The Tubbataha atolls are 181 kilometres southeast of the island of Palawan and have a unique status - the area was designated a World Heritage Site in 1993.

Tubbataha is a long way from anywhere so it was reassuring to see that much of the ecosystem was in good condition. At certain times of year, the reef tops take quite a battering from storms but we learnt that monitoring by various conservation bodies has found fish populations on the increase. And that is despite the damage to the corals caused by the El Nino phenomenon.

The continual presence of rangers assist in restricting illegal fishing practices and it's remoteness no doubt helps protects Tubbataha from the ravages of man-made problems.

Diving in a protected area means being aware and careful divers and the care and attention seems to be paying off. The best surprise was down beneath the surface - the contrast between the fantastic blue vistas above and the hidden reefs of Tubbataha were a delight.

This is an area for pelagic species. There wasn't a dive without at least a half dozen reef sharks and the same number of turtles. In reality, there was always more, so many we even got to joking - not another shark! It became a challenge to focus on the smaller stuff. However, we couldn't complain when we got to snorkel with mantas and we had 40 metre visibility the entire time we were there.