Overview

Located just before the entrance to the cave of Polillo Town, this coral reef has a length of about five kilometers and a width of about two kilometers. It is also a good spot for snorkeling and diving. Some parts are so shallow that any type of ship and banca will have to make a detour to avoid the reef area. Some parts have so-called walls which are more than a hundred feet deep.

Polillo’s coral reefs are characterized by fringing reefs around the islands with underwater coral islands just below the surface. During low tide, the extensive reef flats become exposed.

The reefs drop down to about fourteen meters in most places, after which it changes into a sandy bottom with coral patches.

Fauna

Many of the species found are adapted to murky waters, such as Soapfish (Diplorion bifasciatum) and Sand Bass (Psammoperca waigiensis).

How to get here

From the official website of Polillo Quezon

To get to Polillo, go first to Ungos Port in Real, Quezon. A local bus company plies the Lucena-Infanta route originating from Lucena Grand Terminal at one-and-a-half hour intervals with the first trip at 4:00AM. Two other bus companies have trips to Infanta originating from Metro Manila. One of them has its terminal in Legarda, Manila. These buses get through the Famy-Real-Infanta Road. Famy is at the junction with the Rizal-Laguna Road.

There are two regular boat trips from Real to Polillo. The first trip usually leaves at 7:30AM as the bus passengers coming from Lucena and Manila try to catch it up. The next boat leaves at 10:00AM. The boats are outrigger types powered with a surplus truck engine. The return trips from Polillo are at 5:00AM and 1:00PM.