Palawan sights
Barracuda Lake
A world-famous freediving and scuba lake on Coron Island, prized for glassy visibility and a dramatic thermocline where the water suddenly jumps from cool to warm, set among submerged rock formations and cliffs.
About
Barracuda Lake, tucked among the limestone cliffs of Coron Island, is one of the world's most unusual and celebrated dive and freedive sites. Its fame rests on the thermocline: as you descend, the water temperature changes abruptly and dramatically — from cool near the surface to startlingly warm (sometimes over 30°C) deeper down, with the boundary visible as a shimmering, mirage-like blur. Combined with glassy visibility and an underwater landscape of jagged submerged rock walls, sandy slopes, and the occasional barracuda that gives the lake its name, it makes for a surreal experience that draws freedivers and scuba divers from around the globe. Reaching the lake involves a short climb over a rocky ridge from the boat landing and a descent to the water on the other side. Even non-divers can swim and snorkel in the surface layer to sample the strangeness. Like Coron's other lakes, it sits within Tagbanua ancestral waters and charges an entry fee.
Good to know
Opening hours and entry fees vary by season — check before you visit.