Marine sanctuarys

Protected seas where marine life recovers and thrives.

Apo Island Marine Sanctuary

Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines

A small volcanic island off Negros ringed by one of the world's most celebrated community-run marine sanctuaries — famous for resident green sea turtles grazing over coral just off the beach.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

Balicasag Island

Panglao, Bohol, Central Visayas

A tiny coral island off Bohol ringed by a protected marine sanctuary famous for its dramatic reef wall, resident sea turtles, and swirling schools of jackfish — one of the country's premier diving and snorkelling sites.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

Cocos Island

Pacific Ocean, 550 km off Costa Rica

A rainforest island alone in the Pacific, ringed by waters where hammerhead sharks school in their hundreds — often called the finest big-animal dive site on Earth.

Marine sanctuary Latin America

Donsol Whale Shark Sanctuary

Donsol, Sorsogon, Bicol Region

A quiet Bicol town whose plankton-rich bay draws seasonal gatherings of whale sharks — the world's largest fish — met on a strictly regulated, community-run, swim-alongside basis that pioneered ethical encounters in the Philippines.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

Komodo National Park

Lesser Sunda Islands, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

A cluster of rugged islands that shelter the Komodo dragon — the largest lizard on Earth — above water, and some of the world's richest coral reefs below, including a beach tinted pink by red coral.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

Moalboal Sardine Run

Moalboal, Cebu, Central Visayas, Philippines

A vast resident school of sardines swirls in the shallows off Panagsama Beach on Cebu's west coast — a living silver tornado you can reach by swimming a few strokes from shore.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

Palau's Rock Islands

Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, Palau, Micronesia

Hundreds of emerald mushroom-shaped limestone islands scattered across a turquoise lagoon — a marine wonderland of hidden lakes, world-class reefs, and a lake full of harmless golden jellyfish.

Marine sanctuary Oceania

Península Valdés

Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina

A windswept Patagonian peninsula and its sheltered gulfs — one of the world's premier marine-wildlife havens, where southern right whales calve close to shore and orcas hunt seals on the beach.

Marine sanctuary Latin America

Raja Ampat

West Papua, Indonesia

An archipelago of jungle-clad karst islands scattered across turquoise seas — the most biodiverse marine environment on Earth, at the very heart of the Coral Triangle.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

Ras Muhammad

Southern Sinai, Egypt

At the very tip of the Sinai Peninsula, a marine national park where sheer coral walls plunge into the Red Sea — one of the world's great diving and snorkelling destinations.

Marine sanctuary Africa

Sohoton Cove & Jellyfish Sanctuary

Bucas Grande, Surigao del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines

A hidden lagoon system on Bucas Grande Island, entered through a sea cave passable only at low tide, sheltering stingless jellyfish, karst-walled coves, and cliffs you can leap from into deep clear water.

Marine sanctuary Southeast Asia

The Great Blue Hole

Lighthouse Reef, off Belize

A perfect deep-blue circle in the turquoise Caribbean — a giant marine sinkhole over 300 metres across and 120 metres deep, ringed by coral reef and famed as one of the world's great dive sites.

Marine sanctuary North America