John Herrman surprised us all by taking the whole gang to Palawan for his birthday! Everybody tried to guess where we were going but we only found out the night before the trip. The whole gang was present along with some of John's buddies, Bill, Colin, Carla, Debbie, Jessie and of course our DM Howard "DONE" Tatel. Coron is where the Japanese boats hid during World War 2. Luckily for us divers, and unluckily for those on the ships, the Americans found the Japanese boats and sunk them all. Now they have become a haven for wreckers and are now collectively known as the coron wrecks.

That's me in Barracuda Lake.

Day One:

I personally had the pleasure of diving three of these wrecks during my brief stay; some were able to sneak in one extra wreck dive. The 1st dive was at the Ikaro, meaning "light" in Japanese, as explained to us by Yoshi, our Japanese DM. At 130 ft., we weren't able to stay down inside the wreck long enough to fully appreciate it. Second dive was at the Akitsushima, meaning "Old fish meat" in DECO lingo. Akit means old in Japanese, we all know what sushi is and ma is meat in Chinese, hence the name. Anyway, it was a beautiful wreck and everyone loved the dive, even if it was another short dive to 130 ft. Third dive was at the Kogyo Maru, a smallish wreck of 300 plus feet compared to the 500 footers of the first two dives. At 80 ft., we were able to stay down longer and had a great time exploring the wreck. Some were able to dive another wreck, the Olympia Maru, and from what I heard, I shouldn't have missed it.

Yup, it's me again. That's Mic, the Island Girl on my right.

Day Two:

We scheduled our dives to be at Barracuda Lake and Gunther's cathedral. First Dive was at Gunther's Cathedral, named after its founder. This is another beautiful site and this site alone made the whole trip worth it. You start the dive at 40 ft. where you see a small crack on the sea floor. Go on inside the crack and go forward and to the left is a small entrance to the cathedral. The cathedral is a big chamber of hollow rock, it rises above the sea and topside, it looks like just another mountain. It is about 1/3 full of water and the top has a small hole where a tree fell in. This let's some sunlight in, and when you're in there at the right time (mornings), the effect can be spectacular. Aside from the main cathedral and the huge tree on the bottom there is also a backroom which is even more beautiful. The backroom is totally enclosed, with beautiful cave formations all around you. It too, rises to the surface, and although it'll really mess up your profile, it's great to go around and around till you reach the top.

Marky Boy posing for a picture after the dive. Behind him is the surrounding mountains of Barracuda Lake.

Second dive was at Barracuda Lake, it's a lake surrounded by cliffs and is only accessible by climbing in. We swam to shore and with full gear on (fins hooked on the tanks), we scaled the mountain. Hard work since it was about 2 to 3 stories high with jagged edges and a single mistake can cost you your life. But, as proven before (see issue no. 1 of Braving the Elements in Maningning) the DECO Divers shall not be deterred in their quest for the perfect dive site. Anyway, we were able to navigate the treacherous passages to the lake. For those of you who think I'm exaggerating, I dare you to go there and find out for yourself! The climb, although hard, was well worth the effort. The cliffs surrounding the lake continue on downwards underwater, producing magnificent rock formations. But the rocks is not what made the dive great, it's the haloclines and thermoclines. The surface of the lake is freshwater, further down, you see the halocline and saltwater comes in. The shallows contain cool water as you go down deep it gets hotter and hotter but as you think that the bottom may be exceptionally hot, it becomes cool again. We got the opportunity to swim with the thermocline right in the middle of our masks. Our head was nice and cool and our body was hot. The amazing part is watching the thermocline. You can clearly see the line separating the hot and cold water and the turbulence caused by the diver infront. You can even hover and slowly dip your finger in the hot water, and it felt as if you were dipping it in a warm cup of coffee. It was like swimming on the surface with only a part of your head sticking out, the difference in the hot and cold waters was that much not only because of the temperature but also because of the visibility.

It's me and the Island Girl again. This is the crack leading to Gunther's Cathedral. To all DIRers, this is the only time I mounted my light like that, it's now on my waist. To all non-DIRers, this is the wrong way to mount the light!

We all had a great time in Coron, the company we had was great, the dives were great and to top it all off, the resort was great. We stayed at Kubo sa Dagat (Hut on the Sea in English), which was wonderful. It really sits in the middle of the cove, surrounded by mountains. The whole place was built on stilts and has three huts connected to the main resort. The ambiance of the place was great, and great detail was given to ensuring to preserve this. The roof has solar panels, which give noiseless electricity at night. The food was top rate, with seafood caught in the surrounding waters; everything was as fresh as can be. We dined on lobsters, crabs, prawns, fish, oysters... my mouth is watering already just thinking about the food. And mind you all this is eat all you can buffet style, so we ate to our stomach's delight.

Let's not forget why we went to Coron! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN HERRMAN!!!