June 3 Coron, Palawan pics

[Gilligan]

Today's dives were at the ship wrecks of the Akit Sushima and Okikawa Maru.
The third dive was on a shallow reef named "Lusong" with a sunken Japanese patrol boat

I have done 5 dives here in Coron with two more remaining. I skipped today (6-4).
IMHO this is the least interesting diving I have done in the Philippines.
The vis on the wrecks is poor at best. They are dark with not much to see on or in them. Quite frankly I found them boring.

I would not recommend this dive location, especially for underwater photographers.

 

[Larry C]

Cool Nudies. Like the Lionfish and the topside shot too. Thanks for the advice on the dive location.

 

[Kevrumbo]

That's too bad Gill; as an avid wreck diver and WWII Pacific Theater buff', I find the history and the memory of a once viable ship & her crew both fascinating and sobering. . .

 

[Gilligan]

That's too bad Gill; as an avid wreck diver and WWII Pacific Theater buff', I find the history and the memory of a once viable ship & her crew both fascinating and sobering. . .

Me too but 1.5 to 2 hour banca rides to/from the wrecks only to see about 20 feet in front of you as well as nothing to see but metal structures that could be just about anyhting is not cost-effective diving IMHO. I'll come away with no worthwhile photos of any of the ships or parts thereof.

 

[rab1412000]

i think you just went at the wrong time. i was there last october and it had to rank as one of my best dive trips.
there were many many large fish, larger than the fish ive seen in balicasag.
could be the weather ( weve been having thunder storms everyday here in the philippines). or certain sea conditions.
it certainly isnt a haven for macro diving but im sur you knew that before heading to coron.
as kev pointed out, its really about the history and a ship that was once was. the akit sushima maru and tei maru have visible rudders and proplers AFAIR. and the akit has a few aa guns that can be photographed. also i remember a wreck which was too deep for me but they say it had buldozer inside.
siete pecados, because of its coral growth, and gunther cathedral, because of its eary cast shadows, may also be of interest to you.
im actually heading back there on jun 9 to 13.

by the way, i think you one of the best amateur u/w photographers in the web. me and my friends visit your site for inspiration.

 

[Gilligan]

i think you just went at the wrong time. i was there last october and it had to rank as one of my best dive trips.
there were many many large fish, larger than the fish ive seen in balicasag.
could be the weather ( weve been having thunder storms everyday here in the philippines). or certain sea conditions.
it certainly isnt a haven for macro diving but im sur you knew that before heading to coron.
as kev pointed out, its really about the history and a ship that was once was. the akit sushima maru and tei maru have visible rudders and proplers AFAIR. and the akit has a few aa guns that can be photographed. also i remember a wreck which was too deep for me but they say it had buldozer inside.
siete pecados, because of its coral growth, and gunther cathedral, because of its eary cast shadows, may also be of interest to you.
im actually heading back there on jun 9 to 13.

by the way, i think you one of the best amateur u/w photographers in the web. me and my friends visit your site for inspiration.

Thanks for the photography compliment. I much appreciate that.

The weather may have played a role in the vis. The DM says Jan and Feb are the best months. Even so it's just not my cup of tea. I don't think there is enough left on these wrecks to make this a worthwhile trip. They were stripped a long time ago.

I had the trip on my "bucket list". It's not a location I would re-visit even in the best of conditions. But that's just one mans opinion. I spoke to nine divers in Bohol that had done this trip and only one said they thought it was worth doing again. I did it anyway and don't regret it as it was an experience like everything in life

For anyone doing this trip Nitrox is a MUST on these wrecks.

 

[Kevster]

Thanks for the feedback.
I had always considered Coron should i return to the Ph. However the reputation for bad viss always put me off.
Nice photos.

 

[rab1412000]

Thanks for the photography compliment. I much appreciate that.

The weather may have played a role in the vis. The DM says Jan and Feb are the best months. Even so it's just not my cup of tea. I don't think there is enough left on these wrecks to make this a worthwhile trip. They were stripped a long time ago.

I had the trip on my "bucket list". It's not a location I would re-visit even in the best of conditions. But that's just one mans opinion. I spoke to nine divers in Bohol that had done this trip and only one said they thought it was worth doing again. I did it anyway and don't regret it as it was an experience like everything in life

For anyone doing this trip Nitrox is a MUST on these wrecks.

hi gilligan,

hmmm could it be that you and the divers in bohol all went at the wrong season? also our weather has been so uncooperative lately. amongst the divers ive spoken to who have been to coron, none have rated this destination as poor and all, including me, have expressed an intent to go back or have actually went back.

im just expressing my opinions, not as a point of argument, but to give some other divers another POV. i see that a lot of divers in this forum value your opinion ( including me) , i just dont want them to get too turned off by coron as there is a great diving experience to be had there. i also remember that when i went back in oct 08 the sites were teeming with fish, and the fish were quite large for their respective species.

also i see that the macro shots you took were still very good but i understand the frustration in trying to get worthwhile wreck shots.

i will surely try to give a travel report when i go there jun 9 to 13.

keep posting those pixs man - amazing

 

[Kevrumbo]

Nice pictures as always Gill . . .but if you're always going to be diving with the mindset & expectation of taking the perfect shot, then of course you're going to be disappointed by low viz/poor water clarity conditions --hence the less than favorable impression of the divesite.

This is my own personal philosophy on underwater photography/videography: When you try to mechanically capture the moment by using a camera . . .you actually lose the affect of that actual moment aesthetically (its kind of a Zen thing). I take pictures with my mind and remember feelings of the emotion of that moment, and to me that brings greater satisfaction than having a digital image reproduction on a storage card. When my memory of the event begins to fade in time, it motivates me to return to that particular divesite to "refresh" that particular memory. . .

 

[Gilligan]

Nice pictures as always Gill . . .but if you're always going to be diving with the mindset & expectation of taking the perfect shot, then of course you're going to be disappointed by low viz/poor water clarity conditions --hence the less than favorable impression of the divesite.

This is my own personal philosophy on underwater photography/videography: When you try to mechanically capture the moment by using a camera . . .you actually lose the affect of that actual moment aesthetically (its kind of a Zen thing). I take pictures with my mind and remember feelings of the emotion of that moment, and to me that brings greater satisfaction than having a digital image reproduction on a storage card. When my memory of the event begins to fade in time, it motivates me to return to that particular divesite to "refresh" that particular memory. . .

I agree with your statement.

Photography aside I found the wrecks of Coron to put it simply; "boring". Of course that is just my opinion. One has to be very interested in swimming in and out of wrecks to enjoy these dives. IMHO there just isn't enough left of or on them to hold my interest.