The Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Comprised of two atolls, located about 7km apart, and referred to as North and South Tubbataha. It is one of the most impressive reef systems most people will ever get a chance to see. The walls, which plummet down more than 1200m are draped with a fusion of hard and soft corals, gorgonians and fans. They are visited by manta, eagle and blue-spotted rays; hammer-head, leopard, nurse, white tip and black tip sharks; shoals of jack and tuna; barracuda, hawksbill and green turtles. Divers must watch out for currents all around this area; they can be very strong and unpredictable.
Jessie Beazley
Expertise Rating: Intermediate
Located about 18km to the northwest of North Tubbataha, Jessie Beazley is a small seamount capped by a sandy cay with impressive walls plunging down to abyssal depth. It was named after the boat that discovered it and promptly sunk after hitting it.
It has many of the same features of Tubbataha except that it is a fraction of the size (about 500m across). The fringing reef is relatively shallow in most places (7-12m), down to 20m in places), and covered with acropora and porites corals. The sheer wall drops off to over 50m and features some basket sponges, fans and in places, outcrops of black corals. Thresher and mako sharks are amongst the most awe-inspiring pelagics spotted in this area. There are also hammerhead, whitetip, grey and blacktip sharks, mantas, Napoleon wrasses, trevallies, rainbow runners and tuna. Visibility can exceed 35m on a clear day.
It is strictly a “live aboard” destination and just like any other dive sites in the Sulu Sea, may only be visited late February to June owing to difficult sea conditions.
Basterra Reef
Expertise Rating: Intermediate
About 80km to the southwest of Tubbataha lies Basterra Reef (identified as Meander Reef). Basterra is the reef most Sulu Sea aficionados regard as having the best diving of all. The fish life around it is completely over the top and make-up is like that of Tubbataha and Jessie Beazley. The sand islet at the center is actually the top of a rocky pinnacle which rises up from the ocean floor over 1,800m below. Stunning walls, awesome overhangs, dense hard and soft coral cover and armies of pelagics and tropical reef fish of all shapes and sizes compete for the diver’s attention all around this relatively small (about 800m across) reef.