Coron coral and fish quality?

[roxolana1]

1) Does Coron-accessible diving have good coral / fish quality (maybe compare it to PG, Anilao, Bohol), or is it only about the wrecks? How much wildlife is at the wrecks, or at other nearby dive sites?

2) Which Coron dive sites have the best underwater life? (Are these advanced OW sites?)

3) Is there snorkeling with good underwater life?

Context: I am planning a trip to PI for diving plus non-diving activities (hiking, snorkeling, swimming).

We are much more focused on underwater life (coral, fish) than wrecks. Wrecks are a bonus, if they have life on them! We are holiday divers (OW only, ~30 dives over ~7 yrs), but would be willing to take an AOW course at Coron if needed to see best sites.

Current thinking is 2 dive spots: Anilao, Coron (+ North Luzon for trekking). I like the other things that Coron has to offer and people seem to love Coron, but it’s hard to tell if that’s all about the wrecks rather than for the wildlife at the wrecks. I’m concerned about spending too much time diving at wreck sites without much coral / sea life.

All thoughts appreciated - thank you!

 

[dlofting]

Diving at Coron is pretty much about the wrecks and some are deeper than you may want to go, although they are within recreational limits. Anilao is good for both coral and muck diving. I'd consider Puerto Galera/Sabang Beach if you're planning on being in Luzon and you like coral/pretty fish. It's a ferry or banca ride from Batangas which is south of Manila.

 

[roxolana1]

Thank you so much! So it sounds like Coron wrecks don’t have all that much underwater growing / living near them?

For PG - can I go there from Anilao on a day scuba trip, or do you recommend crossing the bay and staying in PG? Is the pretty coral/fish in PG much better than Anilao?

The other trip I was considering for good diving and non-diving (instead of Anilao + Coron) was Dauin + Bohol.

Do you have thoughts on this instead? For a mix of diving and non-diving activities, preferably less crowded?

Thank you — much appreciated!

 

[dlofting]

Coron wrecks do have some unique sea life, both flora and fauna. I prefer Anilao or PG for both, though.

Not sure if you can do a day trip from Anilao to PG, but it's likely you can. I'd check with your Anilao dive operator. It is less expensive to stay in Sabang Beach/PG than Anilao, so you may want to factor that into your decision. Sabang/PG dive operators will arrange your transport from Batangas and Anilao operators will arrange your transport to Batangas....or you can do it yourself and take ferries. I prefer to let the operators do the work, but it does cost a bit more.

Pretty coral/fish are more extensive in PG than Anilao. Anilao is known for muck diving and great macro (small creatures).

I've never been to Dauin or Bohol. Suggest you wait for someone else to reply to this thread, or post something more specific to Dauin/Bohol.

 

[Darnold9999]

Coron wrecks have a fair amount of life on them, but I would not dive Coron wrecks unless you are into wrecks. The life is not that interesting for a new diver, there are far better places for that all over the Philippines. Also the visibility inside the bay can be abysmal. When I was there it was less than 10 feet. There are dive sites around Coron that have "pretty fish and coral" but most divers going to Coron are there for the wrecks so you will not easily find operators going to those places. I was on a liveaboard that was on its way to Anilo from Coron so we dived some sites on the western shore of the island that were very nice. The dive in the nearby lake with hot springs and reverse thermocline (the water is hotter deeper) was unique.

 

[Darnold9999]

Dauin has some very good diving. I stayed at Liquid Dumaguete and enjoyed the diving and the resort. Lots of small frogfish when I was there. Apo Island is a day trip away and the hard corals were very healthy. I would go back. I can't speak to other things to do nearby, but others who were staying there seemed to find lots of hikes etc. outside of diving.

 

[Damselfish]

How many days is your trip in total?

 

[roxolana1]

Thanks so much for all this information!

The trip is 10.5 days total. Hence I was thinking two locations, and not more than 2 internal flights from Manila.

Our priorities are: i) Great diving (some macro and some reef), ii) Land-based outdoor activities, iii) Nice swimming & snorkeling, ideally straight from the hotel.

We don't care about nightlife, prefer quiet and relaxing.

Anilao seems best for macro, PG for coral reefs, and Bohol for topside sightseeing. We're thinking Anilao + PG or Anilao + Bohol - trying to figure out which combination makes the most sense. Also open to other ideas .

Any specific recommendations on Bohol resorts / best locations would be great too.

 

[bmag78]

If it's colorful coral and fish you should forget Coron and Anilao.
You could easily do 10 good days between Dauin and Bohol , which are connected by ferry. Consider a stop in Siquijor on the way for a look-see.
Short dive trips to PI can get shorter if you try and fly too much.
Fly to either Dumaguete or Bohol and ferry between them and then fly out of the one you didn't fly in to.
Anilao is expensive and terrible unless you're a photographer. Just go to PG if you want to stay around there

 

[Johnboy70_99]

You could spend 10 days in and around Bohol. From Bohol you can take the ferry to siquijor or dumaguete, or go overland to Anda. There are definitely enough sites around Alona beach that you could do a different site each day for 5 days, plus there are the chocolate hills and tarsiers.

If you dive at Alona beach I recommend Alona Divers. I was there for 3 weeks in Sept/Oct, and I am going back for a week in January and then spending a week in Siquijor.

Agree with above, don’t try to fly around to too many places for a 10 day trip. You lose the travel time not to mention the required surface interval before flying.