Pirates Ultimate Guide to Coron’s Wreck Dive Sites
Coron has been described as one of the best spots in the world for wreck diving! This recognition is well-deserved, as on the 24th of September 1944, a fleet of Japanese ships was sunk by an American air raid, creating a diver’s paradise. Up to now, 12 wrecks have been discovered creating exceptional dive sites. These shipwrecks are incredibly well-preserved and located in relatively shallow waters, making them perfect for recreational diving.
However, to dive here and fully enjoy all the Coron dive sites and wrecks, it is best to be at least Advanced Open Water certified. This certification level allows divers to explore the more challenging wrecks. Nevertheless, there are still several wrecks accessible to Open Water certified divers, ensuring that everyone can experience the magic of Coron’s underwater world.
Most of the wrecks in the Coron dive sites are quite large, some reaching up to 170 meters in length. Consequently, exploring an entire ship often requires more than one dive. Moreover, there are boundless possibilities for penetration, and even very deep penetration, especially on the Taiei Maru and the Akitsushima, which are perfect for the most experienced divers.
The wrecks lie either upright or on their sides, with depths ranging from 12 meters to 30 meters. Only the Irako wreck is deeper, at 43 meters. The visibility around the Coron dive sites is often between 12 meters and 25 meters, providing a clear view of the marine life that inhabits the wrecks.
Additionally, the marine life around these shipwrecks is incredibly diverse. Divers can expect to see scorpionfish, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, and the usual reef fishes like triggerfish and clownfish. Groupers, barracudas, and fusiliers, adding to the richness of the diving experience.
If you come to Coron, it is probably because you are passionate about wreck diving, not just to see the fish! This place is truly outstanding, and divers coming to Coron are usually delighted by what they discover. An added bonus of diving in Coron is the amazing scenery you get to see while on the boat to and from the dive sites. Some of the best views in the Philippines can be found here, making your diving adventure even more memorable.
If you are ready to dive into history, and explore the underwater wonders of Coron, then Join us at Pirates Diving Center Coron for an unforgettable wreck diving experience!
More Details on the Coron Dive Sites
In late September 1944 some Japanese ships were refuge in the Busuanga Island area of the Northern Palawan group of the Philippines. Eight of the ships were anchored in Coron Bay, the rest to the west and at least one on the northern side of Busuanga Island. The Ekkai Maru was anchored in the area between Tangat and Lusong Island with a number of other ships. Note that this shipwreck was originally thought to be named the Olympia Maru and was then called Taiei Maru. The shipwreck formerly known as Taiei Maru is now believed to the Okikawa Maru while the Olympia Maru is the ship formerly called Ekkai Maru, Morazan Maru or Tangat Wreck. Confusing? You bet!
Late on the afternoon of 23 September 1944, Fast Carrier Task Force (TF) 38 under the command of Vice Admiral “Bull” Halsey positioned itself for an attack on the ships in the Coron area. At 5.50 am. on 24 September 1944, 180 Grumman F6F Hellcat and Grumman SB2C Helldiver planes lifted off the American carrier and headed off on the 350 kilometre flight for the waters of Coron Bay. This was to be the longest carrier based (and return) attack ever carried out. At 9 a.m. the planes reached Coron and located at least 18 large Japanese vessels, and started their attack.
Irako Maru
A Japanese refrigeration ship located at the mouth of Coron Bay. N 11*58. 059′, E 120*02. 412′
This is one of the highlights of the Coron Dive sites. The ship was quite large at 9723 tons, 146.9 meters in overall length and 19 meters wide.
The engines were two steam powered geared turbines (8300hp) driving twin props. The steam came from 6 Kampon boilers; the engines provided a maximum speed of 17.5 knots. Probably the best wreck dive in the Philippines. The Irako is quite intact and because of the good visibility you know you are on a big shipwreck. Big groupers, schools of tuna and yellow fin, lion fish and scorpion fish live around this wreck. Sea turtles live in the crumpled and folded metal of the superstructure. Often there is a huge column of Jacks inhabiting the bow area and an extremely beautiful ray of some 2 metres in width could be seen around the mast. There is a beautiful deep penetration through the engine room for trained, experienced, and properly equipped divers.
Max depth: 43 meters on the bottom, deck level at 28 to 35 meters.
Recommended certification level: minimum experienced Advanced Open Water Diver, Deep Diver Specialty, Wreck Diver Specialty.
Okikawa Maru
A Japanese tanker, 168 m long. Location: Busuanga Island, 2 miles south of Conception N 12*.01. 128′, E 119*.58.’. At 176m in length, She is the largest of the Coron wrecks. At this depth you may be able to make an hour-long dive.
If the Irako isn’t the best wreck dive in the Philippines, then the Okikawa Maru certainly is! This wreck is totally covered with beautiful corals and offers a large variety of marine-life. The deck is between 10m and 16m and is good for wreck dive beginners.
There are many penetration possibilities for advanced wreck divers, including penetrating up the propeller shaft from the outside of the ship all the way into the engine room. Strong tidal currents often affect this wreck. Diving in strong currents lets you see the most fish. At the bow, you can see a school of snappers and huge bat fish holding position into a slight current. Large fish shelter out of the current behind crumpled metal and inside of the deckhouses .There is also a large resident grouper near the bottom.
Max depth: 26 meters on the bottom, 10 to 16 meters on the deck.
Recommended certification level:
1. Diving outside the deck without a current. Open Water Diver
2. Diving with a current. Advanced Open Water Diver
3. Diving with a strong current. Experienced Advanced Open Water Diver
4. Penetration dive. Wreck Diver Specialty
Akitsushima
A Japanese Seaplane Tender 118 m long located between Culion & Busuanga Islands, near Manglet Island. N 11*59. 218′, E 119*58. 417′
The IJN Akitsushima was a seaplane tender/carrier. The ship displaced 4724 tons, had a length of 118 meters, and was 15.7 meters wide. The ship was powered by four diesel engines driving twin props, a total of 8000 hp, giving a maximum speed of 19 knots
Akitsushima was armed with 10 25 mm anti-aircraft guns, four five inch (50 cal) guns, and carried one large Kanwanishi flying boat.
The Akitsushima is a very big warship lying on her port side. She was hit near the stern where the flying boat rested on the metal tracks and sank immediately. The ship was almost torn into two pieces. The flying boat disappeared. Only half of the metal on the starboard side and half of the metal on the bottom of the ship kept the stern from separating from the rest of the ship. The internal damage is impressive.
The crane used for lifting the seaplane out of the water is intact. The crane is lying on the sandy bottom and attracts schools of giant batfish and barracudas. One mounting of a 3-barreled AA (anti-aircraft) gun is still present at the front of the flying boat tracks. This is a fascinating dive where you can see giant groupers, schools of barracuda hiding under the bow, and yellow fin tuna.
Due to depth and metal hazards within, no swim throughs are allowed without wreck diver certification. Wreck divers can make an impressive penetration into the engine room to see the four engines. The gears and machinery for operating the crane are the main objects of interest for a penetration into the stern.
Max depth: 35 or 36 meters, average depth about 26 to 28 meters
Recommended certification level: Advanced Open water Diver. For penetration: PADI Wreck Diver specialty.
Kogyo Maru
The Kogyo Maru, located N 11*58. 782′ E 120*02. 413′, was a Japanese freighter carrying construction materials for building a runway for the Japanese war effort in the Pacific.
The Kogyo Maru was built in 1938 by Uraga Dock Co Ltd, Uraga, Japan for Okada Gumi KK. The ship was 6353 tons, 135 mts long, and 18 mts wide. She was powered by two oil fueled steam turbines (5170hp) geared to a single shaft. The engines were built by Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd, Tokyo. Her home port was Osaka.
Lying on her starboard side in 34 meters of water the Kogyo Maru offers swim throughs into all six holds and through the engine room and bridge area. Kogyo Maru’s second hold contains an incline of cement bags, which tumbled as the ship sank. A small bulldozer draws your attention as you swim into the hold. Complete but encrusted, you can imagine the operator sitting in the seat and working the control levers to carve a runway out of a tropical island. Engrossed in the bulldozer, you might fail to look up the incline of cement sacks and so miss the tractor and air compressor perched above it. Take the time to swim up and look at both pieces and see how many of the engine parts you can identify. It’s complete. Check out the metal wheels on the tractor. Coming out of the hold swim up the front mast, now horizontal, and on your left side. At the top of the mast look at the crow’s nest and imagine what a lookout would experience when perched 30 meters above the water in a Japanese winter storm. Swim back over the deck to the bridge and engine room below it. Enter both from the stern side for easier access. Swim through the cavernous engine room and look at the hardware, then out through the bridge. If air is low, go up to the port side of the bridge and look at the soft corals growing there and the fish life living on this artificial coral reef at 22 meters. If you have enough air, continue below deck level to the stern looking at all of the deck hardware for moving cargo and working the ship. Pass around the stern and then go forward over the port side to return to the mooring line. You pass over hard and soft corals covering the side of the ship. On this dive, keep your head and eyes moving like a fighter pilot’s to see the school of barracuda, which will swim by. If you only look at the Kogyo Maru, you will miss the barracuda.
Max depth: 34 m, average 24-26 m
Recommended certification level: Advanced Open Water Diver, Wreck Diver Specialty.
Olympia Maru
A Japanese Freighter sitting upright in approximately 30 meters of water and located very close to Tangat Island in Coron Bay. N11*58. 291′, E 120*03. 707’S
The Olympia Maru was 122 meters long and almost 17 meters wide, displacing 5612 tons. The ship was originally powered by a steam engine, but during 2 June to 2 August 1930, an oil two stroke six cylinder engine producing 582 hp was installed. The ship was built for Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd and was owned by them right untill it sank. It was requisitioned by the Japanese Defense Forces during the War but was still owned by Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd. A very good dive spot with a variety of marine life. Large shoals of banana fish, giant bat fish and giant puffer fish, especially around the mast, bow and stern. There are also specimen crocodile fish and scorpion fish, so be careful where you put your hands. With easy penetration at the cargo rooms. It offers a good opportunity to discover wreck diving.
Max depth: 28-30 meters, deck level 18-24 meters.
Recommended certification level: experienced Open water and Advanced Open Water Divers, Wreck Diver Specialty.
Japanese Freighter SS Morazan – Ekkai Maru
The SS Morazan (Ekkai Maru) was a cargo ship in the service of the Empire of Japan from 1941 till 1944. Location: Coron Bay N 11*59. 266′, E 120*02.199.
.The ship was built in 1907 and completed in 1908 by the British company Scott Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. and served the Iquitos Steamship Co. and Booth Steamship Co. under the name of SS Manco in Liverpool, Great Britain, between 1908 and 1921 as a transport ship. She would later be sold and finally served as a freighter for the banana companies in Honduras such as the United fruit Company and she would be baptized as El Morazán, in honor of the Central American hero of Honduran origin, General Francisco Morazán. Thus, the ship worked for many years to transport fruits such as bananas or rambutan and other merchandise from the ports of cities such as Puerto Cortes, La Ceiba, and Tela to other foreign cities. On one of his trips to East Asia, she was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy while in the port of Shanghai, a city that had previously belonged to the Republic of China, the city having been occupied by the Empire of Japan since 1937. This happened on December 8, 1941, just one day after the attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. It is believed that the immediate capture of the ship was due to the fact that she operated for a company of US origin and because she belonged to an allied nation of the East, in this case Honduras, which had a very close relationship with the United States. She was renamed by Japanese soldiers as Ekkai Maru and she served the Japanese for three years to transport ammunition and troops in the fight against the armed forces of the United States. On September 24, 1944, she was sunk by a United States carrier plane in Coron Bay western Philippines.
Max. depth: 25 meters, average about 15 meters.
Recommended certification level: Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, Wreck Diver Specialty.
East Tangat Gunboat ( Terukaze Maru)
This ship was a small gunboat or submarine hunter 40 meters long. Location: Inclined on the coral reef on the east side of Tangat Island.
This dive site is good for wreck diving beginners and underwater photographers. It is also a lovely dive between deeper wreck sites. The wreck starts at only 3 meters down so even snorkelers can see the shape and explore the bow of the ship.
Max depth: 22 meters. Recommended certification level: Skin Diver, Open Water Diver.
Lusong Gunboat (Uruppu Maru)
This wreck was also a gunboat or submarine hunter. The stern breaks the surface at low tide. Location: In front of the east side of Lusong Island. N 11*58. 260′, E 120*01.447′
This wreck is great for snorkeling. It is nicely covered with hard corals and offers a nice variety of fish life. There are good opportunities for wreck dive photographers. The dive is good as a “dive between dives.”
Max depth: 12 meters.
Recommended certification level: Skin Diver, Open Water Diver.
Skeleton Wreck (Japanese Patrol Boat)
This wreck is the keel, ribs and stringers of a steel-hulled boat about 25 meters long. Location: Northwest corner of Coron Island.
This wreck was beached with the bow a dozen meters from Coron Island. The stern points directly away from the island. The wreck slopes along the reef from 5 meters deep at the bow to 22 meters at the stern. A pass through on the starboard side of the hull at 14 meters allows you to swim from the inside of the boat out over the coral reef.
Max depth: 22 meters on the bottom. Slopes from 7 to 22 meters. Recommended certification level: Skin Diver, Open Water Diver.
The Fishing Boat
Location: Coron Island. A sunken fishing boat approximately 35 meters long at Coron Island, near the entrance to kayangan Lake.
This is an easy wreck dive site for all beginners or in combination with the Coron drop-off. It is also a very interesting night dive site.
Max depth: 16 meters.
Recommended certification level: Open Water Diver.
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Nanshin-Maru tanker
A Civilian tanker at 834 gross tones. The so-called “Black Island Wreck”
This shipwreck can be easily identified as a small tanker converted to carry specific fuel (gasoline, Diesel, lube oil etc.) in small isolated tanks for replenishment of land-based depots. The ship is approximately 50 meters long sitting upright on a sandy bottom.
Location: Close to Black Island Beach in front of the stranded vessel. This wreck is located 3.5 hours away from the other Coron dive sites. It is dived as a day trip with a 7 am departure. You would normally make one dive here and dive the Okikawa Maru as a second dive on the return trip. This dive site is perfect for beginner wreck divers and underwater photographers. It is a beautiful dive in clear water. You can see plenty of scorpion fish, lion fish, trumpet fish, groupers, and bat fish
(HISTORY OF THE ERROR IN NAMING THIS WRECK: The Japanese had many ships named Nanshin Maru. One Nanshin Maru was a Japanese freighter sunk in the Malacca Straits by a US submarine. There was also a tanker, the Nansai Maru ex. British oiler Ploiden, sunk at Black Island during WWII. This ship was captured in Hong Kong and renamed by the Japanese. The location of the Nansai Maru is not definitely known. It may be on the opposite side of Black Island in 60 meters of water.)
Max depth: 32 meters. The wreck starts in 21-meter deep water.
Recommended certification level: Advanced Open Water Diver, Wreck Diver Specialty
Kyokuzan Maru
Japanese freighter approximately 160-180 meters long.
Location: Northeast of Busuanga Island.
Due to it’s distance from the other Coron Dive sites, this wreck is dived by a one hour Van ride to the north end of Busuanga and transferring to a rented dive boat. This is done as an all-day trip for two dives on the Kyokuzan Maru.
This is a beautiful wreck dive experience. More or less intact, this huge sunken ship usually offers good visibility of about 20 meters and ideal diving conditions. Japanese staff cars and trucks can be found in the cargo rooms.
Max depth: 40 meters on the bottom. The deck level lies between 22 and 28 meters.
Recommended certification level: Advanced Open Water Diver, Wreck Diver Specialty.
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Shipwreck Diving in Coron with Pirates Diving Center
“I recently had the most incredible experience shipwreck diving in Coron with Pirates Diving Center. Exploring the three famous wrecks—the Morazan, Kogyo, and Terukaze—was absolutely awe-inspiring. Each dive offered something unique and thrilling.
The Morazan was a breathtaking adventure, with its impressive structure and abundant marine life. Swimming through its eerie corridors and discovering hidden chambers was an unforgettable thrill.
Diving the Kogyo was like stepping back in time. The wreck is covered in colorful corals and teeming with fish, making it a vibrant underwater paradise. The history behind this ship added a fascinating layer to the dive.
The Terukaze was the highlight of my trip. Its shallow depths made it accessible and perfect for close-up exploration. The wreck is beautifully preserved, and I loved every moment of discovering its secrets.
Pirates Diving Center made this experience seamless and enjoyable. Their knowledgeable guides ensured we felt safe and informed, allowing us to fully appreciate the magic of these underwater treasures. I can’t wait to return and dive with them again!”