Some More Diving (In Coron)


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Asia » Philippines » Palawan » Coron
November 11th 2007
Published: April 8th 2008
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Coron town on the island of Busuanga was our next destination. We nearly didn’t make our flight due to a late dive on Boracay but managed to get a rickshaw in time and pushed aboard the shuttle boat despite protests that they were full. We were the last to check in but Neena, secretary at dive shop, had called ahead so they were expecting us.

We had to be weighed for the flight but managed to smuggle our excessive hand luggage on board without paying for it. Our hand luggage was excessive due to the 40kg or so of diving manuals we were lugging about! As we sat in the tiny terminal we tried to guess which flight was ours, the one getting its engine fixed in front of us or one of the others. Turns out it was neither, newly paired engine plane pulled away and our tiny 19 seater plane was revealed in all its glory.

When we boarded everyone seems a bit nervous especially when the captain gave us a two minute safety spiel than sat down in front of us, in plain view! The runway seemed too short and all our bags were piled up on the floor at the back. Somersaults were taking place in more than one belly it’s safe to say. We were treated to a fabulous view as we turned around in the air over Boracay and the whole trip Ash spent gazing out the window at the tiny islands we drifted over. When we got close to the airport we circled around a mini mountain range and landed by a tiny building surrounded by miles and miles of fields. This was Busuanga domestic airport.

Upon our arrival we were loaded on to a waiting jeepney although it didn’t leave for another hour or so as it had to wait for all the airline staff and a second flight to land. The trip was an experience; the road was uneven and a few times the whole jeep leant precariously but we managed to get to Coron town in one piece. The journey through fields on a dirt track was beautiful if a little cramped in the back. On the road we passed rugged, grassy hills rolling on either side. Young men stood on the back, hanging on to the roof rack trying to shield themselves from the passing rain shower.

When we arrived at Coron town we were the first people to get out at the Sea Dive resort. After about an hour we recognised about 3 other tables of our fellow passengers who’d ended up there too. We checked in to a third floor room with views overlooking the Coron Public Market and paid P960 which we thought at the time was quite pricey but decided it was worth it later. Our room was palatial with a fridge, air con and a really good shower. We had a balcony and wooden floors with wicker covered walls. It really was very pretty. One minor drawback was the noise of all varieties emanating from the market place. Early in the morning it was roosters for a few hours followed by the squeals of pigs as they were led to slaughter and finished off by locals wailing Karaoke songs into the night. Earplugs are recommended for light sleepers!

We met the girls, Laura and Corrie, as we were checking in and had lunch catching up. These were two of Fred’s (our divemaster instructor from Boracay) friends we’d met up with on Boracay and arranged to meet here. They had started their wreck diving speciality course and highly recommended their instructor, Gerd. We signed up for our wreck and nitrox specialities and tried to wrangle a discount although we weren’t too successful.

The girls were also working on getting a boat trip to Apo Reef organised which would involve staying on the boat for 3 days / 2 nights. The resort has a wonderful restaurant overlooking the bay where they serve a very reasonable set menu every night with three choices and each including starter, mains and a dessert. We ate here most nights enjoying prawns, lobster, beef oyster and blue marlin to name but a few. One night we ventured to the French Bistro in town about a 5 minute walk from our resort. We dined on pizza and sushi and said our goodbyes to Eilian, a new friend we’d met on Boracay, who joined us on our second day but only for the night. He did arrive to our dive boat in style earlier that day, on the back of a jet ski with his backpack on. It was quite funny.

Our nitrox course was quick and easy but the wreck was far more detailed. We did two fun dives the day before we started it so were used to the low visibility around the wrecks and the strongest current we had was on the first day. Coron is famous in the diving community because of the fleet of Japanese WWII ships that were sunk during a surprise attack launched by the Americans. It was reported at the time that 24 ships were sunk but only about 10 of them have been found. Some of them are in amazing condition and are still penetratable although they deteriorate every year. We were lucky enough to dive on the Irako, Akitsushima, Taiei maru, Olympia, Tangat and the Kyokuzan which was sunk on the north side of the island.

As part of our course we learned to lay reels on the deck of the ship and inside. We learned how to map the wreck and look for signs of stress in the structure and as part of Gerd’s hard core training we practiced a silt out. This happens when you are deep in the wreck and people kick up all the silt leaving you blind. It can be quite scary but if you’ve experienced it before at least you won’t panic, or at least that’s the idea. The trick is to follow your line and breath slowly so as not to waste air. As Ash was tying off her line in the anchor room of the Tangat we all heard a loud banging noise which Ash assumed meant we were all about to die. Gerd ignored it though and wouldn’t let us leave till we finished the exercise which went off without a hitch. Later when we asked him about the noise he said he’d no idea what caused it but he’s heard it before and perhaps the ship is haunted!!

The Apo reef trip worked out in the end despite a few false starts and grumbles along the way due to last minute itinerary changes we weren’t notified about. The trip involved a day and two dives at the WWII wreck, the Kyokuzan. In one of the cargo holds it’s still possible to see the remains of a car while in another there’s white staining from an asbestos leak. We then anchored in a bay at the top of Busuanga Island and ate dinner cooked by the culinary genius and divemaster, No noi.

After dinner we were treated to a spectacular sunset on the roof of the boat before we discovered the cockroach infestation in our bunk room and crashed fully clothed. Laura woke up with a cockroach on her hand and spent the second night sleeping out in the open on the roof, not surprisingly! Early the next morning we set out for Apo reef where we squeezed in four dives, including one at night. The last day we had three dives morning dives starting just after sunrise.

On our second dive we saw our first ever manta ray up close and personal. It was an absolutely amazing experience. Ade was very low on air and we’d been down for nearly an hour so we decided to surface, but while we were counting down our safety stop Ash noticed the huge manta ray swimming past right behind Ade. We descended quickly and followed it sharing air once Ade did run out. We saw lots of turtles, angelfish, white tip reef sharks, lobster, porcupinefish and many others.

On our last day in Coron we took a day trip to Coron Island which is across the water from Coron town (on the island of Busuanga). This island is privy to two fairly unique dives. The first was called a Cathedral dive and involved descending in the open water then swimming at 10ft into a cave in the island and surfacing in a fresh water tavern within the island. It was pretty amazing although the smell of bat poo and the knowledge we had to put the regulator back in our mouths was none too appealing.

Back inside the cave we visited a little cave which branched off the main one where loads of crabs, prawns and lobsters lived. We dined on the boat before arriving at the other end of the island 15 minutes from the resort to dive in the thermal lake. We walked to shore with our tanks on then climbed some pretty jagged and scary looking rocks to the edge of the lake. We didn’t have our camera which is a shame because the view was fabulous. Absolutely breathtaking. Ash gave up carrying her tank half way through the 20 meter climb and a teenaged Filipino boy took it off her and then promptly stumbled over leaving her feeling mortified. He took it on the way back too though! The lake is brackish which means there are layers of freshwater and saltwater. Its temperature changes in layers too, from quite cool to very warm. It was a brilliant dive, which we would definitely do again.

On the day we were to leave there was a print out on the bulletin board of an expected typhoon that was to hit at 2pm. Guess what time our flight was? Turns out the storm veered off course slightly, although we did have a very bumpy flight closer to Manila.

At the airport security thoroughly searched people’s bags but gave up by the time they got ours. We didn’t pay any excess luggage costs this time either because we are divers. Apparently there is an allowance on SeaAir flights even if they aren’t carrying any diving gear!

Back in Manila we had a nervous taxi ride with an inquisitive driver who kept asking us questions, then reporting back to base and being told to ask us more questions. We were nearly sure we would be driven in to an alley and robbed until he asked could he have an extra P50 on top of the fare. We laughed with relief, P50 is about $1. If he did have ulterior motives he would ask for a much higher fee or not ask at all. The streets of Manila are not too friendly and we spotted many street kids while walking around at night.

We did find one nice restaurant where Ash had purple coloured ice cream, Ube flavour. It was quite delicious. Ade’ package arrived necessitating a trip to the main post office. The poor customs official thought he’s hit the jackpot when he saw the value of the underwater housing and dive computer lead and it took him awhile to realise we were not living in the Philippines and therefore he’d no right to charge us. His subordinate had to convince him as his English wasn’t great. While there we finally posted all of our dive books home which cost $100!

In the morning of our flight was asked reception where Clark airport was to catch our flight to Singapore and it turns out its not in Manila at all. We had to get a taxi to a bus station on the other side of town then a 3 hour bus to a town just past Angeles. We drove past
Coron TownCoron TownCoron Town

(sign copyright Hollywood!)
a few slums on the way which looked grim. The bus was quite nice though and we watched an Arnie Christmas movie en route. After the movie we were treated to the radio where we heard a funny Christmas advertisement from one of the supermarkets, we think. The song was to the tune of Happy Birthday played out on a child’s cradle and at the end a little kids voice says ‘Happy birthday baby Jesus’. The Christmas season has definitely kicked off the in predominantly Catholic country of the Philippines!



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Moored By Coron IslandMoored By Coron Island
Moored By Coron Island

For thermal lake dive


8th April 2008

Don't ttell me you ate those Bulat Ash? Look disgusting! Just washed Scousers beat Arsenal 4-2 in 2nd leg of Champions League.

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