With a week and a half’s notice I was fortunate to be asked to accompany a tour group to the Philippines. Normally when I go on a trip I am fairly organised in my ideas of where I am going, what I am likely to see, and with a real idea of the photos that I would at least like to get. With a few days away between the go-ahead and the trip, I wasn’t sure exactly what lay ahead. Any worries were quickly unfounded, the trip was brilliant.

Flying Philippines Airlines to Manila was the first step, and we were whisked quickly away to the nearby Traders Hotel where we were treated to a high standard of service for the night. The first taste of the Philippines came on a short walk around the nearby streets to stretch the legs, before turning in to prepare for the early start in the morning.

After a fifty minute flight south-west of Manilla took us to the island of Busuanga, we were ushered into a van and on our way overland to Coron Town. The end of this half hour trip saw us onto the banca boat and another forty minutes later onto Sangat Island, and its amazing diving resort.

To read the full article, please click here.

Het is tien voor zes in de morgen van 24 september 1944 wanneer 96 Grumman F6F Hellcat Jagers en 22 Curtiss SB2C Helldiver bommenwerpers opstijgen van de USS Lexington, een Amerikaans vliegdekschip.

Drie uur later bereiken de vliegtuigen Busuanga eiland in het Noorden van Palawan, in de Filippijnen. Hier, in de Baai van Coron ligt een groot deel van de Japanse bevoorradingsvloot voor anker.

En vandaag zal een groot deel van deze schepen naar hun ankers toe gaan in plaats van andersom.

To read the full article, please click here.