Wreck Diving in Coron, Philippines

[Lethal_OZ]

Anyone been to Coron in the Philippines before? Im booked to go with a freind this December. We're going to have 40 Days in the Philippines so any info on other parts of Palawan would be great as planning to explore there too.

[Bill22]

Originally Posted by Lethal_OZ

Anyone been to Coron in the Philippines before? Im booked to go with a freind this December. We're going to have 40 Days in the Philippines so any info on other parts of Palawan would be great as planning to explore there too.

Haven't been to Coron, but it's on my list. Here's link to a website that might give you some good info: http://www.philippinediving.com/ Hope it helps:-)

[dondi518]

this is a nice place for divers!

[chip104]

Hey Lethal OZ,

I've spent a weekend in Coron and the wreck diving was amazing. There are many WWII Japanese wrecks to choose from (I was able to dive 4 of them). There are also "adventure dives", primarily Gunther's Cathedral and Barracuda lake. It is a great place to spend some diving time.

There are also corals reefs to dive as well, but to be honest, there are plenty of other places in the Philippines to enjoy the reefs. I would spend time in Coron primarily for the wrecks and the adventure dives.

Take note that the visibility on the wrecks is not as great in Coron as other places in the Philippines - maybe 20-30 feet at best, 10-15ft usually. Although take note that I am used to 50-100ft visibility of Puerto Galera & Anilao!

Another place to dive in Palawan would be El Nido, however, after the typhoon swept through the area a couple years back the reefs have not been the same. An option you might want to consider is go to Apo Reef from Coron. Some dive resorts make that trip.

I went throught Discovery Divers on Coron and I have nothing but good things to say about them. They also have the option to go to Apo Reef.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. I can link you to my dive trip summary (pics included! )

[chip104]

Just FYI, here's a pic of the dive sites in Coron/Busuanga (Couretsy of Penn aka Boljakool):

[chip104]

Getting to Coron

There are 2 main options to get to Coron from Manila:
1) Asian Spirit Air
They do weekly flights every other day from Manila to Busuanga. From Busuanga airport it is a 45 minute jeepney ride to Coron. It is a quick flight (about an hour) so makes the travel very convenient. However, watch out for weight restrictions if you're travelling with a lot of equipment and luggage.

advantages: quick, convenient, regularly scheduled flights
Disadvantages: airport is 45 mins away from Coron.

2) Superferry
The ferry leaves from Manila port (up the street from the US embassy) and arrives into Coron town proper. It is an overnight ferry ride (leave 6pm, arrive 6am) and you don't have to worry about weight restrictions. The line up to the ferry can get very hectic so make sure to arrive at least 2 hours before departure time to avoid the rush. There are a couple different types of accomodation rooms on board so be sure to check out which one will suit you best. I recommend cabin class since you have your own room to store your dive equipment in.
However the ferry is scheduled to leave from manila (friday night) and depart from Coron (sunday night) once a week! So you if you take the superferry both ways you either stay in Coron a weekend or an entire week.

advantages: cheap travel, romantic , arrives directly into Coron
disadvantages: ferry is scheduled only once a week, takes overnight, checking into ferry is very hectic, booking is only 3 months in advance.

3) A 3rd option is to fly into Puerto Princesa and take a ferry from there. I am not very familiar with this route but it can be done. Something to keep in mind if you wish to visit Palawan before or after Coron.


Of course you can mix and match, taking the flight to Busuanga and the superferry back to Manila (great for off gassing). This way you have more flexibility with the duration you wish to spend in Coron.

[gbrdiver]

I've just returned from a week in Coron. There are now 3 airlines operating 50-60 seat turboprop aircraft and offering some pretty good deals. I got a return Manila-Busuanga airfare for about $45 with Zest Air. Cebu Pacific airlines and PAL Express had similar prices. Excess baggage (ie over 10kg) was about $4/kg. This is a big improvement over the previous 19 seat LET410 aircraft that was so unreliable you would avoid going at all costs. The road from the airport to Coron is being concreted at the moment, with completion due in a few months. The dive shops are able to offer good private transfers for about $3 each way...forget the Jeepney!

I dived with Dive-Cal and stayed at Dive-Link resort on Uson Island. I really enjoyed myself - great people, good service and fantastic diving in a very spectacular part of the world. I didn't want to leave!

[rogerp]

I dove with sea dive in March 09. Great resort with rooms that suit all budget. Flew in from Singapore by Cebu pacific to Manila and to Busuanga. Have a good resturant which serve good breakfast. There is a resturant by the sea just beside it which you can have good seafood dinner.

Great place to dive for all wreck lovers. Every dive is a penetration dive with some deco depends on which wreck you are doing. Bring along your torch. I would recommend you bring a pretty decent one. Some wreck is really dark.

One thing to note when you are departing Coron. They are pretty strict with their hand lugguage. they will weigh it so better to purchase some excess baggage before hand to save some money if you think you will exceed it.