Wreck Diving Sites in Coron Bay include the Irako Wreck, Okikawa Maru Wreck, Akitsushima Wreck, Kogyo Maru Wreck, Olympia Maru Wreck, Kyokuzan Maru Wreck, East Tangat Gunboat Wreck (real name of the ship, Teru-Kaze Maru, was recently discovered by a group of Dutch divers, who spent a couple of days digging into bottom sand around the stern), Nanshin Maru Wreck, Lusong Gunboat Wreck and Skeleton Wreck.
The aquatic views from the sunken Japanese warships off Coron Island are listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine’s top 10 best scuba diving sites in the world
Coron Bay Palawan Philippines Dive Site - World Famous Wreck Diving
Coron Bay is one of the most popular diving destination here in the Philippines. This site is one of the most famous wreck diving destinations of the entire world due to the amount of historic sunken ships which can be visited and seen with great clarity due to these area's waters usual transparency. The wrecks in Coron Bay are alive with soft and hard corals and variety of exotic wild marine can be found. The wrecks in Coron Bay are some of the finest sites in the Philippines today. Some of the wrecks are huge up to 160 meters in length. Coron Bay is located in North of Palawan that lies between Busuanga and Culion Islands.
On World War II, Twelve Japanese supply ships are anchored in Coron Bay where US Navy launched a massive air strike. These ships were sunk at depths of 10 to 43 meters. Eight of these ships are discovered in Coron Bay where it is now became a wreck diving paradise in the country. All the wreck ships are still intact structurally and some stunning penetrations and swim throughs are possible. Some wrecks have huge blast holes, allowing masses of natural light to penetrate deep into the wrecks, making for a magical experience for the novice wrecker!
The Coron wrecks are one of the best kept diving secrets in the World and, as a result, you will be unlucky to find another dive boat at any of the wrecks you visit. Today, Coron is not only famous for its wreck diving, it is also become popular for its reef diving too. Coral reefs are re-establishing itself because of the fish sanctuaries that are being implemented. Spectacular and beautiful artificial reefs can be found outside the wrecks and are laden with both hard and soft corals and an abundance of fish life. How to get there by air from Manila to Coron airport. Live-aboards Famous Wreck Diving Site Sites in Coron Bay Palawan Philippines Irako Wreck: This is a Japanese refrigeration ship which is about 147m long. This is probably the best wreck dive in the Philippines. Irako is located at the mouth if Coron Bay. This shipwreck is still intact and has a good visibility. This is the best of any wreck in the area and also popular with diver enthusiast. Spectacular marine life is varied and you can see big groupers, schools of tuna and yellow fin, lion fish and scorpion fish live around this wreck. Sea turtles live in the crumpled and folded metal of the superstructure.
The best to explore in this wreckage is the underneath of the superstructure. It is possible to go down into a cargo hold at 36m and swim through to the galley. There are still pots, pans and wiring to be seen. From here, you swim out through a stairway amidships. There is a beautiful deep penetration through the engine room for trained, experienced and properly equipped divers.
Okikawa Maru Wreck: This wreckage was a civilian tanker/oiler which was sunk near Sunk near Busuanga Island, 2 miles south of Conception, near Coron Bay. The ship is 160m long. The shipwreck is lying upright in 26m of water and by length, width and volume is the largest of the Coron wrecks and an hour long dive is possible. This wreck site is also known as Conception wreck. This wreckage is totally covered with beautiful corals and offers a variety of marvelous marine life.
The deck of this wreckage is between 10m and 16m and is good for wreck dive beginners. For advance wreck divers, many penetration are possible including the propeller shaft from the outside of the ship all the way into the engine room. A spectacular swim through is possible from the front portion of the ship which is accessible, starting at a cargo hold on top and coming out of the twisted wreckage at the front.
In this wreck dive site, you will ecounter sweetlips, grouper, lionfish, surgeons, wrasse, tang and soldierfish. In addition, the whole wreck is covered with soft and hard corals and sponges.
The Akitsushima Wreck: This is the only Japanese warship sunk in Coron Bay. This ship is 118m long. The ship was hit directly towards the stern where the flying boat was kept but still the ship was intact. The ship was almost torn into two pieces and the flying boat disappeared. This is a beautiful wreckage to dive because the wreck also attracts a good amount of marine life. You will experience a magnificent marine life like giant groupers, schools of barracuda hiding under the bow, yellow fin tuna, yellowfish, grouper, snapper, batfish and a huge assortment of smaller reef fish.
Kogyo Maru Wreck: This Kogyo Maru was a Japanese freighter carrying construction materials for building a airfiled for the Japanese and was sunk into Coron Bay. The ship is 158m long, displaces 6,353 tons and situated to the north of Irako Wreck, just off Tangat Island. This wreck site is good for beginners and most swim throughs are large. You can see cement bags are evident and you'll come across a bulldozer, tractor and air compressor, all of which are intact and encrusted.
Swim through the cavernous engine room and look at the hardware then out through the bridge. If air is low go up to the port side of the bridge and look at the soft corals growing there and the fish life living on this artificial coral reef at 22 meters.
Wonderful marine life can be seen in this wreckage like giant pufferfish, waspfish and barracuda. Soft and hard corals are everywhere as are sponges.
Olympia Maru Wreck: This was Japanese army cargo ship which was sunk in Coron Bay. This ship is 120m long and lies on her starboard. This wreckage is located south of Busuanga and west of Tangat Island. Penetration in this wreckage is easy at the cargo holds. This wreckage is a very good wreck dive site because it has a fantastic variety of marine life with large shoals of banana fish, scorpionfish, giant bat fish and giant puffer fish, especially around the mast, bow and stern. The superstructure of this wreckage is covered with beautiful soft corals and bushes of black corals.
Kyokuzan Maru Wreck: This is a Japanese army cargo ship which was sunk in Northeast of Busuanga Island. The ship is 136m long. This wreck site is far from Coron Bay in which that it is not often visited by divers. This is a beautiful wreck dive site. This huge ship is still intact and offers a good visibility. You will discover various cars and trucks from a bygone age in the cargo room.
East Tangat Gunboat Wreck: This is a Japanese gunboat or a submarine hunter and is located off the eastern side of Tangat Island. This wreckage is ideal for novice divers. Beautiful coral reefs can be seen.
Nanshin Maru Wreck: This is a Japanese oil tanker which is located close to Black Island Beach and can be reached in a day from Coron. The ship is 50m long that sits upright on a sandy bottom. This is a good wreck dive site for beginners. Photography is good in this area because the water is clear. Exotic marine life can be seen in this area like scorpionfish, batfish, groupers, lionfish and trumpetfish. Night diving is excellent as well.
Japanese Freighter: This is an unknown Japanese Freighter but some say that this is the Taiei Maru, The Morazon Maru or even The Mamiya Maru. But no one seems so sure if what is the name of ship. This ship is located not far west off Tangat Island in 25m of water and is 140m long. The massive boilers in the center of the ship are still intact and are a big attraction to the divers. If you time your dive between 10am-2pm and it's sunny, the wreck is lit up like a cathedral.
This is an impressive wreck dive site because variety of marine life can be experience. Hard corals cover the port side and you'll also see groupers, sweetlips, sea snakes and the occasional turtle. See if you can find the two resident trumpet fish that hang out half a meter over the part side corals. Many scorpion fish hang out around the wreck area.
Lusong Gunboat Wreck: This is a Japanese gunboat or a submarine hunter which is sunk in the east side of Lusong Island. This wreck site is good for snorkeling and photography. This site has a good variety of hard corals and marine life.
Skeleton Wreck: All that remains of this 25m steel-hulled boat are the keel, ribs and stringers. This wreck was beached with the bow a dozen meters from Coron Island. The stern points directly away from the island. A pass through on the starboard side of the hull at 14 meters allows you to swim from the inside of the boat out over the coral reef.
Cathedral Cave: This site is an unusual sites which is located on the south end of Coron Island on the east side. This cave illuminates when a shaft of daylight penetrating from a fissure higher up the outside rock face. Breathtaking colorful corals are visible in the area and look out for lobsters and cowrie shells.
Barracuda Lake: This is also one of the unusual dive site. Firstly, you will have to climb up a limestone mountain in full gear for 15-20 minutes until you arrive at the lake. Then there's a 33m dive to a cave with 30m of penetration. The cave is situated on the north wall of the lake and so named for its resident barracuda who may deign to show you around. The opportunities for photography at this point are excellent.
Vicinity Map of the WWII shipwrecks around Coron, Palawan, Philippines.
