Underwater Visibility

Plan your vacation schedule for the best visibility: if you're diving on great wrecks you want the best available.

Coron has a variety of dive sites and depending on their location, visibility can vary among them at the same time on the same day.

The Cathederal Cave, Kyokuzan Maru and the Black Island Wreck are washed by open ocean water. Visibility on these sites is always over 20 meters.

Barracuda Lake and Cayangan Lake are hot geothermal lakes full of ocean water. There is no current in the lakes and the visibility is over 20 meters.

The Seven Picados, Pinnacle, Twin Peaks Reef and the Skeleton Wreck are washed by open ocean water before high tide but the water from Coron Bay can reduce the visibility after high tide. Visibility here can range from 7 to 20+ meters.

The "Big Six" wrecks in Coron Bay and two of the gunboats are most affected with changes in visibility caused by tidal flow.

The best visibility on the "Big Six" wrecks in Coron Bay occurs every day before high tide. Best visibility can range from 7 to 20+ meters. How good the best visibility will be that day, and how bad the visibility will be after high tide, is determined by the strength of the tidal flow. When tidal flow is strong at New Moon and at Full Moon peak visibility is reduced. Even at new moon and full moon times of the month when the best visibility of the day is reduced, it will still occur before a high tide.

The daily tidal flow and how good the peak visibility will be on any day varies according to the phases of the moon. The tidal flow is less and peak visibility is the best at the two 1/4 moon times during the month. Every 14 days when you look up in the sky and see 1/2 of the moon's face lit up then the peak visibility is at its' best in Coron Bay.

TRY TO PLAN YOUR VACATION SO THAT YOU START YOUR DIVING TWO OR THREE DAYS BEFORE EITHER 1/4 MOON. You can find the date of the month for 1/4 moons on most calendars or check below for 1/4 moon dates through 2007.

     NEW MOON    FIRST QUARTER        FULL MOON     LAST QUARTER

       d  h  m          d  h  m          d  h  m         d  h  m
       
                                  JAN.   3 13 57   JAN. 11 12 45    
JAN.  19  4 01   JAN.  25 23 01   FEB.   2  5 45   FEB. 10  9 51 
FEB.  17 16 14   FEB.  24  7 56   MAR.   3 23 17   MAR. 12  3 54
MAR.  19  2 43   MAR.  25 18 16   APR.   2 17 15   APR. 10 18 04
APR.  17 11 36   APR.  24  6 36   MAY    2 10 09   MAY  10  4 27
MAY   16 19 27   MAY   23 21 03   JUNE   1  1 04   JUNE  8 11 43
JUNE  15  3 13   JUNE  22 13 15   JUNE  30 13 49   JULY  7 16 54
JULY  14 12 04   JULY  22  6 29   JULY  30  0 48   AUG.  5 21 20
AUG.  12 23 03   AUG.  20 23 54   AUG.  28 10 35   SEPT. 4  2 32
SEPT. 11 12 44   SEPT. 19 16 48   SEPT. 26 19 45   OCT.  3 10 06
OCT.  11  5 01   OCT.  19  8 33   OCT.  26  4 52   NOV.  1 21 18
NOV.   9 23 03   NOV.  17 22 33   NOV.  24 14 30   DEC.  1 12 44
DEC.   9 17 40   DEC.  17 10 18   DEC.  24  1 16   DEC. 31  7 51

Remember, you should start your diving in Coron two to three days before these dates. Consider the time necessary to travel to Manila and then traveling to Coron when you plan your vacation schedule. Generally you want to arrive in Manila four or five days before the 1/4 moon date.