Exploring Philippines 49 - Coron, Palawan (Post 5 - Skeleton Wreck)

After spending a well-deserved lunch break at Banol beach, we went to skeleton wreck site. Even if the site is located near an islet, we were almost exposed to the open sea. If in the twin lagoon the water is blue in color, it is even much darker and deeper here in this site. 

Again, there was some hesitation for me to plunge into the water. The open sea is always a dreadful sight for me and this one was no exception. But there were plenty of us. For sure, if something will go wrong, our boatmen always keep a good eye on us. And I joined the rest of the group who were enjoying the sight down below.

After gathering all my courage, I finally gave in to my curiosity about the thing that lies below. I swam towards the group that gathered in a particular space above the water. And when I dipped my face on the water, I first saw variety of fishes that were bigger than those from Banol beach and there were plenty of them circling around a silhouette. When my eyes were able to finally adjust with the environment below, the image was actually part of the sunken ship. The sunken ship is angled to 75 degrees and one of its end is visible just below the water's surface.

Out boatmen told us that this is one of the many Japanese ships that sank during the WWII within the area. They also believed that some of the Japanese ships were carrying treasures when the Americans bombarded them and up to this time, they know nothing about recovered Japanese treasures from the sunken ships here in Palawan. Actually, there were so many stories about Japanese treasures being hurled from one place to another, from one ship to another, but most of them simply remain as stories handed down from one generation to another. Personally, I have known some people who were deeply involve with the Japanese treasure hunt and they are still struggling to find one.

Anyway, the sight below gave me some chilling effect. As I gazed from its tip down to its bottom, as the body of the ship slowly disappeared and engulfed by the darkness below, I felt it was a bottomless pit down below. And with the sight of the total darkness below, my imaginations practically ran wild that I had to swim back to our boat. Silly me. The tricks that my mind play make me fear my own self. Haha.

Well, it was one tough experience and even though I was struggling, I still live to tell my part of the story. Since I learn to love taking pictures, who knows one day, I might try taking underwater pictures and hopefully I'll be able to combat my fear of what lies down below.