About
A reef that came back
Tulapos was closed to fishing in 1986, making it the first marine protected area declared on Siquijor. Four decades of community management later, the difference between the sanctuary and the water outside it is something you can see from the surface.
Community managed
Run by the people of Barangay Tulapos in Enrique Villanueva, alongside the Bitaug and Bino-ongan sanctuaries as a municipal network of marine protected areas.
A nursery, not just a view
The replanted mangrove stand shelters juvenile snappers until they are big enough for the reef. Protecting the roots is what keeps the drop-off populated.
Guides are required
Every snorkeller enters with an accredited sanctuary guide. It keeps fins off the coral, keeps visitors safe in the channel, and it is how the community earns a living from the reef being alive.
The trail
Three zones, one swim
Every guided trail crosses the same three habitats in sequence. Choose a zone to see what lives there.
Seagrass beds
Shallow, calm and bright. Giant clams are seeded across the beds here, alongside horned and blue starfish, and green sea turtles come in to graze. Easy water for first-time snorkellers.
What you will see
- Giant ClamTridacna gigasSeeded across the shallow seagrass beds. The mantle colours come from symbiotic algae living in the tissue.
- Green Sea TurtleChelonia mydasGrazes the seagrass beds. Protected under Philippine law; keep three metres distance and never block the path to the surface.
- Blue Sea StarLinckia laevigataCommon across the seagrass flats. Lifting one out of the water suffocates it - look, do not handle.
- Horned Sea StarProtoreaster nodosusHeavy-bodied star of the seagrass beds, easily spotted from the surface in the shallows.
History
Four decades of protection
1924
The town is founded
Enrique Villanueva — known locally as Talingting — is established in April, named for a former governor of Negros Oriental.
1986
The sanctuary is declared
Tulapos is closed to fishing, becoming the first and oldest marine protected area on Siquijor Island.
Ongoing
Mangrove replanting
The stand along the shoreline is replanted and protected, restoring the nursery that keeps the reef populated.
Today
A network, not an island
Tulapos sits alongside the Bitaug and Bino-ongan sanctuaries as a municipal network of marine protected areas.
Ready to see it?
Guided trails run daily from the entrance hut, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.