Buntod Sandbar and Reef

White sandbar and shallow reef sanctuary near Masbate City, accessible by boat

Buntod Sandbar is a strip of white sand that appears at low tide in the waters south of Masbate City, surrounded by the shallow reefs of Buntod Reef Marine Sanctuary. At its peak, the sandbar stretches for several hundred metres and is narrow enough that you can see water on both sides — the kind of classic tropical beach that Instagram was made for. The reef around it is good for snorkelling, with reasonable coral cover and the fish populations that come with protected waters.

Boats run to the sandbar from the pier in Masbate City in about 20 minutes; several operators offer snorkelling packages with gear. The trip is best timed around low tide, when the sandbar is at its widest. On weekends and holidays it can be busy with local day-trippers; on weekdays you may have it almost to yourself.

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A story
The sandbar sits in the middle of Buntod Reef Marine Sanctuary, declared a protected area partly because the reef here is one of the few around Masbate City that still has significant live coral cover. Local fishermen advocated for the sanctuary designation themselves, after watching the catch decline in overfished areas nearby — a relatively rare example of bottom-up conservation in the Philippines.