Barracuda Lake

Barracuda Lake sits within a limestone cliff crater on Coron Island in Palawan, reached by a short walk and stone staircase from the shoreline. It is known for its unusual thermoclines, where divers pass from cool surface water into distinctly warmer layers deeper down, and temperature shifts remain part of what divers notice most here. The lake is enclosed by jagged karst rock both above and below the surface, giving it a very different feel from the reef and wreck dives elsewhere around Coron. It reaches a maximum depth of around 35 metres, is rated a beginner dive, and visibility is generally good. Barracuda are found here, and divers have also reported Bleeker's parrotfish, boring giant clams, copperband butterflyfish, lined nembrotha, moon wrasse, ocellaris anemonefish, and vermiculate angelfish, though the main appeal remains geological and thermal rather than biological.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Bleeker's ParrotfishChlorurus bleekeriReported here · unconfirmed
• Moon WrasseThalassoma lunareReported here · unconfirmed
• Ocellaris AnemonefishAmphiprion ocellarisReported here · unconfirmed
• Vermiculate AngelfishChaetodontoplus mesoleucusReported here · unconfirmed
• Copperband ButterflyfishChelmon rostratusReported here · unconfirmed
• Boring Giant ClamTridacna croceaReported here · unconfirmed
• Lined NembrothaNembrotha lineolataReported here · unconfirmed
• BarracudaBarracudaConfirmed present · 4 independent sources
• Blackspotted PufferArothron nigropunctatusObserved near here · iNaturalist
• Eightband ButterflyfishChaetodon octofasciatusObserved near here · iNaturalist