Enchanting Coron: Day 2 - Scuba diving

Today was a scuba diving day. We made reservations for scuba diving from the Coron Divers. When we made the confirmations last night we learned that there will be three foreigners joining us for the dive. We were told to be there at the dive shop by 9:30am to fit the wet suits. The boat travel from the town of Coron to the dive spot was almost an hour. We were informed that there will be three dives that day. The first was the Kogyu Maru shipwreck, followed by the Olympia Maru and the last was the East Tangat wreck.

We reached a depth of 28 meters for the Kogyu Maru dive. Visibility was only about ten meters. Hence we could see nothing as we were descending. When the ship became visible the first thing I noticed where the wide flat corals that grew on the ship. The dive master before the dive explained to us that we will be entering the ship, but just in case someone will not feel comfortable entering the wreck he would ask for confirmation once we get down to the ship. With our flashlights on, we made the entrance from the top of the ship which was already lying on its side. We saw lots of cement bags inside as this ship was supposed to be a supply ship. The dive master pointed to the bulldozer which I could barely make out. We passed through the boilers inside, then we went out from the hole on the side of the ship which was the one that was hit during the war. It was just a short dive only about 35 minutes. I still had plenty of air left when we ascended. We then took our lunch the dive shop prepared for us which was just grilled fish and vegetables. We then made a short travel on the boat to the next dive which was the Olympia Maru. We also went inside this wreck where we met the Russian scuba divers who were on the other boat. We saw lots of lionfish and scorpionfish and other small fishes on this dive The last dive was at the nearby shore at the East Tangat wreck. The boat which lies on its side sank at the slope of the sea. This is also a place for snorkeling as the place is shallow. The dive master left us on another boat with his girlfriend who was with us. It was Dino the safety diver who guided us. As the boat was not that big we went in and out of it passing through small entrances and then encircling it again. There were lots of scorpionfish and other small fishes here. Wreck diving has a different thrill to it. Aside from its being dark, it feels a little bit eerie passing through corridors of the ship not knowing what you will encounter along the way and knowing also that this has been used during the second world war and we don’t just know how many must have lost their lives here.

We were back in town after five in the afternoon. That evening we went for dinner at the Kawayanan Grill which was a garden restaurant, where you have "bahay kubos" for each table.

One of the white beaches in Coron 

The view of the public market of Coron

Dive Link Resort just across the town of Coron.

Getting ready for the dive. We made three dives at the Kogyu Maru, Olympia Maru and the East Tangat wrecks.

A group picture after the dive.