WWII wrecks, PADI course and dugong waters
Learn to dive beside a sunken fleet.
Seven days in Coron, Palawan, to learn scuba diving slowly and safely. You take your PADI course with a licensed local dive centre, then dive the Lusong Gunboat, a WWII wreck close to the surface. There is also a guided lagoon day and a slow day in dugong waters. Beginners are welcome. Small groups, four per instructor.
Not sure yet? Tell us about you and ask a question.
Rocío does not host a group here at the moment. She knows the place and the local team, so she matches you with the right people, and you book and pay them directly.
With Ocean Match, from CHF 19, Rocío reads your answers herself and sends you your match or a personal plan. If you later join a trip that Rocío hosts, the fee comes off that price.
Real guests on past trips“Amazing girl and super organised. Would book trips with her over and over if I could. 100% recommend!”
“Rocío is amazing at organizing trips and ocean experiences. Everything was very well planned, and she helped find great diving spots. I highly recommend Ocean Calling Retreats.”
Quotes are copied as written from public reviews on BookRetreats. See all guest photos · Read all reviews
Dates are on request. Tell Rocío when you would like to come, and she checks it for you.
Flexible payment plan The non-refundable deposit secures your place. The balance is due 60 days before departure. Where possible, you can pay it in monthly instalments, with the last one paid by that date. Ask Rocío for a schedule.
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To book, message Rocío by email or WhatsApp. No payment here: she replies personally, confirms your place and sends the next steps.
Real guest reviews: Google · BookRetreats
Conservation-led. Ocean Calling guests never chase, touch or bait animals.
Why Easy? A PADI course in warm water with a shallow, accessible wreck. Beginners welcome.
Gentle. The easiest we offer. Beginner-friendly, at your own pace. Good if you are nervous. No skills needed.
Easy. A beginner course or guided session in calm water, at your own pace. No experience needed.
Moderate. Open-ocean or deeper water with boat days. You should feel comfortable in the water and follow guidance.
Adventurous. Longer days, stronger conditions or more skills needed.
The villa and rooms, the food, the wildlife you may see and the activities on this trip.
The pool and archways at a small hotel in Coron
Never guaranteed, never chased. Tap an animal to see how it lives, where it travels and a fun fact.
🟢 Harmless🟡 Calm, give space🟠 Defensive if pressured🔴 Potentially dangerous, respect
Sources: Australian Government (DCCEEW) · Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Sources: NOAA Fisheries
Dugongs graze on seagrass in the calm waters of the north. Your day in their waters is slow and respectful, always at a distance. Sightings are never guaranteed.
Japanese ships lie on the seabed of Coron Bay, sunk in 1944. The Lusong Gunboat rises close to the surface, so it is beautiful even for snorkellers.
In Barracuda Lake, salt and fresh water meet, and the water grows warmer as you go deeper, to more than 38 °C.
Coral reefs at Siete Pecados, Sangat and Lusong Coral Garden.
Wildlife is never guaranteed. Months can vary from year to year.
Wildlife and weather by month. Nothing here is a promise.
| Feature | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | January: good weather window | February: good weather window | March: good weather window | April: good weather window | May: wetter months | June: wetter months | July: wetter months | August: wetter months | September: wetter months | October: wetter months | November: not in the best window | December: not in the best window |
The driest months are January to April.
An honest look at food, noise, smells, heat and local customs, so you can decide calmly. If something matters to you, tell Rocío. She will check it for you.
EasyPossible with planningAsk Rocío
Coron town has a few places with vegetarian and vegan dishes, and at least one fully plant-based place. Meals on island hopping boats may be simpler, so tell the boat team in advance.
We could not confirm gluten free options in Coron. If you need to avoid gluten, tell Rocío early so she can check with the course and boat team.
Coron town can be loud, with bars and karaoke in the evenings. Kayangan Lake is calm in the early morning but often packed by about 10am, and group boats tend to visit the same spots at the same time. Early starts or afternoon visits are quieter.
We did not find any documented haze or air pollution problem for Coron. Please ask Rocío if you are sensitive to boat engines or smoke in bars.
From January to April, days reach about 32 to 34°C (90 to 93°F) with humidity around 75 to 78%. May is the hottest month and gets wetter. June to November is the typhoon and heavy rain season.
Coron is a course place: Rocío matches you with a freediving or scuba course, and each school sets its own timetable. Ask Rocío how the days are planned and where you can add rest days.
You fly about 1 hour from Manila, then drive about 30 to 45 minutes to town. In town you use tricycles or walk. Most sights are by boat, and Kayangan Lake needs a short climb up and down stairs. Life jackets are compulsory there.
It is hot and humid. The US health agency lists Palawan, including Coron, as a malaria area, and dengue is present, so please see a doctor or travel clinic before you go. No decompression chamber is confirmed working in Coron; the nearest one listed as working is in Puerto Princesa. Divers with asthma need a dive medical check first.
Yes. Coron Island and its lakes are protected, and the whole of Palawan is a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
Coron Island, home to Barracuda Lake, is the ancestral domain of the Tagbanua people, who have looked after these waters for generations, and it is protected by several government proclamations.
Coron Island Natural Biotic Area is on UNESCO’s Tentative List, the first step towards World Heritage status. It is not yet a World Heritage site.
The whole province of Palawan, more than 1.4 million hectares of land and sea across the main island and over 1,700 smaller ones, has carried UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status since 1990. Unlike a World Heritage listing, which recognises outstanding natural or cultural value on its own, a Biosphere Reserve is UNESCO’s idea that people and nature belong together: it protects a living, working landscape where local fishing and farming continue alongside conservation, not apart from it. Palawan earns the description honestly, with well over a hundred of the Philippines’ threatened species, dozens found nowhere else on Earth, and reefs, seagrass meadows and mangroves that ring its coastline.
Coron Bay’s wrecks have a real, sober history: on 24 September 1944, US Navy aircraft found a Japanese supply fleet sheltering at anchor there and sank much of it in a single raid, which is why so many ships still rest here, some shallow enough for a snorkeller to see, some deeper for a diver. None of it is an official marine protected area, so it survives simply because people keep choosing to treat it with care. Nearby, Maquinit hot spring is a small, real curiosity worth knowing: a naturally geothermally-heated saltwater pool, one of very few of its kind in the Philippines. It is not a protected reserve, just a strange, warm gift from the ground.
A protected area still has rules. Your guide explains them before every session.
Solid circles are part of the trip. Dashed circles are ideas for your free time.
With a licensed local dive centre. All standard equipment included.
One of the more accessible WWII sites.
Island lagoons, lakes and reef snorkelling.
Never guaranteed. Distance is kept.
More than 700 steps up to a sunset viewpoint. Free entry.
A warm salt-water pool of about 39 °C, roughly 25 to 30 minutes from town by tricycle.
Opening hours and fees can change. Rocío will help you plan your free time.
Preparation guide. We send you a full guide, gear, fitness, transfers and ocean conditions, once you book. Meanwhile, see Ro’s packing picks ↗.
You fly into Busuanga (Coron) (USU). Routes and prices change often, so this opens a live search instead of a guess.
Type in any language: Geneva, Genève, Ginebra or Genf all work. Not on the list? Just type your city and press a button.
Entry rules depend on your passport, your itinerary and current regulations, so please always check for yourself rather than relying on this page. IATA Travel Centre ↗ is a free tool used by airlines worldwide to check passport, visa and health requirements for any nationality and destination. CIBT Visas ↗ is another good place to check. And it is always worth a quick check with your own embassy or consulate too, just in case.
Speed is one of the simplest things a boat captain controls, and it matters a lot to the animals we visit. Research from many oceans shows the same pattern: a slower boat is less likely to hit a whale, turtle or manatee, gives animals time to move away, and makes less noise under the water.
A study of 47 recorded ship strikes on large whales found the chance of a deadly injury was 21 per cent at 8.6 knots but 79 per cent at 15 knots. Below 11.8 knots, a strike is more likely to be survived than not.
Since 2008, the United States has required vessels 65 feet (about 20 metres) or longer to travel at 10 knots or less in set areas and seasons along the East Coast, to protect North Atlantic right whales. A later study estimated these limits cut the risk of deadly ship strikes by 80 to 90 per cent.
In Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, researchers watched 1,890 green turtle encounters. 60 per cent of turtles moved away from a boat going 4 km/h, but only 22 per cent at 11 km/h and 4 per cent at 19 km/h.
In Sykes Creek and the Barge Canal on Merritt Island, Florida, eight manatees were killed by boats in the 42 months before year-round slow speed was enforced. In the 42 months after, only one was killed.
Recordings of 1,582 ships in Haro Strait, between Washington State and British Columbia, showed that most ships get about 1 decibel louder for every extra knot of speed. This noise reaches the high sounds that killer whales use to find food.
When ships in Haro Strait were asked to slow to 11 knots, underwater noise fell by 2.5 decibels, about 44 per cent less sound energy. Scientists estimated this cut the feeding time killer whales lose to noise by 22 per cent.
Check Rocío’s recommendations: reef-safe sunscreen, recycled swimwear, comfortable hair accessories for the mask, and the camera she actually dives with.
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7 days / 6 nights, dates on request
Why Easy: A PADI course in warm water with a shallow, accessible wreck. Beginners welcome.
To book, message Rocío by email or WhatsApp. She replies personally with prices and next steps.
More answers in Planning & FAQ · About Rocío · Protected waters we visit · Ethical ocean travel journal
Old wrecks in Coron Bay, seagrass a little further north, and your first slow breaths underwater, with a small group and no rush. See how to join.
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