Coron

BELOW THE WATER

There are a number of sought after dive sites off Coron Island, an island that is a 20 minute boat ride from the town of Coron. They offer coral reef and wreck diving. As well as this there are a number of unique dives in the surrounding lagoons and lakes such as Barracuda Lake. Start your journey with a  15 minute boat ride to the island, then climb (in full scuba gear) the 150, wooden steps that lead you over limestone cliff and down to the lake. Don’t let this deter you however, because the effort is well worth the reward.

Stride into the crystal clear (literally) warm water and begin exploring the edges of a magical world. The water temperature varies between 28 and 38 degrees with distinct thermal layers that can be seen whilst passing through. There is a resident 1.5 metre long barracuda that will come to say hi during your dive, a maximum depth of 30 metres.

Dive Coron is possibly one of the best places to dive WWII wrecks. Coron Bay has the best wreck diving in Southeast Asia, all packed into one relatively small area. Indeed Forbes Traveler Magazine list Coron as one of the top 10 best scuba diving sites in the world.

Back in 1944 – the 24th September to be precise, the US Navy, in the form of 24 Helldiver bombers supported by 96 Hellcat Fighters, caught 24 Japanese ships unawares and sank them. To date the wrecks that have been discovered (and many have not been found – so you could find one yourself) make for some amazing diving:

Wreck Dive Coron some of the known Dive sites are:

• Irako Maru
• Akitsushima
• The Kogyo Maru
• The Okikawa Maru
• Olympia Maru
• The Tangat Wreck
• The Kyokuzan Maru

For those that wish a quiet day snorkeling is available some of the prime locations being:

Banol Beach, Twin Lagoon or possibly a trip to Siete Pecados.

In conclusion Coron is one of the best places in the World for Wreck Diving!!! One very interesting fact is that Alex Garland, when writing “The Beach” based his dive through cave on “the Cathedral Cave” dive in Coron. He lived in El Nido while he wrote the book – all within a superb tropical scenery setting.

ABOVE THE WATER

Coron – a place of two halves! Coron Town is the largest town on the Island of Busanga in Palawan province – and also the name of a different smaller island offshore nearby.  Coron town is a sleepy hollow like fishing town but as word gets out it is slowly developing it’s the tourism industry via it’s world class wreck diving that is available.

Accommodation in Coron