Diving in Calamian Group

The Calamian group is the northernmost point of Palawan Province in the western Philippines. It is a stunning collection of islands with great diving and snorkeling and myriad resorts.

The Calamian group is one of the most popular tourist draws in Palawan Province and consists of three main islands - Busuanga, Coron, and Cullon - along with numerous smaller islets. The beaches and the excellent wreck diving are the main draws in the Calamian group.

The house reefs around the Calamian islands offer a great place for beginners to start their diving adventures and for more experienced divers there is a wide variety of marine life to observe. Regular sights include parrotfish, groupers, turtles, snappers and jacks. There are also a number of giant clams to be found. In the deeper waters surrounding the islands passing barracuda and tuna are occasionally seen.

In the grassy underwater slopes around Dimayka live some Dugongs. These shy creatures are globally endangered and there are few places left to see them. The dive centre organises outings for both snorkelers and divers to view them in their natural habitat – seeing them is a wonderful experience.

The waters around Busuanga and Coron islands are famous for their World War 2 shipwrecks with a number of Japanese navy and fleet auxiliary boats available to divers. Kyokuzn Maru which is approximately 150m long with its upper decks being in 30m water. Generally the visibility here is excellent and sitting upright the wreck is an awesome dive.

Further away but accessible on day trips are the other large wrecks Akitsushima, Taiei Maru, Olympia Maru, Irako, Tangat Wreck and Kogyo Maru. These six wrecks are thrilling dives sites and live long in the memory. Some are more challenging than others but because they all sit at maximum depths of between 24m and 42m they are accessible to experienced divers. Visibility here can vary and currents may be present but they are large boats and home to a huge variety of soft and hard corals and marine life.

Barracuda Lake is situated in Coron Island and this famous place sees you diving into the heart of the lake where fresh and sea waters sit in layers in front of your eyes and the presence of thermal waters mean that temperatures can reach 38 degrees centigrade. This is a unique dive.

Lastly, the Apo Reef Natural Park is accessible by speedboat (day trips) or banca (overnight trips). Apo Reef is a marine reserve and its remote location means fish and lots of them. The reef consists mainly of steep walls and divers spend their time along the reef top where over 30 different dive sites have been identified.. There are large numbers of reef species here including turtles and the deeper waters and currents sometimes attract sharks, manta rays and schools of pelagics such as jacks and tuna.

Travel to Calamian Group

Narrowing in to the "Calamian island group", the Northern Islands of the province Palawan. Their main Island Busuanga just 1 hr. fly time south of Manila, lapped by the south China Sea on one side and the Sulu Sea on the other. It offers some of the Philippines most spectacular scenery, ranging from huge limestone cliffs, underwater and land caves to thermal lakes, hot springs, jungles, rivers and mangrove swamps.

It' s still rarely visited by tourists, which helped to keep the wrecks here to one of the best kept secret of the Philippines. Coron town is the center of Busuanga Island and located in front of the beautiful "skyline" of Coron Island. The town is still pretty laid back. The people live mainly from fishing, trading and newly from tourism & Wreck diving.