Coron/Moalboal

[bashaw77]

I'm wanting to do a month long vacation in the Philippines. I want to Dive Coron and Moalboal 2 weeks each, is there enough good diving in those 2 areas to Dive 2 tanks 10 days out of 14 in each area?

 

[eagleray180]

Coron (Busuanga) maybe (depending on how much you like wrecks) but I personally would not give Moalboal more then a few days. You could consider bouncing around a bit in the general vicinity of Moalboal. ie: Malapascua, Dumaguete, Bohol. Those are easy to get to by ferries and ground transportation.

 

[bashaw77]

Coron (Busuanga) maybe (depending on how much you like wrecks) but I personally would not give Moalboal more then a few days. You could consider bouncing around a bit in the general vicinity of Moalboal. ie: Malapascua, Dumaguete, Bohol. Those are easy to get to by ferries and ground transportation.

The 3 places you mentioned could a person use Coron as a Base?

 

[bashaw77]

Coron (Busuanga) maybe (depending on how much you like wrecks) but I personally would not give Moalboal more then a few days. You could consider bouncing around a bit in the general vicinity of Moalboal. ie: Malapascua, Dumaguete, Bohol. Those are easy to get to by ferries and ground transportation.

I do like wrecks and history so Coron is definitely for me. Is there another destination to stay for 2nd 1/2 of vacation where I could dive quite a bit without seeing sites over and over?

 

[eagleray180]

The 3 places you mentioned could a person use Coron as a Base?

That would be very difficult. Coron is a town, on an island (Busuanga) on the north side of Palawan and it would require flights back and forth. It "could" be done, but would not make sense. Truthfully, IMHO two weeks in Coron would be a long time. If you like wrecks and history, you could spend some time in Coron, then fly into CRK (Clark), take a bus to Olongapo and dive Subic Bay. Then fly from CRK to Cebu and dive Moalboal (and - Malapascua, Bohol, Dumaguete).

 

[bashaw77]

The 3 places you mentioned could a person use Coron as a Base?

I meant to say Moalboal as a base for Malapascua, Dumaguete, and Bohol

 

[profmason]

Eaglerays plan is good. I think that 4-5 days in coron is enough to dive all the wrecks and do some twice. Moalboal is worth a 2-3 days at best (sardine ball check) but otherwise the diving is meh.

If doing less moving around, I would suggest 6 days in puerto gallerta (Take a car from Manilla to the ferry and across) This is traditional fishy diving. Pop back and do the muck in Anilao for a couple of days. Then back to Manilla to fly over to coron for 5 or so days before flying back to manila and back home.

Another alternative is to head straight to coron from manilla (where your plane will land) and do the wrecks in coron for 5 days. Then jump on the live aboard that leaves from coron down to palawan (It is very reasonable!) This will get you your fishy diving. Take the live aboard back to coron and fly back out.

Reach out to Pirate Divers Coron | PADI 5 Star Dive Center in Busuanga to get info on the liveaboard.

I also REALLY enjoyed this German run "dive safaris" through the south. Dive Safari Philippines - Savedra Dive Center I think you could fit Coron and a dive safari into a trip.

 

[Centrals]

4-5 days is never enough to dive all the major wrecks in Coron. Some of the wrecks are pretty deep eg. Akitsushima and Irako. The best one, Kyokuzan Maru, is lying off the NE shore and miles away. Do not miss this one.

Nakajima KI-43 Fighter Wreck - Discovery Near Coron

Sea Scan Survey | Professional technical divers specialising in Side Scan Sonar Underwater Surveying, Magnetic & Bathymetric Seafloor Mapping, Vibracore Scanning & Core Tests, Seabed Sampling & Filming, Commercial Diving, Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and Search & Salvage. Based in Australia and...

www.seascansurvey.com

Two weeks is probably just about right.

USS New York in Subic Bay.
There are some interesting deep planes wreck as well.

Dive Sites – Johan's Beach and Dive Resort Subic Bay Philippines

Diving and Dive Sites at Subic Bay 1 meter = 3.28 feet Johan’s Dive Resort – The beach in front of the resort is used for the confined water portion of training. 0 to 5 meters Castle Reef – This little rock outcrop has a shallow reef around it. There is also+ Read More

subicdive.com

SS Panay Wrack - SS Panay Wrack Sipalay, Campomanes Bay, Negros, Philippinen

Tauchplatz Beschreibung vom Wrack der SS Panay in der Campomanes Bay in Sipalay, Negros, Philippinen. Mehr Informationen hier auf der Webseite.

ss-panay.com

 

[diveUAE]

I think it’s a great idea to minimise traveling around in Philippines.
Have never been to Coron, but I’ve looked at it (husband loves history/wrecks, so we’ll go sometime) and I think with “only” 2 dives a day and and interest 2 weeks should be fine.

As for the second part: no, using Moalboal to do day trips to Malapascua, Dumagette (Dauin) and Bohol is not practical/possible.

We recently stayed 9 nights in Dauin and liked it, would love to spend 2 weeks there, but we love muck diving - you’ll have to decide if that’s for you (there’s reef diving as well). We did 3 dives a day and did not see much else of the area - not even the “town”.
On the same trip we did 4 nights in Moalboal, diving was ok - sardines were mesmerising, as others say: 2 weeks would be too much. 4 nights was enough for the diving, but would have been nice to also do some of the top side excursions.

Pre pandemic we went to Malapascua- could have easily spent 2 weeks there, others says that’s way too much and there’s not much to do topside. But we saw sooo much under water I can’t believe it and the thresher dives we did were incredible (no circus as our dive guide made sure we avoided that).
On that trip we also did Bohol - we did not find the diving as good as Malapascua, but lots of interesting topside excursions.

If I had a month I would look at 3 dive destinations: Coron (10-11 days maybe), Moalboal (5-6 days) and Malapascua, Dauin or Bohol for the rest of the time.

 

[bashaw77]

I think it’s a great idea to minimise traveling around in Philippines.
Have never been to Coron, but I’ve looked at it (husband loves history/wrecks, so we’ll go sometime) and I think with “only” 2 dives a day and and interest 2 weeks should be fine.

As for the second part: no, using Moalboal to do day trips to Malapascua, Dumagette (Dauin) and Bohol is not practical/possible.

We recently stayed 9 nights in Dauin and liked it, would love to spend 2 weeks there, but we love muck diving - you’ll have to decide if that’s for you (there’s reef diving as well). We did 3 dives a day and did not see much else of the area - not even the “town”.
On the same trip we did 4 nights in Moalboal, diving was ok - sardines were mesmerising, as others say: 2 weeks would be too much. 4 nights was enough for the diving, but would have been nice to also do some of the top side excursions.

Pre pandemic we went to Malapascua- could have easily spent 2 weeks there, others says that’s way too much and there’s not much to do topside. But we saw sooo much under water I can’t believe it and the thresher dives we did were incredible (no circus as our dive guide made sure we avoided that).
On that trip we also did Bohol - we did not find the diving as good as Malapascua, but lots of interesting topside excursions.

If I had a month I would look at 3 dive destinations: Coron (10-11 days maybe), Moalboal (5-6 days) and Malapascua, Dauin or Bohol for the rest of the time.

What type of dives should I expect at Malapascua?