Tuble Reef
Also known as: Tuble, Tuble Marine Sanctuary, Tuble Point, Tuble Sanctuary
A wall cut with vertical canyons inside one of Moalboal's four marine sanctuaries, over a reef top that dries at low tide, with a small cave at 27 to 30 m.
Last updated October 2026
The dive
At low water the hard coral reef top is barely under the surface and its edges are sharp, so a giant stride off the boat and the climb back both need timing. The reef top is the roof of the dive, and the wall starts a few metres off its lip.
The wall falls to about twenty-five metres, and vertical canyons are cut back into its face. You work into them and back out along the wall. Soft coral, big fan corals, shells and anemones cover it, banded sea kraits are a routine sight, and razorfish school over the shallows with big parrotfish.
The animals the guides slow down for are small: nudibranchs, scorpionfish, stonefish, stargazers, squid, and pygmy seahorses on the deeper fans if the guide knows which fan.
At the foot of the wall a sandy slope begins. Just past it, between twenty-seven and thirty metres, there is a small cave, and this is where the dive stops being gentle. The operator warns that an in-going current can set into it and calls it hazardous.
What makes it special
Vertical canyons cut back into the wall face are the feature operators single out here, and they give the dive a shape of slots to enter and leave along one steady wall.
The wall sits inside Tuble Marine Sanctuary, one of four locally managed marine sanctuaries in Moalboal, and several operators use the sanctuary's name for the dive. One operator sells it as a quiet dive that fewer divers visit.
It rewards slowing down. The life worth the air is small and sits on the fans and in the coral.
History and origin
Tuble Marine Sanctuary was under monitoring by 2005, and a reef survey team returned to it through April 20131. That series puts numbers on the reef. In 2013 live hard coral inside the boundary measured 30.8 per cent in the shallows and 45.93 per cent at seven to eight metres, both graded fair, and the decrease at depth was statistically significant. The fish told a better story: all reef fish density came out at 2,380 per 500 square metres, and target fish biomass had risen from 23.57 kilograms per 500 square metres in 2010 to 153.34 in 2013.
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck between Moalboal and Guihulngan on 6 February 2012. The sea drew back and returned with strong waves that crushed corals on the reef walls, and the survey names Tuble as one of three sites where falling coral came with rising rubble and rock.
Know before you go
Agree in the briefing whether the cave is on the dive. It lies below the base of the wall, deeper than Open Water depth.
Buy the environmental user fee ticket before the boat leaves; the municipality requires one for any dive or snorkel2.
The dive ends at the open face, so surface positively buoyant and swim away from the wall so the boat can come and pick you up.
Why Dive Tuble Reef
What makes this dive site stand out.
- Vertical wall canyons
Cut back into the face of the wall, the feature operators single out
- A surveyed sanctuary
Coral cover and fish density measured inside the boundary across six survey years
- Cave at 27 to 30 m
Small, below the wall base, and an in-going current can set into it
- Macro on the wall
Nudibranchs, scorpionfish, stonefish, stargazers and pygmy seahorses on the deeper fans
- A reef top that dries
Barely covered at low water, so the tide shapes entry and exit
Depth & Profile
Location
9.9686°N, 123.3693°E
Conditions & difficulty
The dry amihan months from December to April are the calmest. The June to October habagat brings rain and swell to this side of the peninsula, and diving carries on through it.
Local shops sell the site to Open Water divers and above. The reef top and the upper wall to 18 m sit within Open Water depth, and that is where the canyons and most of the macro are. The wall base at 25 m and the cave at 27 to 30 m are deeper than an Open Water certification covers.
Summary
Four published hazards. An in-going current can set into the small cave at 27 to 30 m, and the operator calls it hazardous. The reef top is very shallow at low tide with sharp coral edges. The dive ends with a surface swim away from the wall for the boat pickup. The nearest recompression chamber is in Mandaue City, 82 km away, about two and a half hours by road.
Safety considerations
What can go wrong here, and what divers do about it. Conditions change - take the briefing from the operator on the day.
- Overhead: A small cave sits at 27 to 30 m, below the base of the wall, and an in-going current can set into it. The operator calls it hazardous.Agree in the briefing whether the cave is on the dive at all, and plan the dive to the wall base.
- Structure and sharp edges: At low tide the reef top is very shallow and the coral edges are sharp. Entry, exit and snorkelling off the boat all cross it.Check the tide before the trip, and hover over the reef top with fins and knees clear of the coral.
- Surface and boat traffic: The dive finishes with a surface swim away from the wall, in open water the boat has to find before it can pick anyone up.Get positively buoyant on the surface, carry a surface marker and swim clear of the face before the boat approaches.
- Remote location: The nearest recompression chamber is in Mandaue City, 82 km away and about two and a half hours by road. The DAN Asia-Pacific emergency line is +61 8 8212 9242.Carry insurance that pays for hyperbaric treatment, and keep the profile conservative enough never to need it.
Marine Life
Regulations
Tuble Marine Sanctuary
One of four locally declared and managed marine sanctuaries in Moalboal, each running a user-fee system. Reef surveys covered the sanctuary inside and outside its boundary across six years to 2013, and several operators use the sanctuary name for the site. A 2017 municipal ordinance requires an environmental user fee ticket before any dive or snorkel in Moalboal, and the ticket is defined as a pass to dive at the designated and demarcated sites. One hundred pesos. Centres bill it per trip or per dive, so the total depends on how many dives you book. Spearfishing and compressor fishing are banned in all of the municipality's marine sanctuaries. Touching marine life is a prohibited act with an administrative fine of at least 2,500 pesos per person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do dive shops list this wall as Tuble Reef, Tuble Point or Tuble Marine Sanctuary?▾
Operators use all three names for the same wall. Tuble is the barangay it lies off, and the sanctuary is the protected area it lies inside, so shops pick whichever name they prefer. Ask for it by the name on your shop's dive list; the reef top, the canyoned wall and the cave are the same dive under each of them.
Are whale sharks seen at Tuble Reef?▾
One operator's site chart says the most whale shark sightings in the area have happened at this dive and adds that your chances depend entirely on luck. That is a single operator's line and the weakest kind of claim, so treat a whale shark here as a chance encounter and not a reason to choose this wall.
Which part of Tuble Reef did Typhoon Odette hit?▾
The shallows, according to one diver who made ten dives across seven Moalboal sites in August 2024 and found the water above about 12 m badly damaged. That account is a single first-hand report and covers only the upper part of the reef. The 2013 survey had already found the shallow coral the weaker of its two depth bands, with both declining, so the storm landed on the half that was already thinner. The canyons, the fans and the pygmy seahorses lie below that depth.
References
- 1.Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation, Cebu City — Saving Philippine Reefs: Coral Reef Monitoring Expedition to Moalboal and Badian, Cebu, Philippines, April 14-21, 2013
- 2.The Freeman (Philstar.com), August 25, 2017 — Moalboal regulates diving, snorkeling
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