The path towards Looc Port is bordered with lush mangrove trees.
The Looc Fish Sanctuary is a protected marine area in the middle of the bay at Looc town, Tablas, Romblon. The sanctuary is home to many species of fish and a nice (although not spectacular) coral reef. The local government there seems to understand the importance of tourism, and has gone to great lengths to preserve the reef and fish life, even posting guards out on the bay overnight to prevent illegal fishing in the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is just 5- minute boat ride from the port.
The very helpful staff in the town tourism office gave us directions to the pier from which you catch the boat to the sanctuary. The pier is only a short (200m) walk from the town square. There is an office at the pier where you pay the P100 per head fare for the boat ride to the sanctuary (no booking is necessary). You can also rent a mask and snorkel here for P50. It’s then a short (5 min) boat ride to the permanent floating shelter at the sanctuary.
The floating shelter has an aquarium in its center where you can feed the fish.
The floating shelter has an opening in the middle where there is no floor and you can see straight down into the water. This allows you to see the fish very well without even having to swim. If you want to see a lot of fish, be sure to bring some bread to feed them (no doubt this is one reason why there are so many fish here – free food!).
Feeding the fish with junk food.
To get up close and personal with the fish, don a mask and snorkel and jump into the clear waters. The most abundant fish life is immediately around the shelter, however if you swim north (roughly) you will find a reef with some other interesting formations and marine life, including giant clams. South of the shelter is mainly sea grass and not so interesting, although you can see some enormous sea cucumbers and starfish on the sea floor there.
Visiting the marine sanctuary at Looc was the cheapest snorkeling tour I ever had so far. It is fun, good value for money, and definitely recommended if you’re in the area.
So there more to Romblon than the marbles. Been there before but I regret that I never had the chance to explore the place. You captured it so beautifully.
Thanks Aimee. It’s really more than marbles. It gives you more reason to come back
really digging your adventures, too bad you’ll be leaving the ph soon…
Thanks Christian but the adventures will still continue no matter where I go. And I will still come back and and probably always come back to ph no matter what
Hi Claire,
My name is Michael Seabeck. I was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer stationed in Looc from 1999-2003. I worked very closely with Jessie Jomadiao the MAO in Looc, along with many other great people too numerous to mention. My project was Coastal Resource Management. In Looc we spent many years doing community organising and eventually culminating in creating the Bantay Dagat Movement in Looc as well as the marine sanctuary there. I was able to procure seed clams which are now pretty large and are in the giant clam garden there. Thank you for taking the time to see this special place and learning how caring and motivated this small town and it’s folks are in regards to saving the environment there. These are sincere people in Looc. Not yet controlled by short term profits as are the people nearby in Boracay. Please come back again soon
Thanks Michael, that is a very commendable thing you did in Looc. Hope that little town continue to take care of its environment and hope there will be more people like you. Cheers!
It was such a great program and I’m glad that the community is still working very hard to make progress. The islands of Romblon are so beautiful and many places untouched by the crowds of places such as Boracay. You know I went to Boracay almost 20 years ago and remember when there was very little electricity and an evening out was sitting on the white beach watching a full moon and hearing the ocean waves on the sand. Now it is a little different. You can still find peace in Romblon. Right now I live in Seattle Washington but once a year I take my vacation there in Romblon. Please keep in touch and let me know of your travels. I like to explore other parts of the Philippines while I’m on vacation there and always look for new tips on places to visit. All for now…….
wow! kitang kita yung fish! ganda!
uy maging malnourished yung fish pag junkfood pinapakain. hehehe
hahaha tamaaa!!
miss ko na yang place na yan.. i was there on 2007. one week na pasyalan…sarap talaga sa looc… miss ko na pati mga locals very friendly…
looc is my father in law’s origin. this is one of our dream destinations, to see the place of our origin.:-). thanks for sharing this claire. All the Best.:-).
Romblon is a nice place to explore especially if you like off the beaten paths.
I suggest you also visit masbate it the next place to romblon, they have also developed and not developed beaches…..
Hi Alen. I just visited one of the islands of Masbate this April. Too bad I didn’t have enough time to fully explore the other islands. I will surely come back next time.
WOW…,!!!even though i leave i Looc, Romblon I don’t yet even visit that place..,,maybe time will come..,,!!
so come and visit my place.,!!and i will entertain you if you’ll there.,,just contact me in my mobile number., +639489619985..,,,
thank you!!
kaka galing ko lang dito! super ganda! gust ko bumalik ulit!
I have been to Tablas Island way back in 1993 but I did not have the opportunity to roam the island as well as go to the other 2 main islands – Romblon & Sibuyan… We just stayed in my friends house in Looc for one night and the next days we spent in nearby Boracay Is. via overloaded boat ride from the town of Sta. Fe. The beach and the ambiance was so beautiful then and we stayed in native cottages and the only popular high end resort then was Club Panoly. I went there again in 2008 and so much change has happened…, so commercialized… the coral reefs devastated by Typhoon Frank… so many people.. I hope I could return to Romblon again and discover the beautiful places in the 3 main islands..
I would give anything to see Boracay in the 70′s. I think it will be my idea of paradise personified.