Olympia Maru / Morazan Maru

The Olympia Maru and Morazan Maru are two of the Japanese wrecks scattered around Coron Bay in Palawan, part of the fleet sunk by American aircraft in a September 1944 raid. The Olympia Maru sits upright and largely intact, making it a favored penetration dive, with depths running from around 8 metres at the top of the hull to about 26 metres at the seabed. The Morazan Maru lies nearby, more broken up and encrusted with coral growth, resting in similar depths. Both wrecks attract soft coral cover, lionfish, groupers, and the occasional school of jacks, and are usually dived from Coron town by boat. Penetration into the holds and engine room areas is common but calls for wreck diving experience given the silt and low light inside.

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

• Eightband ButterflyfishChaetodon octofasciatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Scissortail SergeantAbudefduf sexfasciatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Common LionfishPterois volitansReported here · unconfirmed
• Crocodile FlatheadCymbacephalus beaufortiReported here · unconfirmed
• Mourning DoridJorunna funebrisReported here · unconfirmed
• Pacific Bullethead ParrotfishChlorurus spilurusReported here · unconfirmed
• Orangelined CardinalfishTaeniamia fucataReported here · unconfirmed
• Lagoon DamselHemiglyphidodon plagiometoponReported here · unconfirmed
• Boring Giant ClamTridacna croceaObserved near here · iNaturalist
• Ocellaris AnemonefishAmphiprion ocellarisObserved near here · iNaturalist
• Blackspotted PufferArothron nigropunctatusObserved near here · iNaturalist