Interestingly, most of the islands of the Philippines are arranged in a sinousoidal pattern. Breaking this harmonious pattern are the islands of Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago, in the southwestern part of the country. The body of water enclosed by Palawan, the Sulu Archipelago and Borneo is called the Sulu Sea. Beneath the deep and vast Sulu Sea is an oceanic ridge trending parallel to Palawan and the Sulu archipelago. From these ridges rise some of the world's greatest geologic formations of oceanic atolls and platform reefs. The reefs feature gradually sloping underwater terrain to spectacular vertical walls that drop to thousand meters deep. They offer outcrops of corals and splendid aggregations of large pelagics such as tunas, barracudas, jacks, sharks, mantas and turtles. Reef associated fishes such as snappers, butterflyfishes, damsels and angelfishes and garden eels never cross your path unnoticed due to their sheer number.
The climate in the Sulu Sea area is influenced by the monsoon seasons that prevail over the country. These are the southwest monsoon from June to October and northeast monsoon from December to June. Due to Sulu Sea's geographical location, the diving season is from March to early June. These months coincide with the summer season. Thus, the sea surface is calm, the temperature is comfortable at 28 to 30 C and water visibility of 30 m is not unusual. Strong tidal currents may occasionally be present, bringing with it schools of large pelagics.
Besides the spectacular underwater sceneries, Sulu Sea's atolls and sand cays also offer interesting sights and opportunities for bird photography since the islands are rookeries to hundreds of sea birds -- red-footed boobies, terns and frigates.
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