WWII Wreck Diving

Around a dozen Japanese supply ships sunk in 1944, now dive sites

Address Coron Bay, Palawan

Coron is one of the great wreck-diving destinations of Asia. The ships — auxiliary supply vessels, tankers, freighters, a seaplane tender — lie scattered across the bay between Coron and Busuanga, most of them in 10 to 40 metres of water and accessible to recreational divers. Visibility is variable but the marine life is extraordinary: schools of batfish, lionfish, scorpionfish, nudibranchs everywhere, and reef life now covering virtually every steel surface.

The most popular wrecks are the Akitsushima (a seaplane tender, deeper at around 38 m), the Olympia Maru (a freighter, well-suited to penetration), the Irako (a refrigeration ship, the deepest of the main sites), and the shallow Lusong gunboat, parts of which lie at only a few metres and can be snorkelled. Most dive operators in Coron town run daily two- and three-tank trips to the wrecks; advanced or wreck certifications are recommended for the deeper sites.

things to do sight nature
A story
On 24 September 1944, US Navy Task Force 38 launched the longest-range carrier air strike of the Pacific War — 340 nautical miles — to attack a fleet of Japanese supply ships that had taken refuge in the protected waters around Coron. Twenty-four aircraft sank or damaged around a dozen vessels in a single day. The wrecks lie at depths between 10 and 40 metres and are among the most famous shallow-wreck dives in the world.

Other places in Things to Do