Underwater footage of wrecks and caves always carries a mysterious, almost otherworldly feel. With that in mind, why not spend the Mid-Autumn holiday exploring Coron — one of the world's most celebrated wreck diving destinations? We happened to pick the rainy season, but luckily wreck diving visibility is never great to begin with, so the weather barely mattered.
All I can say is that the Philippines is truly a paradise for divers: rich and stunning underwater biodiversity, affordable prices, short travel distances, and cheap flights.
To maximise our dive time, we took a Tuesday-night flight at 8
p.m., overnighted at Manila airport, and caught an early morning flight to Busuanga Airport. I'd worried the journey would be exhausting and figured we'd start diving in the afternoon. As it turned out, the moment we stepped off the plane and reached the dive shop, the boat was already waiting at the dock — we pulled our gear straight out of our bags and jumped on board. A seriously packed itinerary.Fortunately, the first dive was a Check Dive. The reef was easy and relaxed — perhaps a touch underwhelming — but it gave us a chance to test new equipment and let the dive guide assess everyone's skill level.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
Day 1 — An Easy Dive Straight Off the Plane
- D1 Malpadan Reef
Just a standard reef — possibly a step below Longdong. But a Check Dive is essential before tackling the wrecks ahead.
- D2 Morazan Maru
The Morazan Maru is a British-built cargo vessel later captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy and used as an auxiliary freighter. She lies on her side on a sandy bottom, reaching 25 m at depth, and stretches 91.5 m in length. Swimming through her feels like threading through the alleyways of a building — four enormous cargo holds make for a very open hull with spacious interiors.
- D3 East Tangat
The East Tangat sits at 3–19 m and measures 35 m in length. She is an anti-submarine vessel. Lionfish can be spotted alongside the hull.
Day one felt more like the "mainstream" itinerary — both wrecks are well-documented in other travellers' accounts. It also served as a chance for our guide to gauge everyone's level before deciding how to plan the days ahead.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
Day 2 — The Main Event
- D4 Akitsushima (秋津洲號水上機母艦)
The Akitsushima is arguably the most famous wreck in the area — the dive shop even sells little model replicas. She is 114 m long and rests at 35 m. A seaplane tender, she is the only naval warship among the Coron wrecks. Outside you can find a massive crane arm, 25 mm cannons, and a radio tower; inside, gas masks once remained but have since been removed.
Philippines, diving in the Philippines, Coron, wrecks, wreck diving, Palawan, dugong
- D5 Okikawa Maru
The Okikawa Maru is 160 m long and lies at 25 m. She is an oil tanker — you can still see the boilers inside. In one chamber, dried, congealed oil floats on top of an air pocket; when bubbles rise and touch it, the oil actually drips back down. A fascinating sight.
- D6 Lusong Gunboat
The Lusong Gunboat is 30 m long and sits at 0–14 m — shallow enough for snorkeling. Nearby, there is a cluster of electric clams.
Day 3 — The 3D Dive Experience
- D7 Irako
The Irako is 145 m long and descends to 42 m. She served as a supply ship, and she turned out to be the defining memory of the entire dive trip. Moving toward the mid-to-rear section, our dive guide ascended through a deck opening, and the way forward disappeared from view. My dive buddy followed through a hole smaller than a window, and I squeezed through after — only for my octopus / alternate second stage to snag on the way. Behind us, one diver lost sight of the group for about a minute due to the silt we'd stirred up. Fortunately, the guide found him quickly. I'd felt unusually sharp on that dive; thinking back, it was probably because we were on enriched air nitrox (EANx).
Back on the boat, we learned that we'd squeezed through a gap nobody had ever penetrated before. Our guide had actually taken the intended route through a larger opening beside it.
It wasn't until later, chatting with a dive guide from another shop, that I found out the Irako is a wreck rated as dangerous. An incident occurred there just a few years ago. It truly earns the label of a 3D Dive — Deep, Dark, and Dangerous.
- D8 Olympia Maru
The Olympia Maru is 127 m long and rests at 30 m. We spent a while drifting at the bow in the current, searching for seahorse but coming up empty — though we did catch a hunting sequence that made it worthwhile. This wreck has a relatively open hull structure, making it one of the more relaxed dives of the trip.
- D9 Barracuda Lake
We headed back toward town to dive Barracuda Lake — a freshwater lake whose upper layer comes from rainwater while the lower layer is seawater pushed in by the tides, with volcanic geothermal heat rising from the very bottom. It is an extraordinary place. Water temperatures at depth can reach 40°C or higher, so no wetsuit is needed here. Our guide said he would not normally pair this dive with a deep dive on the same day, because the extreme temperature swings — cold to hot — can increase the risk of decompression sickness (DCS). In our case, however, we had kept our depths conservative earlier and had a longer surface interval, so avoiding the hottest zones should be fine.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
The boat anchored nearby; we swam to shore, shouldered our gear, and climbed a short flight of steps to reach the lake. Inside, distinct thermal layers were clearly perceptible — noticeably warmer at depth. There is a surreal slow-motion quality to diving here unlike anything I'd experienced before. At one point my dive buddy accidentally followed the wrong group and drifted off to the side. I looked ahead at the guide, looked back at my buddy, watched him swimming toward the other group, then shook my rattle to call him back — all of it playing out at what felt like half speed. Wonderfully strange.
Visibility inside the lake was quite good, though marine life was sparse — just a few small shrimp and catfish. As a warm, relaxed final dive of the trip, it was a fitting close.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
Over three days and nine dives, we penetrated seven wrecks in total. On day one we explored more open wreck structures — gaping hull breaches, horizontal and vertical passageways, the feeling of threading through alleyways in a building. As the trip progressed, the passages grew narrower and tighter: squeezing through railings and hull ruptures, past World War II relics like machine guns, cranes, periscopes, engine rooms, oil tank ballast voids — and oddities like bicycles and washing machines.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
One notable detail: every day, a large pure-oxygen cylinder sat on deck, and underwater you could spot a scuba tank / cylinder hanging at 5 m off the bow of the boat. I didn't understand it at first, but eventually worked it out — that hanging cylinder is a decompression bottle, there in case a diver runs low on gas before completing their decompression stop. Once I understood it, I felt considerably more at ease.
The sea conditions near the southern wreck sites were calm throughout. During surface intervals the boat would motor to the next site, giving everyone a chance to nap. With the sun mercifully subdued and no rain, conditions were comfortable overall. Around midday the crew cooked lunch on board — the Filipino food prepared shipside wasn't exactly gourmet, but after a morning of diving you're hungry enough to polish off a full plate.
The original plan was four days diving with Reggae, which would have been enough to cover all the wrecks. But midway through, a Korean diver mentioned that he'd seen dugongs in the north the day before and it was spectacular. We rearranged things, and the final day was dedicated to searching for this rare and extraordinary creature.
- D10 Dugong Protection Area
In the protected area, a dugong ranger boards the boat with you, briefs everyone on the rules, and helps locate the dugong. To avoid disturbing it, divers must enter the water quietly before putting on their gear — no giant stride entries. Visibility was so-so at this time of year, and the dugong itself was feeding, which stirred up plenty of silt, making photography a challenge. It surfaces every five minutes to breathe, so you're essentially chasing it the whole time. Given that it's such a rare and remarkable animal, I had no complaints about getting just 15 minutes with it. Fifteen minutes with the dugong, 24 minutes total dive time — not even long enough to need a safety stop.
- D11 Dimipac Island
Slight swell on entry. Green Sea Turtle ×3, blue-spotted Stingray ×1. A leisurely drift dive. We followed the turtles as they grazed and circled around the stingray.
The second dive near the protection area was a similar sandy environment with patches of coral. We moved steadily forward without stopping to hunt for specific critters. Three sea turtles: one very skittish that kept darting away, one completely unfazed and grazing contentedly, and one enormous specimen sound asleep in serene indifference. Then one blue-spotted Stingray with a torn wing — we circled it twice before it finally glided off.
The dugong day trip departing from Coron includes breakfast and lunch. Meet at the dive shop at 6 a.m., two hours by road, pick up the dugong ranger, eat instant noodles for breakfast on the boat, do two dives, and wrap up before noon. Lunch is at a restaurant near the protection area, back in Coron by around 3 p.m. With a Sunday afternoon return flight, ending the dive schedule with the dugong excursion worked out perfectly.
Coron Wreck Diving — Summary:
When planning a dive trip I used to think you needed seven or eight people to make it fun and keep costs down. After a few trips, I've learned that's not really necessary. Four people sharing a vehicle is ideal; two people doesn't cost significantly more. What matters most is that your dive buddies are at roughly the same skill level with similar expectations — that's when logistics become easiest. Many local dive guides here are genuinely exceptional, and the visiting divers tend to be competent too. When the guide doesn't have to babysit, they can focus entirely on finding things for you to see.
Wreck diving feels a bit like a 3D obstacle course — some passages are narrow and winding, some rise vertically before turning a corner, routes that would be even harder to navigate on dry land. Some compartments are deep and pitch-dark. If you enjoy night diving and the thrill of mysterious exploration, you'll love it here.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
We penetrated seven wrecks in total, three or four of which are officially rated as dangerous. We were fortunate to have a guide who trusted us enough to take us into those shadowy, mysterious compartments. Being inside truly felt like filming a deep-sea treasure hunt movie — squeezing through narrow pipes and hatches, in spaces where water barely circulates, areas that clearly see very few visitors. The other groups on the same boat that day were definitely not taking the same routes we were.
Photo Credit @Fish Su
Unlike the Liberty wreck in Bali, whose hull has largely collapsed and teems with marine life, Coron's wrecks feature many enclosed spaces that genuinely require solid neutral buoyancy control. Good air consumption buys you more exploration time. Ultimately, everyone is still limited by their no-decompression limits, and some of the more recessed compartments remained beyond reach on this trip. Coming to Coron is really about experiencing WWII wreck heritage — don't set your expectations too high for biodiversity or visibility.
Cover photo credit: Photo by Alana Harris on Unsplash
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