Philippines - Coron

I was there in December and dived with Rock Steady Dive and Dive Calamianes (aka Dive Cal). Both excellent. Neither place has rooms but finding a room there is not difficult.

I stayed in a guest house in Coron Town. It was around 800 peso per night. I've forgotten the name now but in any case I don't really recommend it. Coron Town has a lot of accommodation options and a few bars and restaurants and I liked it. The only drawback is the constant noise of motorbikes going up and down the road. Try to find a place to stay that is not on the main road!

If you want a resort that has snorkelling on the doorstep then you won't find one in Coron Town. The only places that really offer this are out of town on other islands: Sangat Island Resort and Club Paradise. Their prices may not be within your budget.

The obvious places to dive are the Japanese wrecks in Coron and also Barracude Lake. For snorkelling, assuming you are not staying at Sangat Island or Club Paradise, then there are plenty of snorkelling trips available by boat from Coron Town, but I don't know which spots are best.

Thanks dxb1969. I have decided to stay at discovery divers. From all that people have written in to me, it looks like we will be having a good time both - diving and snorkeling

I dived on several wrecks in Coron Bay in January 2011 but it was off a liveaboard boat and so I cannot tell you about dive centres. The wrecks and marine life are very good but there can be some plankton bloom in January-February that can affect visibility. I'd say from 15m to 25m average viz.

hintermann: out of intrest, how much are we talking for a live abord trip? are they easy to come by as a solo traveler you think?

wow - 15 to 25 mtrs vis? great! looking forward to it

@ Shirtz - you don't need a live aboard to dive the wrecks of Coron, they are all within 1 hour boat ride of Coron Town. But what you can often find are liveaboards combining a couple of days diving on Apo Reef with the Coron wrecks. Google Expedition Fleet liveaboards for more information. There are also occasional liveaboards departing from Puerto Galera that will dive Apo and Coron - such as Rags Two. These boats will generally cost around $150 plus per day.

Shirtz, the WWD&S liveabaords do a 9-day /10-night trip to Apo Reef, Coron Bay and Borocay and on the Philippine Siren and the cruise/diving cost is fixed at 2600 Euro till 2014. Make that around £2200 at the present rates and add about £800 for the return flight from the UK (via Kuala Lumpur best, Emirates also possible) and another £300 for internal flights, hotels and transfers. Therefore, you are talking close to £3500 for the whole trip all told.

If you make a booking, a single traveller should have no problems.

wow, sounds like a lot of fun but well out of my budget!

cheers for the replies though!