which tigers eat, and sent a few shivers through Paul, who backed his dive group against the reef in response. We never spotted a tiger or a hammerhead, or even the whale shark that a diver from another boat gloated about on the plane home. He told me his group ran into one as it was cruising off the impressive, apparently bottomless wall along Wall Street. The divers spent 20 minutes communing with the world’s largest fish. At Delsan Wreck, our highlight came in the sand on the other side of the Cut, where the sight of a sharp black tail sticking up like an antenna led us to five sleeping marble rays. Their black-blotched bodies were piled over each other like carpets, but they wobbled their white bellies off the bottom as they shook off the sand and undulated into motion. The family group swept out to sea following their leader, the largest ray easily two metres across. There were also titan triggerfish, a female Napoleon wrasse, hawksbill and green turtles, and ribbontail rays at the site. At the end of one dive, a huge school of bigeye trevally kept us entertained during our safety stop. Mixed with the occasional red snapper, they swirled around us in a cloud of constantly shifting silver. Going Cuckoo on Bird Island Tubbataha also offers the chance to check out turtles regularly, with both green turtles and hawksbills nesting and breading in the area. On one late afternoon dive at Shark Airport, a green turtle kept me company for five minutes or more, coming up very close to check me out. It would swim away and then return, its large eyes looking at mine. Though flattered at the attention at first, I figured something must be bothering it. The sun was starting to go down and I soon realised the flash on my camera was likely dazzling it, and turned it off. Shark Airport proved the most fertile dive site of the trip and was interesting enough that we opted to dive it four times. The wide plateau yields plenty of territory to explore and is shallow enough to make for an excellent night dive. Our night dive turned up a fimbriated moray eel, a blackspotted pufferfish, and a giant star pufferfish sleeping on coral. We entered at dusk and exited 24 ScubaDiverAA.com
TUBBATAHA with the stars in the ink-black sky. In daytime, rainbow runners, bluefin trevally and chevron barracuda patrol the plateau. But the stars of the show are the white tip sharks that hang around the edge of the plateau, where it drops down a sloping wall. Their grey torpedo-like bodies fly easily through the water, just above the top of the reef. They circle around like jets in a landing pattern, as many as four in a group, or eight on one dive. After our last dive, we took a last look at Bird Island and then watched the sun set into the horizon. It was a perfectly peaceful moment, so far from the cares of land. Then the ship’s engines cranked up again for the overnight trip back to civilisation and Cezar, our leather-skinned divemaster, broke out a guitar. As our dive group swapped email addresses over some cold San Miguels, we started talking about when and how we’d be back. SDAA Tubbataha Navigator Pack Your Bags: Manila is the normal entry point to the Philippines, and it’s possible given the right schedule to make a same-day connection to Puerto Princesa. Alternatively you can reach Puerto Princesa via Cebu, which is serviced by SilkAir (silkair.com). The only way to reach the Tubbataha Reefs is by live-aboard, and most use Puerto Princesa as a base. The reefs are an overnight, 10-hour trip. Entry/visa Requirements: Citizens of most major nations can get a stamp for a 21-day stay on arrival and don’t need to get a visa ahead of time. But Hong Kong and Macau passport holders are restricted to a seven-day stay. There are small (and annoying) “terminal-user fees” at each airport that must be paid in cash when departing, and a sizeable P750 (US$15) fee for using the international airport at Manila. There is a P3,000 (US$60) conservation fee for park maintenance, which you will likely have to pay in cash on your liveaboard before you start to dive. China Sea Philippine Sea Best Time to Dive: Tubbataha has a very short season running from mid-March to mid-June, when the waters are flat and the skies normally clear. High seas and the threat of typhoons make the reefs unreachable the rest of the year. The tropical waters are 28–29°C, so pack accordingly. Dollars and Sense: Philippines Pesos (PHP). US$1 = PHP47. There are international ATMs at the airports and in cities like Puerto Princesa, but you’ll need enough cash for spending on the live-aboard, souvenirs at the ranger station, as well as money for the conservation fee. • Puerto Princesa TUBBATAHA REEF <strong>Sulu</strong> Sea Dive with: Expedition Fleet (expeditionfleet.com), Palausport (davidchoy.multiply.com) below: A sabre squirrelfish (Sargocentron spiniferum) peeks out from the safety of a colourful sea fan Tubbataha Reef North Atoll 1 Wall Street 2 Malayan Wreck 3 Teraces 4 Seafan Aley 5 Washing Machine 6 Shark Airport 7 South Park 8 Gorgonien Channel 9 Amos Rock 2 3 4 6 5 1 9 8 7 16 10 11 15 13 13 14 Tubbataha Reef South Atoll 10 Eiger Wall 11 T Wreck 12 Black Rock North 13 Black Rock 14 Delsan Wreck 15 Light House 16 South West Wall
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Sulu Seduction - Dragonfly Media

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