A 25 m Japanese gunboat lying between 5 and 15 m off the east side of Lusong Island, with the stern breaking the surface at low tide. It is the one Coron Bay wreck snorkellers can follow from above, and the hull has taken on enough hard and soft coral to work as a reef dive as much as a wreck dive.
Also known as Lusong Island Gunboat.
Where it is and how deep
11.9708° N, 120.0247° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck runs from about 5 m to 15 m, so the whole ship fits inside one long, unhurried dive with no decompression arithmetic to do. The current is light or absent and visibility usually runs 10 to 20 m, which is as easy as conditions get in Coron Bay. At low tide the stern stands clear of the water, which is why snorkellers are generally in the water here alongside the divers.
Coral has taken over most of what is left, hard and soft growth over the plating with damselfish above it and parrotfish working the edges. Slow down and there are nudibranchs on the growth, lionfish holding station in the shadows, and stonefish, which are the reason to keep your hands off the wreckage and pick your spot before you settle anywhere on the hull.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Lusong Gunboat
- Type
- Japanese gunboat
- Length
- 25 m (82 ft)
- Sunk
- 1944
- Cause
- Sunk by aircraft of the third air fleet of US Task Force 38
- Lies
- In 5 to 15 m off the east side of Lusong Island, with the stern exposed at low tide
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
| 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
- Stonefish sit still against the coral growth and are hard to pick out, so keep hands off the plating and look before you settle.
Photos from Lusong Gunboat
brownpau · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
Freediving Lusong Gunboat | Coron Philippines | GoPro · Omni Reef on YouTube
The Easiest Wreck to Explore | Lusong Gunboat, Coron (Full Dive) · Between Breaths on YouTube
Sources
- Lusong Gunboat dive site — Divezone
- Coron Bay — Wikipedia
- Diving sites Philippines Coron — Dive The World
- Lusong Gunboat dive site — PADI
Photo credits
- Encrusted bow of the Lusong Gunboat wreck rising through hazy green shallow water by brownpau, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- Growth-covered wreck structure of the Lusong Gunboat seen from a slightly different angle in shallow water by brownpau, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
In The Logbook
- WWII wrecks you can dive, by theatreWrecks · 7 min read
- Your first wreck dive: what to expect and whereFirst dives · 6 min read
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