Palawan Trip Report-Puerto Princesa, Tubbataha, El Nido, Coron

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thanks so far for the great read, bill. Just a quick question - where did you stay in Coron and what dive op did you go with?

I ended up going with Sea Dive...

Dive classes have started up for the summer and I'm assisting with those... time to finish up my Divemaster, it got put on hold last year. I've completed most of it. The instructor had asked me to wait on another candidate so we can do some of the requirements together. (I'm tired of waiting :wink:) Working with real live students is better than simulating anyway in my opinion.

I'm also still diving with the club. Night dive tomorrow night at Hayama and diving Osezaki on Saturday. Also supposed to be helping out a tv crew who are doing a "Discover Local Diving" spot. That will be next weekend.

I'm going to make a concerted effort to do Coron by Sunday.... Sorry for the delay.
 
I am seeing the large photos also, no problems.

You do a wonderful job creating informative and entertaining trip reports. Thanks for the effort!

Thanks! :)
 
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Great trip report. very detailed.

I checked into Tubbataha a month ago as I am already in Bohol. Expedition Fleets wanted a $100.00 fuel surcharge at a time when world oil prices are at a record low! If they want another $100.00 just raise the price of the trip. That insulted my intelligence :no:
I told them I was interested in the lowest price room and didn't mind sharing a room as I was traveling alone. They offered me the honeymoon suite for 50% more? That also insulted my intelligence :no:
NO Tubbataha trip

When you get to be my age and have your pension in your pocket every month and don't much give a damn it's real easy to tell some people those two words that rhyme with "chuck who"
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I'm off to Coron on May 31 to dive the wrecks. Always wanted to do it.

I never dealt with Expedition Fleet directly. I was originally supposed to go with M/V Southern Cruise. Violet from "Nature Awareness and Conservation Club" (who I met on facebook and sometimes posts here now) told me about the trip originally and helped me set it up. I later dealt with Mike from "Deep Outdoors". When my original trip fell through, Mike re-booked me on Borneo Explorer. I did end up paying 5000 pesos extra, but I got a room to myself and 2 extra dive days :)

I suspect this had something to do with it being last minute and the fact that they didn't go out full. I've heard that you can sometimes get really good deals by booking late. It allows you to take advantage of cancellations or poor sales... Better to fill a room with someone than go empty I think :wink:
 
I left El Nido on Tuesday, 28 April on the "Jessabel" for Coron. It was a short trike ride for 15 pesos to the pier. The fare was 2200 pesos.

I had been told to be there by 7:30 AM. It wasn't to bad, the ferry actually left only 20 minutes late :wink: They made all of us put life jackets on before the boat would leave. Of course as soon as the boat had cleared El Nido, the life jackets came off! They made pretty nice pillows!

The ride to Coron was long. I had brought water and snacks. Beer, water, and sodas were for sell on the boat. I would occasionally take photos of passing scenery. Chat with other passengers, and nap. The boat stopped a couple of times. Once because the prop fouled. Someone put on a mask and free dived to clear it.

Another time because of an engine problem which was fixed fairly quickly, then again when large amounts of smoke started coming out. That took a little longer :D

We finally made it to Coron around 3:15PM... Fortunately the seas were pretty calm, it was still seemed like a long day on the boat ;-)

To be continued....


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After getting checked in and dropping off my bags in my room, I headed to the dive shop where I finally met Chris who I started corresponding with last year when I first started thinking about diving in Coron.

I filled out paperwork including a current medical questionnaire and showed my C-Card. I'd never been asked to fill out a medical questionnaire before and asked Chris about that. He'd actually had someone who had just gotten out of the hospital after being bent and wanted to dive! There's liability of course, but more importantly the safety of the diver. Just because Sea Dive has the only re-compression chamber in in Busuanga doesn't mean they want to use it!

I asked if I could do a night dive and was told no problem. While the dive shop set that up for me, I went back to my room to setup my camera and bring down the rest of my gear. I finally was getting the chance to dive DIN which turned out to be a good thing as I had somehow managed to lose my DIN-Yoke adapter :-(

The first dive was at Siete Pecados Marine Park. This really is a can't miss dive while you are in Coron. There are things to see besides the wrecks ;-) It was only a short boat ride from Sea Dive. As it was high tide the boat came right up to the resort. During low tide we anchored out and took a small boat in while we were there.

Sea Dive is another very professionally run dive shop. My guide gave a thorough brief, and we went through buddy checks before entering the water. Entry was a giant stride. Although I had been warned, I was immediately struck by the fact that the visibility was not the best... okay, I'll say it, the worst I had seen in the Philippines. Despite this it still turned out to be one of my best dives!

We entered the water at 5:09 PM. Visibility was maybe 30 feet. Water temp was 85F. There were some really nice corals, plenty of nudibranchs, flatworms, clams, pipefish, lionfish, pufferfish, all the usual suspects were there. We saw a sea turtle, a juvenile sweetlips, batfish, and at the end of the dive a large green moray who was out for the hunt, I think, and wanted nothing to do with camera or lights, as I never got close enough to get a good picture.

Maximum depth was 56 feet. We exited the water at 6:52PM after a 1 hour and 41 minute dive. Since it was full dark when we came out, I told my guide, "no problem", you can charge me for a night dive on this one ;-)

It was a bit cool at night in Coron. I recommend bringing a jacket or sweatshirt for the ride back on night dives or just walking around at night.

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To be continued....
 
2,200 fare??? ouch... and a 12hour passage? damn that's a long and expensive way... then again it does beat having to head back down to PPS then working your way back up via air or sea...

Jag

There were people on the boat who had paid less... seemed to depend on what agent you used, or maybe how much they gauged you were able to pay :)

You're right, it would have taken MUCH longer to go back to Puerto Princesa and then try to get a ferry. This is what worked the best.

I should have mentioned that the ferry runs on Tuesdays and Friday normally. I was told that sometimes a boat would go on Monday also. I was so irritated after going to El Nido Marine Club that I almost skipped diving El Nido altogether. I enquired about the earlier boat on my way to Palawan Divers and was told on the way back to the hotel that they could get me to Coron the next day. After the MUCH better reception I got at Palawan Divers, I decided to stay and dive El Nido as I had originally planned. I'm glad that I did :)
 
2,200 fare??? ouch... and a 12hour passage? damn that's a long and expensive way... then again it does beat having to head back down to PPS then working your way back up via air or sea...

Jag

Sorry, I wrote this after 1AM and I mis-read the time. It was around 3:15 PM when we got there... still a long day, but only about 7 1/2 hours on the ferry. Would have been less except for the problems with the boat.

I was asked once how I do these reports. It's a combination of my dive log, notes, receipts, and photos, along with memory. For times I usually look at my log or my photos. Another reason I need to finish up... my memory is starting to go :D

For arrival time in Coron I looked at the photo that I took of Sea Dive as we were arriving. I read "07:21 PM". What it actually says is, "3:07:21 PM"

I just accepted it as correct... I went to bed very late (working on photos and trying to finish this up). When I responded to your post just after getting up this morning, I didn't snap to the fact that the times didn't add up.

Sorry :(
 
I had been told by Chris the night before to meet in the restaurant at 9AM. I was up early for breakfast. The restaurant at Sea Dive has a self-serve coffee/tea area. Just help yourself. While I was there I would go down and have a leisurely breakfast and take advantage of the free wireless internet in the restaurant. (not yet available in the rooms). Not the fastest connection, but this is normal away from the larger cities in the Philippines. It was nice just to be able to check email :)

Promptly at 9AM the boat was ready. It was high tide so the boat came right up to the restaurant and we just walked aboard. There were 3 other divers on the boat. A young couple from Spain, Juan and Sonia, and another diver from Germany who despite diving with him all day... I can't remember his name now (sorry I'm horrible at names :shakehead:).

After a boat ride of just over an hour and a half we were at the first dive site of the day, the Akitsushima. A Japanese seaplane tender, it's lying on it's port side in approximately 118 feet of water. We were divided up into buddy teams, each with a guide. My German friend and I would penetrate the wreck with our guide. We both had experience diving wrecks and were certified for it. The Akitsushima is quite tore up inside and is not a wreck for someone who is inexperienced.

We first checked out the crane that was used to raise and lower seaplanes into the water. We then did a penetration into the wreck starting at the stern where we able to see the machinery for operating the crane. As I said earlier, it was quite tore up inside. Some areas were a bit of a squeeze. I remember thinking that going with a lower profile bp/w setup had been a good idea. Definitely not a wreck for someone who is a new diver or who is claustrophobic!

My maximum depth on this dive was 112 feet. Visibility was not the best, 30-35 feet. Water temperature was 86F. Dive time was 42 minutes. Because of the visibility I had opted to use my 60mm Micro-Nikkor. I felt I was more likely to see stuff I could do macro on. I took very few photos. There were a fair number of fish as there usually are around wrecks, batfish, yellowfin tuna, even some small barracuda. After exiting I saw a nice scorpionfish on the outside of the hull and a small school of razorfish swimming vertically through the water.

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Lunch was served on the boat after the first dive. Fresh fish, chicken, a vegetable I'm having a hard time remembering now :wink:... I remember that is was good :)

We then moved the boat to our second dive site, the Taiei Maru. The Taiei Maru is freighter lying in just over 80 feet of water on it's starboard side. It's a very open wreck. The port side is only 35-40 feet deep and is covered in hard corals. Lots of batfish, three different species of nudibranchs, flatworm, anemonefish, grouper on the upper portside. Lobster inside. We could see the boilers when we penetrated. A nice dive.

My maximum depth on this dive was 84 feet. We had a 45 minute dive. Water temperature was cooler, 82F. Visibility was 30-35 feet.

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The last dive of the day was the Lusong Gunboat near Lusong Island. My camera died at this point (battery), so no photos here :( I neglected to bring my spare battery (a mistake I didn't make the next day :wink:)

The wreck lies in just over 30 feet of water and is covered in hard corals. There was a pearl farm nearby. Visibility was only about 25-30 feet. Some nice fish life. Towards the end of the dive we saw two scorpionfish. One was biting the other just above the dorsal fin. We couldn't tell if they were fighting or mating. After a little struggling back and forth, they separated and the one who was being bitten got away. I had never seen a scorpionfish do anything but just lay on the bottom. They move very fast! I was sorry I was unable to take any photos :(

To be continued.....
 
Sorry, I wrote this after 1AM and I mis-read the time. It was around 3:15 PM when we got there... still a long day, but only about 7 1/2 hours on the ferry. Would have been less except for the problems with the boat.

I was asked once how I do these reports. It's a combination of my dive log, notes, receipts, and photos, along with memory. For times I usually look at my log or my photos. Another reason I need to finish up... my memory is starting to go :D

For arrival time in Coron I looked at the photo that I took of Sea Dive as we were arriving. I read "07:21 PM". What it actually says is, "3:07:21 PM"

I just accepted it as correct... I went to bed very late (working on photos and trying to finish this up). When I responded to your post just after getting up this morning, I didn't snap to the fact that the times didn't add up.

Sorry :(
no problem... even superman has his off days :rofl:

Jag
 

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