Subic Bay is one of the wreck dive destinations worldwide with a very rich and interesting naval and battle history.

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Subic Bay, named Pearl of the Orient by tourist agencies, is renowned because of the ships that sank here during the Spanish American War and World War 1 and 2. Subic Bay with its deep natural harbor and strategic location was first used by the Spanish in the 17th century to protect their empire. The Americans conquered the harbor in 1898 during the Spanish American War and built there their naval base. Up till 1932, Subic Bay and Olongapo could only be reached by water when a road straight through the mountains connected it with the rest of the Philippines. Subic Bay was bombed and conquered in 1941 by the Japanese until the end of WWII when it was recovered by the Americans. Many ships wrecked and were scuttled, nowadays providing excellent underwater marine environments.

The volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1992 covered Subic Bay with half a meter of thick gray ash demolishing many houses and coral reefs. Subic Bay Free Port was created in 1992, nowadays transformed to a touristic duty free recreational zone with sights such as Ocean Adventure for its dolphin and whale shows, the zoo Zoobic and many bars, hotels, beach resorts, dining and other tourist entertainment. Outside the free zone you will find cities such as Subic, Olongapo, Barrio Barretto, Morong and Dinalupihan. Subic offers excellent jungle tours, mountain hikes and you can visit a Bat Sanctuary.

Subic Bay is reached from Manilla in three hours, located in the west of Luzon. It is a wreck diver's paradise with many wrecks from WWI and WWII, but also Spanish Galleons and a lot more that still hasn't been discovered. Although wrecks such as the USS New York and the Oryoku Maru are without doubt dives you should take a look at, there are also some interesting reefs worth exploring, most just offshore Grande Island. Many dive sites are within the bay, without strong currents and reached within a twenty minutes boat tour. Many can be heavily silted which unfortunately can reduce visibilities to less than ten meters. Nevertheless, it is a fantastic dive destination suitable for all level of divers.

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