Scuba diving at Subic Bay

The tourism office for the area calls Subic Bay the “Pearl of the Orient” and much like a pearl, its value is hidden unless you know where to look. While scuba diving is becoming increasingly popular in the Philippines and more international divers are arriving, the growth of diving in Subic Bay while growing is doing so at a slower rate. As a long time diver at Subic, I find this lack of respect as a diving destination a puzzle. The area offers a wide variety of wrecks to dive as well as reefs. the majority of Subic sites are within 20 minutes of the dive centers.
Just how many wrecks are there in Subic Bay and around its entrance? That is a very difficult question. Unlike Coron or Truk, whose wrecks occurred over a relatively short period, Subic’s World War II wrecks covered almost the entire war period. No less than 25 Japanese ships were reported sunk during the war years. Some of these may have been removed in the late '50s as salvage operations and were done to open up the bay for shipping. Additional ships were sunk after the war either as targets or victims of mother nature. It is widely believed that an additional ten large ships may lie within the Bay. Currently, ten wrecks are dived often. The area is not limited to war wrecks; at the entrance to the bay alongside Grande Island, are the remains of the Spanish American War wreck San Quintin. Outside the bay, in deep water, lie the remains of a Spanish Galleon as well as a 16th century Chinese Junk (beyond diving range).
The best dive site would be an individual preference. The USS New York tops many divers list, but so do many of the other dive sites. My favorite is the Japanese patrol boat. She is small only 35m long, but sits upright in 20m of water. The area also has great fish life. Find more on diving at subic at www.visitsubic.com