Diving at Subic Bay

Subic Bay was originally established as a spanish naval base in 1885. A war between the Spain and the US Navy under Commodore George C. Dewy changed the picture and the Americans established Subic Bay as their naval Base in 1900.

In World War II, Subic Bayand Olongapo were overrun and heavily bombed by the Japanese. In December 1942 it was a hopless situation for the US and Subic Bay went under the Japanese Flag.
at the end of January 1945 the Americans retook the Bay and established a "new" Olangapo and build up a new naval base in Subic Bay which was the largest US Navy supply depot outside the United State of America.

On 15th of June 1991 Mt.Pinatubo, only 20miles from Subic, erupted with a eight times bigger force than the Mount Saint Hellen in 1980. Vulcanic ash got thrown high into the atmosphere and affected the worldweather for several month. The whole area was covered under 30 centimeters of volcanic ash and dust. Several earthquakes and a typhoon over Luzon turned the easy life in Subic bay into a 36 hours nightmare with many deaths and injured people. After several months of cleaning-up the Military Bases Agreement with the US expired and the Philipine Senate voted against any further agreements. After the US Navy left Subic Bay the area was opend for recreational activities.

The ash of Mount Pinatubo has smoothered most of the corals in Subic Bay and lies deep on the Wrecks. The visibility is often poor as it is a sheltered bay with little current. The area can be dived all around the year with the best visibility from January until early June.


some wrecks in Subic Bay :

The Ex-USS New York, Oryoku Maru, Seian Maru, An List, El Capitan, San Quintin