Apo Reef & Coron Wrecks

[Muzzman]

Starting on 2nd Nov, direct flights start to Manila from London, so for a 2 week break where would you recommend and what time of year? I was think Apo Reef and the Coron Wrecks, any other suggestions? The missus wants to go to Palawan but I've heard the diving is a bit pants.

I've dived Bohol in the Philippines before but nowhere else.

We went travelling last year and we were supposed to end the year with me doing my DM on Apo Island but I got cold feet after 10 months and came home and got a job which in hindsight was the worst decision of my life. Very bored at the mo.

 

[Makhno]

Apo Reef and Coron is a great trip. Apo Reef is sort of "Tubbataha Lite" -- an ostensibly protected reef with lots of fishes, some turtles and reef sharks, etc. I saw at least one white-tip reef shark or two on every dive we did there over a two day period and a handful of turtles too, along with lots of reef fishes and pelagics as well. To get an idea of what you might see, here's my buddy's photo gallery from our trip: Philippines (2013) | Apo Reef - Images | Thomas Koenig Photography

We did 2 days at Apo Reef and 3 days at Coron. I really loved Coron bceause I really love wreck diving. After Truk, Coron has the most and the best Japanese World War II wrecks at diveable depths anywhere in the world. Some of my buddies who were not wreck enthusiasts before the trip also ended up really loving the 3 days we did at Coron, and are now much more interested in wreck diving.

We chartered the liveaboard Rags II, which was excellent in every regard. It's a small boat by liveaboard standards (only 27 meters long, with only 4 cabins with bunks for 8 divers), but is actually quite spacious for such a small group. Cabins were more comfortable than most others I've had on liveaboard trips. The food was great, management and crew were great, and unlimited beer and nitrox were included in the price. I'm actually trying to organize another charter of the same boat to go back to Coron (this time only Coron, and this time only tec divers). Rags 2 departs from and returns to Puerto Galera, so we did (and I recommend) a couple days of diving at PG before the liveaboard and a couple more days of diving at PG after the liveaboard. Quite good diving there, too -- especially reef fishes and macro stuff like ghost pipefish, frogfish, and nudibranchs.

So if you like wrecks and if you want to see a lot of fishes on a healthy reef and some sharks and turtles (some macro stuff too), Apo Reef and Coron would be a good trip. Even better with a few days at Puerto Galera tacked on. If Rags II is fully booked when you want to go, there are other liveaboards, and of course shore-based diving is possible too, although maybe not as good value or as convenient.

However, as I suggested in another thread, if I had to recommend only one diving destination in the Philippines I would suggest Malapascua because it has so much diversity of types of diving -- big animals, macro critters, a couple of good wrecks, etc. (But I'm eager to get back to dive those wrecks at Coron, whereas I don't expect to go back to Malapascua any time soon. To each his own.)

 

[Muzzman]

Great reply Makhno, thanks. Something i should add is my misses has only done about 40 dives (all last year) and is AOW, i've done about 150 and have the deep water speciality but i haven't done any tec courses would this limit our enjoyment of Coron? The misses also is a bit anti the idea of a liveaboard but i think i could overturn that one.

Malapascua looks great but i'm not sure if i want to spend two weeks in one place, could you twin this with somewhere else within the two weeks available to us?

Would it be possible to dive PG, Coron and Malapascua within two weeks. We'd look to fly, use fast boats etc where possible

 

[Centrals]

1. There is a tropical storm heading to Northern Philippines at the moment.
2. Rags II is in dry dock until mid Nov.
3. Coron, Malapascua and PG in two wks will require a lot of travelling.
4. Some of the wrecks in Coron are in relatively deep water ie. deeper than 30m.
My suggestion:
1. Coron and Malapascua
2. Malapascua and Southern Leyte
3. Coron, El Nido(not great) and then travel down to Puerto Princesa with a stop at the Underground River.

Have fun.

 

[Muzzman]

I'm beginning to think it might be an idea to leave Coron until we're a bit more experienced and do No.2 on the list

 

[Darnold9999]

Something to keep in mind is that the vis in Coron can be very poor. (When I was there less than 20 feet) I am not sure if it is seasonal or what, but at 40 dives if you have not dealt with poor vis Coron might be a bit much.

 

[Allison Finch]

Having been to Coron, I don't see why people think this needs to be a tec trip. The diving is quite easy and mostly within rec limits. While vis may not always be the best, the life on the wrecks is amazing. The wreck are heavily salvaged and penetrations don't require indepth tec training, IMO.

 

[Centrals]

I'm beginning to think it might be an idea to leave Coron until we're a bit more experienced and do No.2 on the list

The typhoon had just left.
Subic Bay also has couple of interesting wrecks(USS New York and LST). However, you should call the dive shop first because New York could be off-limited if Uncle Sam's Navy is in town!!
Malapascua is highly recommended. Think about the thresher shark!

 

[FT]

Time of year recommendation: January to June or July. After that, you could be just fine and the diving could be just fine, or your number in the negative lottery might come up and your trip be spoiled by a typhoon. Stay away from Holy Week and book ahead if you might hit Golden Week.

Malapascua is lovely, and of course you do get to tick the thresher sharks and maybe mandarinfish off your life list. However, I'd return to Apo Island again and again for the stunning biodiversity and super-easy diving, while the same is not true of Malapascua. Puerto Galera also scores for novice/refresher diving whilst offering chances to add more challenge (interesting little wrecks, Verde Island).

In case, just in case, dear Muzzman, you and the missus are near my age bracket, I might mention that the boat transfers en route to Malapascua involve getting on to a little launch from the beach at Maya and transferring to a larger pump boat. Making that leap can be tricky if the sea is not calm. At the other end, it depends on tides: your pump boat may run up on to the beach for you, necessitating only a few steps down a plank, or you may have to do another leap to a small boat to get to shore. Same transfers may be involved in each dive, again depending on tides. Thank goodness for strong, helpful boatmen.

On reflection, you could interpret this as reason to go to Malapascua quick, before your knees get any older.






For a mere two week break, ease of transport is everything. So much travel within the Phils involves flying that trying to hit three places could keep you out of the water for four or five days, ptui!

Any of the following combos would minimize your travel time and offer great diving:

Puerto Galera (land/sea transfer from Manila 3-5 hours) with Bohol (fly Manila-Tagbilaran) or with Apo Island (fly Manila-Dumaguete, another couple of hours at most land/sea)

Malapascua with Moalboal (fly to Cebu, land transfers between the two), or with Apo Island (fast ferry or fly Cebu-Dumaguete), or with Bohol (fast ferry Cebu-Tagbilaran)

That liveaboard combo of PG / Apo Reef / Coron sounds like something I'll add to my next Phils dream and is also certainly doable in two weeks. With a third week, one could add Southern Leyte, which probably is less difficult to reach than I've been imagining.

Agree that El Nido diving is meh.

 

[Tippytoes12]

I did Malapascua and Maolboal in a 17night trip last February.....absolutely wonderful wonderful diving. Cathay Pacific fly to Honk Kong over the North Pole apparently , so it is a really quick flight from London. Then there is a quick layover and you can then fly onto Cebu...so miss out on Manila. The fares were very reasonable ...and Cebu is a lovely little airport...with access to awesome diving.


You will love the Philippines

Best fishes x