Tubbataha North Atoll

Tubbataha North Atoll: overview and planning

This is a partial overview of an atoll containing several named dives, rather than a single entry point or dive profile. Palau Sport groups Shark Airport, Washing Machine and Sea Fan Alley under North Atoll. Conditions and route requirements described for one of these sites should not automatically be transferred to the others.

Choosing named dives

The operator's overview describes walls, coral formations and site-specific attractions. For a more useful comparison, ask which named stops your trip expects to visit and consult the corresponding site guides. This overview does not establish one depth range, current rating or wildlife encounter probability for the whole atoll.

Getting there and remaining gaps

The Tubbataha Management Office describes visits aboard liveaboards and Puerto Princesa as the usual jump-off point. Its guidance says visitors stay aboard their boat because there are no visitor accommodation facilities in the park. Confirm transfers and itinerary details with the operator. This partial overview does not verify a particular departure, available berth, precise dive position or current sea conditions.

Named dives as described by operators

Palau Sport's Tubbataha page, read on 8 October 2026, describes Shark Airport as a site where divers gradually descend into the vertical wall and can see hammerheads, reef sharks, tiger sharks, white tips and black tips swimming and resting on the deep sandy bottoms. It calls the Washing Machine an advanced dive site that requires expertise in navigating strong currents, with down currents and currents that pull divers in different directions, and says gray reef sharks can be encountered there. For Sea Fan Alley it describes exceptionally clear visibility and hundreds of gigantic sea fans that grew deep down into the wall.

Dive The World, in a page captured on 7 October 2026, says Shark Airport takes its name from multiple white tip sharks lying at rest on a shallow plateau, and that there is normally some current, so it is dived as a drift. It places Washing Machine at the north-east corner of the atoll where currents meet and change direction, and warns that surge currents could slam divers into coral. It adds that Wall Street is a sheer wall and that Malayan Wall promises the chance to see schooling hammerheads.

Park-wide figures

Palau Sport says visibility often exceeds 30 meters and water temperatures generally range from 26 to 30 degrees Celsius. Dive The World says visibility is normally toward the higher end of a 20 to 40m range. Both are statements about the whole park, not about the North Atoll alone.

Permits, duration and the ranger station

The Tubbataha Management Office FAQ says dive operators with permits arrange trips and that the office issues entry permits to all entrants. It says commercial dive tours can stay 5 to 7 days, or longer if clearly stated in the entry permit, and that the sea journey from Puerto Princesa takes 10-12 hours. A Master Liveaboards itinerary PDF, captured on 7 October 2026, mentions a visit to the ranger station on the North Atoll to learn more about protection efforts, as an opportunity on that operator's trips, not as a requirement.