The Malayan wreck is a well-known landmark of Tubbataha Reef diving. It sits in very shallow waters on top of the reef and is home to many marine species
Malayan Wreck, Tubbataha Reef, Philippines © [email protected]
The Malayan Wreck sits in the shallows before the reef drops off into a steep 60 metre deep wall – this is unsurprisingly known as Malayan Wall. Depending on how the current is running, divers will see the Malayan Wreck either at the beginning or end of their dive and exploring the wall.
Sweetlips at Malayan Wreck, Tubbataha Reef, Philippines © [email protected]
There’s some big sweetlips that have made the wreck their home, and some impressive table coral growth on the wreckage itself. The wreck still looks like an actual boat rather than a twisted pile of scrap. It’s quite small, about 10 metres in length. Some stories say it was a fishing vessel that got stranded in the shallows during a typhoon back in the 1970s, others that it was deliberately sunk to create an artificial reef.
Malayan Wreck, Tubbataha Reef, Philippines © [email protected]
Whatever the real background of how the Malayan wreck ended up here, it’s become one of Tubbataha Reef’s most prominent markers amongst its dive sites.
More About Tubbataha Reef
For an overview of what it’s like diving Tubbataha Reef and what to consider when planning a trip, see my page Diving Tubbataha Reef: A Quick Guide.
Listen to the Divehappy podcast about Tubbataha Reef with Yvette Lee, veteran of the Philippines dive industry and Marketing Director for Discovery Fleet who have two liveaboards operating at Tubbataha.
Here are the trip reports I wrote about previous visits to Tubbataha Reef:
The official site of Tubbataha Reef is well worth a look for the latest news about Tubbataha and to understand the complexity of conserving and protecting the reefs.
Tubbataha Reef Liveaboards
Tubbataha Reef is located in the Sulu Sea, 171 km south of Palawan island in the Philippines.
Going on a liveaboard is the only way to reach Tubbataha Reef. The two atolls are completely uninhabited, except for a small ranger station. Due to the short 3 month season and the remoteness of the reef, only a handful of liveaboards visit the area.
Tubbataha liveaboards include:
- Discovery Adventure
- Discovery Palawan
- Solitude One
- Philippine Siren
- Sea Doors
- More details on our Tubbataha Reef Liveaboards page
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