jonix
Contributor
Halthron:Doctor of loooooovvveee
oh man...now here's dr. cupid with a backplate :laughing:
Coron Adventure Diving: Wrecks, Caves, Lakes! Trip Report (Jan 21-22)
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oh man...now here's dr. cupid with a backplate :laughing:
jonix
Contributor
pakman:
So after a long pasaway conversation, lets get back to the report...
the second day we were eating breakfast at 8:30am. No wreck diving today, just pure adventure dives. We piled on to the Bangka and made the 1hr 45 min trip to the first site, not knowing what to expect…. (I did all my dives in just swim shorts)
Gunther’s Cathedral (52 mins dive time, 15 min SI time inside)
Here’s a pic I took when approaching Gunther’s Cathedral:
Here’s a pic of the entrance (general area) to Gunther’s Cathedral:
Time in: 11:21am
Time out: 12:13pm
Viz: 0m – 40m
Max Depth: 12.9m
Overall:
* Gunther’s cathedral is a MUST SEE if you’ll be heading to Coron not only for the wrecks. It is not always accessible since the area is prone to rough weather. So if you have the chance, go for it!
* We all dived together as a group, but Bobby and Carrol (the other DM) planned something special for me and Spoon. We gathered around the entrance of the cave which had amazing viz (40m +)! I dare say better than any viz I’ve experienced in Anilao. I also enjoyed seeing the topography, which were rolling hills of corals. There were not many reef fishes though.
* Entering the tunnel, Bobby layed the lined, follow by the photographers. Next were all the rest and I was at the very back.
* After clearing the silt (don’t worry, the divers made it silty, it’s usually very clear) we entered “Gunther’s Cathedral”, a cavern with blue light penetrating from the small gap in the top corner. The bottom consisted of soft sand (had to be careful not to silt it up) and the walls of hard rock (no slimly feel to it).
* So the surprise planned for me and spoon was the penetration of the side cavern. We excitedly snuck off from the rest of the group and made our way to the second tunnel. Purple managed to see our lights and pleaded with me to come with. Sure why not. And then she ended up silting the second tunnel for me…(I was last, she was second last).
* The only thing I could say about the second cavern was if you went up far enough you would enter the halocline – which was cool cause I was looking down at Spoon and Carol who were blurred up.
* When we came back to the main cavern we surfaced to join everyone else who were on their backs enjoying the cave structures (see Halthron’s pics and gallery).
* After enjoying the majestic view for about 10 mins, we proceeded back outside the cavern. The silt was even worse going back out and thank goodness the line didn’t come loose!
* Outside we took about 15 mins to take some pics. The water was crystal clear, the sun was shining, and we just experienced something my dive report cannot do justice. Just go see it for yourself and you’ll know the after-euphoric effect.
Notes:
* To be frank, I was quite upset with the divers who did not listen to Bobby’s one and only rule of DO NOT HOLD THE LINE! Just make an OK sign around it! Yes, there was tugging on the line which caused it to come loose at the corner bend (I played hero and fixed it :14
. One diver got tangled in it and panicked so Carrol and I had to help him out. I have to say kudos to Carrol for calming him down!
* there were multiple schools of cave fish which was awesome! I freaked out the first time I experienced cave fish since I was in a very small tunnel so seeing them gracefully navigate around the blue lit cave was quite a site.
Here’s a pic of me and a cool cat after our Cathedral dive:
And for the pic of me with a foxy PPDer click here.
So our 2hr 46 minute SI consisted of lunch and a 1.5 hr trip to a place that could be described as something out of the Tolkien books. I’d have to say this was my most highly anticipated dive site of the entire trip and it lived up to my expectations….
____________
the second day we were eating breakfast at 8:30am. No wreck diving today, just pure adventure dives. We piled on to the Bangka and made the 1hr 45 min trip to the first site, not knowing what to expect…. (I did all my dives in just swim shorts)
Gunther’s Cathedral (52 mins dive time, 15 min SI time inside)
Named after its founder, Gunther, it is a cave under Coron Island directly connected to the sea. Cathedral Cave is a beautiful dive spot. It starts 6 meters deep at a hole in the bottom of the sea next to the sheer rock wall of Coron Island. You enter a tunnel and descend to 12 meters. Then you pass out of the tunnel and see a shaft of daylight penetrating the interior of a cave. This creates a blue glow in the water. The roof of the cave has collapsed sending down a full sized tree. The skeletal trunk and main branches of the tree rest on top of the sand mound in the middle of the cave. You follow the light and surface inside a big underground cavern – the cathedral. Prepare to be amazed by the crystal formations. You can continue to another passage that leads to a chamber with an air pocket above ocean level.
Here’s a pic I took when approaching Gunther’s Cathedral:
Here’s a pic of the entrance (general area) to Gunther’s Cathedral:
Time in: 11:21am
Time out: 12:13pm
Viz: 0m – 40m
Max Depth: 12.9m
Overall:
* Gunther’s cathedral is a MUST SEE if you’ll be heading to Coron not only for the wrecks. It is not always accessible since the area is prone to rough weather. So if you have the chance, go for it!
* We all dived together as a group, but Bobby and Carrol (the other DM) planned something special for me and Spoon. We gathered around the entrance of the cave which had amazing viz (40m +)! I dare say better than any viz I’ve experienced in Anilao. I also enjoyed seeing the topography, which were rolling hills of corals. There were not many reef fishes though.
* Entering the tunnel, Bobby layed the lined, follow by the photographers. Next were all the rest and I was at the very back.
* After clearing the silt (don’t worry, the divers made it silty, it’s usually very clear) we entered “Gunther’s Cathedral”, a cavern with blue light penetrating from the small gap in the top corner. The bottom consisted of soft sand (had to be careful not to silt it up) and the walls of hard rock (no slimly feel to it).
* So the surprise planned for me and spoon was the penetration of the side cavern. We excitedly snuck off from the rest of the group and made our way to the second tunnel. Purple managed to see our lights and pleaded with me to come with. Sure why not. And then she ended up silting the second tunnel for me…(I was last, she was second last).
* The only thing I could say about the second cavern was if you went up far enough you would enter the halocline – which was cool cause I was looking down at Spoon and Carol who were blurred up.
* When we came back to the main cavern we surfaced to join everyone else who were on their backs enjoying the cave structures (see Halthron’s pics and gallery).
* After enjoying the majestic view for about 10 mins, we proceeded back outside the cavern. The silt was even worse going back out and thank goodness the line didn’t come loose!
* Outside we took about 15 mins to take some pics. The water was crystal clear, the sun was shining, and we just experienced something my dive report cannot do justice. Just go see it for yourself and you’ll know the after-euphoric effect.
Notes:
* To be frank, I was quite upset with the divers who did not listen to Bobby’s one and only rule of DO NOT HOLD THE LINE! Just make an OK sign around it! Yes, there was tugging on the line which caused it to come loose at the corner bend (I played hero and fixed it :14
. One diver got tangled in it and panicked so Carrol and I had to help him out. I have to say kudos to Carrol for calming him down! * there were multiple schools of cave fish which was awesome! I freaked out the first time I experienced cave fish since I was in a very small tunnel so seeing them gracefully navigate around the blue lit cave was quite a site.
Here’s a pic of me and a cool cat after our Cathedral dive:
And for the pic of me with a foxy PPDer click here.
So our 2hr 46 minute SI consisted of lunch and a 1.5 hr trip to a place that could be described as something out of the Tolkien books. I’d have to say this was my most highly anticipated dive site of the entire trip and it lived up to my expectations….
____________
Dive 2: Barracuda Lake (62 mins)
So before I begin the stats, here’s a little about getting to the lake…
* The entrance to Barracuda lake is located in your characteristic Palawan cove. Here’s what I mean:
Spoon and I were so excited to dive we didn’t even wait for the bangka to dock yet, we jumped in with our gear and waded over to the entrance! But we took some pics along the way:
Here’s the entrance (Purple and Iris):
* The climb isn’t as bad as people think it is. The path is pretty much like climbing over a wall. Without gear it’s pretty easy. But with gear…well you guys saw the pic Caloy posted of me. I should have done the first climb with sunglasses on like this maricone!:
^^ It’s a cake walk for this guy!
So then we traverse along the top of the wall and climb down on the other side:
Pic (from the bottom) of Iris and Halthron climbing down:
So this is a pic of the lake entrance (taken by Iris). Don’t mind that sexy husky guy in the way
:
Before descending we took a group pic:
^ The Coron divers, Jan 21-22.
Time in: 3:09
Time out: 4:11
Viz: >1 – 30m
Max Depth: 30m
Overall:
* Barracuda lake is another dive site that is a must experience!
* you could really feel the thermocline! The top water layer I read 28C but at 30m it was 37C!!! It really felt like a jacuzzi! I'm glad I didn't wear a wet suit.
* What’s even better was at the thermocline you could wash the water up to make it blurry.
* The group split up into two. And Carol ended up leading me and Purple around. We got to go deeper. :14:
* The bottom silt was pretty cool – I was able to push my entire arm right through! Easily siltable.
* There isn’t really a lot of wildlife around – just a whole lot of gobies, snails, and cleaner shrimp.
* the cleaner shrimp was my highlight. You could put your hand down right next to it’s den and it will clean it! It felt pretty awesome.
* The rock structures were beautiful: they looked like castle towers. It was cool passing inbetween them:
Iris. You can see her a mile away with her very yellow equipment:
Halthron. You blinked!:
* In general, this dive was surreal! Once more, my dive report cannot do Barracuda Lake justice. Seriously, go visit and see for yourself.
Notes:
* sure hope Purple posts her pics!
* In the beginning of the dive an Italian group were coming out. Out of the 12 divers in our group, they for some reason chose to talk to me. I didn't know if they were making fun of me or not...
* Felt bad Spoon didn’t tag along with us but I met up with him at the end. Just for shiets and giggles we both took our fins off at 30 ft and climbed the wall once our deco stop ended. Felt like rock climbing on the moon! We were the last ones out:
Halthron and Spoon at the entrance:
The climb back to the bangka was easier since our tanks were empty.
____________
Dive 3: Carrol’s Rock (41 mins)
The last and final dive of the trip was nothing special. There was a small island just off of the entrance to barracuda lake entrance so we decided to check it out. There actually is no name to this reef, I just named it after our DM.
Time in: 4:54pm
Time out: 5:35pm
Viz: ~15m
Max Depth: 21m
Overall:
* Lots of hard corals, including a huge monospecies field of acropora. Lost of goatfishes inbetween them.
* The coolest thing about the dive was the large school of yellowtail and bolinao following us around. Either they have never seen divers before and were curious or they thought we were a school of fish so decided to tag along for the extra protection.
Notes:
* I know that it’s not good to compare different reef systems, but it reminded me of a crappy Anilao. But I wouldn’t use this reef to generalize Coron reef diving.
So to make the ending short, we arrived back at the resort to shower and pack up. After eating dinner we settled our bills and headed off for the superferry. The trip back was chill. Played taboo with Iris, Purple and Halthron then watched the Pacquiao vs. Morales fight with Spoon.
And we lived happily ever after…
Any ON-TOPIC questions?
This spectacular dive starts with some challenging mountain climbing in full diving equipment over sharp limestone cliffs. It is the last and most accessible of the 7 sacred island lakes. Your bangka enters a hidden cove to the entrance – the beginning of your climb. The climb takes about 10-15 minutes and the exertion is worth the dive and not to mention the view. The scenery around the lake is spectacular and the under water terrain has been likened to flying over the surface of another planet. The top layer is fresh water. Below that the water is salt. There are dynamic changes of water temperature in the lake with temperatures ranging from 26 to 38 Celsius. You can even see the thermoclines at different depths. At deeper depths the water changes from crystal clear to tea brown due to the tannic acid in the leaves that fall into the lake.
So before I begin the stats, here’s a little about getting to the lake…
* The entrance to Barracuda lake is located in your characteristic Palawan cove. Here’s what I mean:
Spoon and I were so excited to dive we didn’t even wait for the bangka to dock yet, we jumped in with our gear and waded over to the entrance! But we took some pics along the way:
Here’s the entrance (Purple and Iris):
* The climb isn’t as bad as people think it is. The path is pretty much like climbing over a wall. Without gear it’s pretty easy. But with gear…well you guys saw the pic Caloy posted of me. I should have done the first climb with sunglasses on like this maricone!:
^^ It’s a cake walk for this guy!
So then we traverse along the top of the wall and climb down on the other side:
Pic (from the bottom) of Iris and Halthron climbing down:
So this is a pic of the lake entrance (taken by Iris). Don’t mind that sexy husky guy in the way
:
Before descending we took a group pic:
^ The Coron divers, Jan 21-22.
Time in: 3:09
Time out: 4:11
Viz: >1 – 30m
Max Depth: 30m
Overall:
* Barracuda lake is another dive site that is a must experience!
* you could really feel the thermocline! The top water layer I read 28C but at 30m it was 37C!!! It really felt like a jacuzzi! I'm glad I didn't wear a wet suit.
* What’s even better was at the thermocline you could wash the water up to make it blurry.
* The group split up into two. And Carol ended up leading me and Purple around. We got to go deeper. :14:
* The bottom silt was pretty cool – I was able to push my entire arm right through! Easily siltable.
* There isn’t really a lot of wildlife around – just a whole lot of gobies, snails, and cleaner shrimp.
* the cleaner shrimp was my highlight. You could put your hand down right next to it’s den and it will clean it! It felt pretty awesome.
* The rock structures were beautiful: they looked like castle towers. It was cool passing inbetween them:
Iris. You can see her a mile away with her very yellow equipment:
Halthron. You blinked!:
* In general, this dive was surreal! Once more, my dive report cannot do Barracuda Lake justice. Seriously, go visit and see for yourself.
Notes:
* sure hope Purple posts her pics!
* In the beginning of the dive an Italian group were coming out. Out of the 12 divers in our group, they for some reason chose to talk to me. I didn't know if they were making fun of me or not...
* Felt bad Spoon didn’t tag along with us but I met up with him at the end. Just for shiets and giggles we both took our fins off at 30 ft and climbed the wall once our deco stop ended. Felt like rock climbing on the moon! We were the last ones out:
Halthron and Spoon at the entrance:
The climb back to the bangka was easier since our tanks were empty.
____________
Dive 3: Carrol’s Rock (41 mins)
The last and final dive of the trip was nothing special. There was a small island just off of the entrance to barracuda lake entrance so we decided to check it out. There actually is no name to this reef, I just named it after our DM.
Time in: 4:54pm
Time out: 5:35pm
Viz: ~15m
Max Depth: 21m
Overall:
* Lots of hard corals, including a huge monospecies field of acropora. Lost of goatfishes inbetween them.
* The coolest thing about the dive was the large school of yellowtail and bolinao following us around. Either they have never seen divers before and were curious or they thought we were a school of fish so decided to tag along for the extra protection.
Notes:
* I know that it’s not good to compare different reef systems, but it reminded me of a crappy Anilao. But I wouldn’t use this reef to generalize Coron reef diving.
So to make the ending short, we arrived back at the resort to shower and pack up. After eating dinner we settled our bills and headed off for the superferry. The trip back was chill. Played taboo with Iris, Purple and Halthron then watched the Pacquiao vs. Morales fight with Spoon.
And we lived happily ever after…
Any ON-TOPIC questions?
hey moonie, the food is nothing special. It's filling that's about it. Bring mosquito repellant just in case but I never had to use it. I had the fan on me which kept them away. Drinking water is P30 per 500ml.moonlighting:
I'll warn you though Moonie: get your images of clearwater Anilao reef diving out of your head. This is completely gritty backpacking adventure diving. You change your own tanks and gear. No one is there to really help you in and out of the water. Viz on the wrecks aren't as good so always be aware of situation. I will be honest and say this type of diving is not for those who like to be pampered. Especially take note of climbing Barracuda Lake - I have the utmost respect for Iris since she was the only girl in our group that carried her tank by herself. Once you have the Anilao mindset out of your head, think about the experience of diving in the most surreal environment. I couldn't keep focused on the marine life with so many other things happening during the dives. That's Coron for you.
oh, and say hi to Veronica for me.
I really enjoyed the superferry. Most of the time I'm sleeping so the duration doesn't matter. The pics you'll take in the morning when passing through the valleys will be gorgeous. From the pier it's only a 10 minute boat ride to Discovery divers. As opposed to a 30 - 45 min travel by jeepney first to the pier if you come from the airport.ishbaby:
But if it's cheaper to take the plane, sure, why not. But I'd reco taking the ferry back so you get some off gassing time.
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