Coron · Philippines · Cave & cavern · Reef
Cathedral Cave
A fallen tree lit by daylight inside a cavern under Coron Island
Area photo: Ray in Manila · CC BY 2.0
Cathedral Cave is a cavern under Coron Island, joined to the sea by a short tunnel that opens beside the limestone wall on the island's south coast. Inside, the collapsed roof lets daylight into a large chamber where the skeleton of a fallen tree stands on a sand mound, and a side chamber holds an air pocket.
Where it is and how deep
11.8070° N, 120.2637° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The descent is beside the rock wall to a hole in the reef at 6 m, the mouth of a tunnel that drops to 12 m on its way into the island. Juvenile lobsters wave their antennae from holes in the tunnel roof and from under the rocks, and cowries cling to the ceiling.
The tunnel opens into the cavern, where the collapsed roof sends shafts of daylight down onto a whole tree resting on the sand mound in the middle. The route crosses the mound to a further passage and a chamber with an air pocket where divers can surface. The way out is back through the same tunnel to the open sea, finishing over corals where visibility runs from 20 to 30 m.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime |
Season follows Coron: Dry December to April brings glassy seas and the best visibility; in the wet months bad weather sometimes stops diving.
Know before you go
- Only attempted in calm weather with slight waves; the surge from large waves makes entering the tunnel physically dangerous.
Dive videos
Gunter's Cathedral Cave Coron Palawan, Philippines - diveUNDA.com · diveUNDA Ultimate Nature Diving Adventures on YouTube
Questions divers ask
What certification does Cathedral Cave in Coron need?+
The route runs through an overhead tunnel down to 12 m, so Advanced Open Water with the Cavern Diver specialty is recommended, and the dive is only run in calm seas.
Sources
- Wreck and Scuba Dive Sites of Coron Bay — Dive Right-Coron
- Diving in Coron — Dive the World
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap contributors
More dive sites in Coron
Wreck
A 35-ton seaplane crane on a warship lying on her side at 35 m
Fresh water over salt, and 38 degrees below the thermocline
Reef
A channel drift at 1 to 3 knots between two wrecks
Coral garden
Very large sea fans among soft-coral gardens
A 35 m gunboat in 3 to 19 m, open to any certification
Wreck
A 145 m provisions ship with its deck areas at 28 to 35 m
Wreck
A bulldozer and cement bags still in the cargo holds
Wreck
Japanese staff cars and trucks still parked in the cargo holds
Similar dives elsewhere
A roughly 40 m tunnel lit by holes in its ceiling.
A 30 m swim-through tunnel at 10 m with sharks resting inside
Boulders and rock formations cut with numerous swim-throughs.
A half-drowned cavern where two currents meet