Triggerfish City

Triggerfish City, South Atoll

Triggerfish City is listed by Oceana Maria as a South Atoll site. Dive The World describes a drift over sandy areas with scattered coral, while Master Liveaboards describes shallower reef terrain leading toward deeper wall sections.

Habitat and encounters

Master reports several triggerfish types, including red-toothed and titan triggerfish. The named sources also discuss territorial nesting behaviour. This is reported natural behaviour, not proof that every visit or every part of the site presents the same conditions. Give nesting animals space and follow the guide's chosen route.

Confirm the planned profile

The different terrain descriptions do not establish one depth for the entire dive site. Ask which reef and wall sections the operator intends to visit and whether they suit your experience. A deeper geological feature is not a recommended diving depth.

The park's published 2025 rules prohibit touching, feeding, chasing and blocking wildlife. This partial guide leaves exact site limits and current conditions unresolved; its name and species reports do not guarantee sightings or a stop on every liveaboard itinerary.

The park's 2025 shark count

In the Tubbataha Management Office's 2025 underwater visual survey of nine sites, Triggerfish City recorded the highest number of sharks; grey reef sharks made up 91 percent of sightings there, and the largest school seen by the researchers was about 26 grey reef sharks at this site. The two transects covered about 962 and 841 metres (Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Report 2025, Table 19). The report also notes that the method can undercount whitetips, which rest in caves and on reef tops. This is a survey result for June 2025 and does not predict what a visit will see.

Depth figures by scope

Master Liveaboards describes a reef top at 5 metres with sparse staghorn, a sandy bottom at 12–14 metres with barrel sponges and sea fans, and a wall on the eastern side that steepens to 50 metres. Those are an operator's feature depths. The 50-metre figure is disputed in this record's data, and no survey depth is available, so no site range is stated here. TMO's 2025 shark transects used the same name for this stretch of the southern South Atoll reef.

Dated visits and the name

The Philippine Aggressor II log of 30 May 2026 says the site "lived up to its name", with triggerfish guarding nests and defending territory, plus a camouflaged flounder on the sand; its 21 March 2026 log records jacks, barracuda, reef sharks along the edge, a Napoleon wrasse and a nurse shark resting on the bottom, and the Philippine Aggressor log of the same date adds yellowtail barracuda, batfish, dogtooth tuna and a marble ray. Dive The World describes a drift over a sandy seabed with coral patches and titan triggerfish nests to keep clear of. Palau Sport states that Black Rock "is also known as ... Trigger Fish City"; the park survey and the operators above treat the two as different sites, and that naming claim is left unresolved rather than adopted.