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Subic Bay
November 2008 36 |
After two weeks in Sabang, I left in the morning for Olongapo and Subic Bay. Subic Bay is a natural harbour and it was used by the U.S. navy, and later the Japanese navy, during World War II. Since this was war, the other side took exception to ships being in this place, and as a consequence, there are a few wrecks in the bay. Not as many and as fine ones as in Coron, the wreck diving capital of the Philippines, but a decent number.
Baloy Beach is a nice beach some way off the Barrio Barretto, which is on the main road from Olongapo to Subic. It is a bit run down, with one or two modern luxury hotels inmidst guest houses and resorts of various ages and conservation status. Compared to Sabang, Barrio Barretto is one culinary notch up, but that doesn't mean much. Baloy Beach is not sleazy like the main part of Barrio Barretto, which caters more to sailors than to divers, but you see a lot of strange people and lost souls hanging out there - it appears to be a spot for retired Europeans who live on the Philippines, or travel there frequently.
Subic bay is still used as a harbour, and there are shipyards and dry docks nearby. This means that the bay is full of anchored ships.
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ACT
The ACT is a light carrier that was used to shuttle people and material around. It has a ramp on the bow to allow trucks or maybe tanks access onto the boat.
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El Capitan
El Capitan is one of the more interesting wrecks in Subic Bay. It is an old freighter that sank during bad weather (it was there for repairs, had no engines and an open cargo hold - otherwise a ship would not sink in a storm while it's in a sheltered bay).
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Japanese Patrolboat
The wreck of a japanese patrolboat was in some depth. Due to the bad visibility (peasoup quality), I could not use the flash, and due to the great depth, there was not a lot of available light.
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LST
The LST ("Large Slow Target") is another type of military vessel used for coastal operations; I think this one carries troops only. The wreck is in some depth.
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New York
The New York is one of the most popular wrecks in Subic Bay. Very often it is not accessible because it is in the vicinity of the U.S. military facility, and when active vessels are in the port, they don't like people to dive there. Probably afraid of al Qaeda making a new wreck.
Unfortunately I had the wrong lens for this wreck with me.
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