Coron Bay is a well-known recreational diving region in the

Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body ...

in the western

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, between the islands of

Coron Coron can refer to: Places * Coron, Palawan, a municipality in the Philippines ** Coron Island, under the jurisdiction of the municipality, Philippines * Coron, Maine-et-Loire, a commune in the Maine-et-Loire ''département'' in France * Coron, th ...

and

Busuanga Busuanga, officially the Municipality of Busuanga ( tgl, Bayan ng Busuanga), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,617 people. History Oral tradition ha ...

in the

Calamian Islands The Calamian Islands or the Calamianes is a group of islands in the province of Palawan, Philippines. It includes: * Busuanga Island * Coron Island * Culion Island * Calauit Island * Malcapuya Island * Banana Island * Pass Island * Calumbuyan I ...

. Most of Coron Bay is in the Coron Island Protected Area and is a traditional fishing area of the indigenous

Tagbanwa The Tagbanwa people (Tagbanwa: ) are one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Philippines, and can be mainly found in the central and northern Palawan. Research has shown that the Tagbanwa are possible descendants of the Tabon Man, thus making ...

tribe. Coron Bay is famous for diving on ten Japanese shipwrecks. The ships , ''Okikawa Maru'', , ''Kogyo Maru'', ''Olympia Maru'', ''Taiei Maru'', ''Kyokuzan Maru'', East Tangat Gunboat and Lusong Island Gunboat were sunk on September 24, 1944, by the third air fleet of US

Task Force 38 The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The ta ...

. The wrecks can be reached in a one-hour drive from Coron by dive boat. With the exception of the Lusong Island Gunboat, which partially breaks through the water surface and is therefore suitable for snorkelers, and the East Tangat Gunboat, which is suitable for beginners at a depth of 5 to 20 m, all other wrecks lie at depths of 20 to 45 m. Some of the wrecks are over 100 m long and have decks, corridors, galleys etc. that can be dived. Some equipment has been salvaged from some of the wrecks (e.g. the engine blocks removed), but there are still various equipment and some grenades there. Because of the depth and size of the sunk ships,

nitrox Nitrox refers to any gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen. This includes atmospheric air, which is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, primarily argon. In the usual application, underwater ...

is usually used for diving because of the longer no-stop time and shorter decompression stops.

References

Bays of the Philippines Bodies of water of the Sulu Sea Landforms of Palawan Underwater diving sites in the Philippines {{Philippines-geo-stub