Subic Bay · Philippines · Wreck
IJN Kyo Maru
A trimix wreck at 69 m, dived in blue water
The Kyo Maru, a Japanese submarine chaser sunk by US P-40 Warhawks on 2 March 1942 during the Battle of Bataan, rests at 69 m and is a favoured training dive for trimix courses. Its exact position is not published — operators place it a few kilometres north of Subic Bay along the Luzon coast — but broken in two and otherwise fairly intact, it sits in open water, and the long decompression is often done as a blue-water ride.
Also known as Kyo Maru No. 11.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Subic Bay and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
This is a technical dive from the first line of the plan: the wreck rests at 69 m, well beyond recreational limits, and it has become a favoured training dive for trimix courses run out of Subic. The descent is through open water outside the bay, so teams run the dive on shot lines and staged decompression, with the schedule agreed long before anyone leaves the boat.
On the bottom, the Kyo is broken in two pieces but otherwise fairly intact — enough ship to read her layout in the time a 69 m bottom phase allows. Because the site lies outside the bay, the dive is often done in blue water, which turns the long obligation on the way up into what local accounts call a nice decompression ride: hanging in open blue with the wreck fading below.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Kyo Maru No. 11
- Type
- Submarine chaser
- Sunk
- 1942
- Cause
- Sunk by US Army Air Forces Curtiss P-40 Warhawks on 2 March 1942, during the Battle of Bataan
- Lies
- Broken in two but otherwise fairly intact, outside the bay at 69 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 | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Subic Bay: November–May dry season is clearest, best February–May; the July–September monsoon cuts inner-bay visibility and cancels rough days.
Sources
- Kyo Maru Wreck — Scubago
- Subic Bay — Wikipedia
- Subic Bay Wreck Diving Sites | Maps, History and Dive Information — Scuba Tech Philippines
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