"Apart from diving the local shipwrecks, we also actively support tech diving in Coron. Slowly, I am doing a bit of underwater cave exploration as well, but we are nowhere near being ready to provide proper cave diving as an experience in Coron. There is an underground lake that many refer to as a cave dive at the southern point of Coron Island", says Patrick Preston, the PADI dive center manager.
Coron Bay not only offers lots of wreck diving but some decent coral life as well
Coron is both the name of the largest town on the island of Busuanga, and the name of a different, smaller island just offshore. Flying over it, you see that what lies inland: large limestone cliffs and dense jungle - an inaccessible terrain pock-marked with lakes. Apart from a Hollywood-style-like CORON sign overlooking the town -noticeable from the water - the area is famous for its World War II wreck diving - the site has been named in many lists of top dive spots in the world. There are 6 big wrecks and 2 smaller gunboats and they are all well worth diving on.
"The Irako is the deep one (43 meters at the bottom). The Irako is an Imperial Japanese Navy Refrigerated Supply Ship. It is a beautiful wreck, but shorter time limits make nitrox advantageous. On the Irako, you can visit the transmission room, laundry room, or kitchen fairly easily for an experienced diver", says Patrick about probably the best wreck dive in the Philippines. The Irako is quite intact and because of the good visibility you know you are on a big shipwreck (147 meters long and 19 meters wide). Big groupers, schools of tuna and yellow fin, lion fish and scorpion fish live around this wreck.
"The Akitsushima is another favorite. It is Imperial Japanese Navy Seaplane Tender. There is a massive crane on the outside that was used to lift the seaplane aboard. You can enter through a massive split and see the winch machinery for the crane or go the other way and see the diesel engines and lift mechanism that brought up the shells for the two large cannons on deck".
The Akitsushima is a very big warship (118 meters long and 15.7 meters wide) laying on her port side, with the most impressive internal damage - it was bombed twice but survived. Due to depth and metal hazards within, no swim-throughs are allowed without wreck diver certification. Overall, it's a fascinating dive where you can see giant groupers, schools of barracuda hiding under the bow, and yellow fin tuna.
"The Okikawa Maru is the favorite of most dive professionals. It is an oil tanker that sits upright in 26 meters. The current can be strong, but the currents bring up the fish. The relatively shallow depth makes for a long dive and the penetrations through the prop shaft and the oil tanks are great", sums up Patrick. This largest wreck of the Coron Bay (168m long) is totally covered with beautiful corals and offers a large variety of marine-life. The deck is between 10m and 16m and is good for wreck dive beginners.
Scuba Diving in Coron, Palawan has something to appeal to almost any diver. Whether you are a Pro with thousands of dives, or just learning the basics, Coron and Neptune Dive Center has something for you. If you are not trained to dive yet or looking to further your dive education, Neptune Dive Center has PADI Instructors on hand for all of your training needs. Do you want to find out more? Then get in touch with the crew at +63-921-760-7492 or drop them an email at info@neptunedivecenter.com.
Photos: © Neptune Dive Center
Source: http://www.neptunedivecenter.com
