Watch ‘Wreck Hunters’ on iWant

If there’s one thing to be said about the new iWant original Wreck Hunters, it’s that it’s all about discovery—discovery of the stories from our oceans, our communities, and ultimately, that of our own. The five-episode documentary series takes viewers on an underwater adventure that showcases the beauty of the Philippines’ oceans and tells the rich, moving stories of its various wrecks.

Wreck Hunters is hosted by PADI Divemaster and award-winning underwater cinematographer, Wowie Wong, and CPI President and host of G Diaries, Ernie Lopez, and ventures far deeper than your typical travel show. Skipping out on usual tourist attractions, Wreck Hunters dives deeper to tell stories of war and peace, triumphs and defeats, and uncovering the secrets from the deep.

 In a presscon for the series, we were fortunate to sit and talk to the hosts about memorable anecdotes and their biggest learnings from working on the series. Ernie, who has been diving since 1987, admitted that he had felt like he’s seen it all, having dived in several pristine locations in the country and all around the world. However, when he was able to visit these wrecks during the production of this show, he marveled at the simple yet moving idea from these wrecks. “It’s very interesting that these ships of war, which were designed for destruction and chaos, now [submerged] underwater, they are wrecks which now give life. They are thriving and giving life to not just corals, but fish!” he enthused. “Every wreck in Palawan is considered a sanctuary. So, whenever there is a wreck around, you cannot fish around that wreck. And because of that, it becomes a sanctuary and the aquatic community thrives. Something that was designed to give death is now giving life—and I love that metaphor. That’s how we should be: we should give life.”

Wowie, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about having the opportunity to discover and rediscover these sites, uncovering their stories, and sharing this with the world. He stressed that the Philippines is truly lucky for the fact that the country is part of the Coral Triangle. This means that our waters are the richest in the world. “In that Coral Triangle, ang pinaka-rich pa ay dito sa Philippines, and specifically, the Verde Island Passage. Anything we know about the oceans, maybe 99% of what we know worldwide about underwater, was born here. Our waters are world-class!” he exclaimed.

Producing this series was a moving experience for both hosts. Ernie enjoyed filming and working with the crew (and already misses their “tomfoolery”), citing that they were what made the experience so memorable for him. For Wowie, he was ultimately moved with how the stories came to be. “I knew some sort of idea how the stories should go, but as we went along, it truly is a documentary so we learned a lot along the way while we shot. And what I learned was quite deeper than what I expected. From one episode to the next, you’ll see that grow, especially in the last one. The last one truly is a love story, from people moving out to a love story that's meant for a community, and it’s authentic. Biggest learning, I guess, is still discovering… it's finding out the deeper stories that need to be told,” he smiled.

All five episodes are available to stream on iWant here. Want to get your feet wet first? Watch the first episode here below:

Dive into a new adventure in Wreck Hunters on the iWant app (iOs and Android) or iwant.ph. For updates, follow iWant on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.