Malayan Wreck

Malayan Wreck and its surrounding reef

Malayan Wreck is a North Atoll dive site combining wreck remains with a reef slope and wall. Bluewater highlights macro subjects such as nudibranchs and crustaceans; these reports suggest what to look for without guaranteeing an encounter.

Depth and history remain unresolved

Published accounts are inconsistent. Master Liveaboards places wreck remains on a slope at 15–25 metres, while Dive The World describes a tentative wartime freighter identification at 35 metres. These accounts do not establish one confirmed vessel history or a surveyed wreck depth. Ask the operator which remains and route the planned dive will visit.

The adjacent reef and wall are separate features of the outing. Their depths should not be mistaken for the depth of every part of the wreck. This guide does not provide an interior route or confirm that enclosed spaces are accessible.

Trip planning

Master's current Tubbataha itinerary excludes night dives despite night-dive recommendations on some travel pages. Confirm the actual schedule with your liveaboard. Keep wildlife encounters observational: the park's 2025 rules prohibit touching, chasing and blocking animals. Historical accounts do not establish present wreck stability or diving conditions.

Position, and how shallow the remains are

The Tubbataha Management Office's monitoring appendix places its 2018 Malayan Wreck station at the southern tip of North Atoll (08.89236 N, 119.90627 E) and describes the 2019 transect as "right in front of wreck, starting and ending at submerged part of wreck in 3 m" (Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Report 2024). Stephen Frink's Alert Diver article of 1 August 2018 calls the site the southwest tip of North Atoll and the usual first stop from Puerto Princesa; the WWF Coral Triangle blog's dive of 11 April 2009 reached the wreck "in very shallow waters" at the end of a dive that began with slight current and fan corals. These accounts describe grounded remains at the reef edge; they do not support the 35-metre figure quoted earlier for the hull, which Dive The World attaches to a tentative "SS Malayan" identification it calls unremarkable as a feature. Treat vessel name, sinking depth and history as unconfirmed.

What dated visits recorded

Frink's 2018 checkout dive found bannerfish, bluelined snapper, chevron barracuda, a hawksbill and a large school of jacks. cbartazo.com's log of May 2011 records three dives here with maximum depths of 31.4, 23.6 and 24.9 metres, the last described as "wall, then sandy slope to the wreck", with resting whitetip and grey reef sharks on sand; those are route depths of individual dives. Bill Stewart's May 2009 ScubaBoard report lists crocodile fish on the wreck. The Philippine Aggressor logs of 21 March 2026 record a manta ray, an eagle ray and bumphead parrotfish on one vessel and a silky shark, a marble ray and yellowtail barracuda on the other; Divernet's March 2020 feature notes another group on the same boat saw mantas here. The WWF blog's 13 April 2009 dive was a blue-water hang at 20 metres waiting for hammerheads, which did not appear; Dive The World and Fly and Sea describe the same hammerhead attempt from the adjacent Malayan Wall. None of this fixes an encounter rate.

Reef condition note

TMO's 2024 bleaching survey of five sites recorded the lowest bleaching at Malayan Wreck (0.04 percent) after waters had cooled to 29–31 degrees Celsius; that is a single survey in 2024, not a statement about present coral condition.