Trip Report: Subic

**Rors** · 01-18-2010, 01:37

Back in Korea after spending two weeks in Subic Bay, Luzon. Had a lot of fun in Subic and I'm going to have to go back to dive the wrecks I haven't gotten to yet. So much ocean, so little time and money.

Dive Shops:

I'm told there are three shops in and around Subic Bay.

1. Johans

These are the guys I dove with. They have three instructors; Johan (the owner), Paul, and Steve (I think). Did my AOW with Johan and Nitrox with Paul. Did not do any courses with the third instructor who was on vacation most of the time I was there. In addition to the instructors, there are two divemasters; Wing, and Henry. Both of them are very good in the water and Henry is amazing with air consumption, man just doesn't seem to breath. If you do any courses with Paul, tell him that you stubbed your toe and can't dive and then laugh when he gives you the rest of the story.

2. Blue Rock

Did not do any diving with these guys so I can't comment on that, will say that the food is spectacular.

3. And a third somewhere in Olongapo that I didn't get a chance to visit and know nothing about.

Pros:

Lot's of wrecks

Warm Water

Lots of wrecks

Cons:

Low visibility

Not much marine life

Another thing to be aware of is the fact that the closest (working) decompression chamber is in Manila. There used to be one on the former base but they tell me that it's fallen apart from lack of maintenance.

Some of the wrecks I dove were:

The USS New York

the only armored cruiser that can be dived. It's in a shipping lane so the visibility isn't so good, I will say that it's fairly interesting to be going through the gloom and then suddenly come face to face with a giant gun.

Depth: 28m on the first dive, 28.5 on the second.

Visibility: 8m on the first, 2m on the second.

Water Temp: 25c - 28c

Marine Life:

Rays

Barracuda

LST

The clamshell doors have fallen off and are sitting upright in the sand, very cool.

Depth: 32.2m

Visibility: 8m

Water Temp: 28c

Marine Life:

Rays

Barracuda

LCU

Depth: 23m

Visibility: 8m

Water Temp: 28c

Barges

Lots of marine life compared to most of the other dive locations in Subic, only the San Quentin could compare.

Depth: 16m

Visibility: 14m

Water Temp: 28c

Marine Life:

Clown Fish

Lionfish

Sea Cucumbers

Japanese Patrol Boat

Depth: 22.6m

Visibility: 2m

Water Temp: 28c

Marine Life:

Lionfish

El Capitan

Cargo ship built in Oregon (my home state) that went down in shallow water. Very cool dive, cargo bays are open and can be swum through.

Depth: 21.1m (The ship is on it's side, the hull starts at 5m)

Visibility: 8m

Water Temp: 28c

Marine Life:

Giant Clams

San Quentin

The Spanish sunk this boat during the Spanish American war in an attempt to block one of the channels. The wood has all rotted away leaving only the metal parts of the ship. Lots of marine life, for Subic.

Depth: 15.9

Visibility: 15m

Water Temp: 28c

Marine Life:

Giant Clams

Clown Fish

Lionfish

Sea Cucumbers

I am not affiliated with either of the above dive shops in any way, just enjoyed the food and the dives.

**chinacat46** · 01-19-2010, 06:02

Thanks for your report. I'm not a huge wreck fan but every now and then I get the urge. Last time was in Truk but I've heard the wrecks of Subic are worth checking out as well. Maybe one of these days.

**dkh6070** · 01-19-2010, 07:40

great report. What is the military base used for now?

**h2odragon1** · 01-19-2010, 13:15

Originally Posted by dkh6070

great report. What is the military base used for now?

Most of the base is used for motel sized hotels.
There are other dive shops in Subic Dive at Boardwalk Dive Center Official Website - is one, there are others on the old base. Johans is the lively resort, off base.

**Rors** · 01-20-2010, 01:30

It's a 'freeport' ships come in and do whatever it is they're there for, lot's of maintenance I think. The US Navy still has some presence, there were two ships in port that prevented me from making a couple dives. I'm told they come in for mostly logistics and repair. Forgot to mention, but if you can fly into Clark Angeles if you're going to Subic. Much less time on the road and you won't have to deal with Manila traffic

. I'm told there are a lot of deep wrecks for tech divers, not being one myself I don't know much about them but some of the things mentioned were; A russian sub, a navy bomber (designed to drop nukes), an F4 Phantom, a bridge, etc.

Originally Posted by dkh6070

great report. What is the military base used for now?

**Rors** · 01-20-2010, 01:32

It was a good introduction to wreck diving. I've done rivers, reefs, kelp, and piles of garbage before. Never did a wreck until this trip and I can't wait to do it again. Good thing about being in Korea is that the flights are cheap (usually, they're astronomical right now for some reason) so I should be able to get back on a long weekend to dive the stuff I missed one of these days.

Originally Posted by chinacat46

Thanks for your report. I'm not a huge wreck fan but every now and then I get the urge. Last time was in Truk but I've heard the wrecks of Subic are worth checking out as well. Maybe one of these days.

**Rors** · 01-20-2010, 01:35

Thanks for adding the link, didn't know about that shop.

Originally Posted by h2odragon1

Originally Posted by dkh6070

great report. What is the military base used for now?

Most of the base is used for motel sized hotels.
There are other dive shops in Subic Dive at Boardwalk Dive Center Official Website - is one, there are others on the old base. Johans is the lively resort, off base.