10 day Island Hopping Itinerary El Nido to Coron: Part 2

I must say choosing an exhibition is the way to go if you want to see the most popular places in Coron, while maximizing your time and money. Many of the day boat tours offer stops to Ditaytayan Island (the famous sandbar in the area), Banana Island beach, Twin Lagoon, Kayangan Lake and Siete Pecados (the BEST place to snorkel in Coron). The great thing about going with The Big Dream Boat Man is that they bring you to these places when they know no tours will be there.

My Big Dream Boat Man boat arrived in Coron proper and Twin Lagoon mid-morning and there were still quite a lot of tour boats, but we still had a great time. Once you dock you need to swim (with a life jacket) through the small lagoon into the bigger one. The bigger lagoon is where everyone hangs out because there are no boats inside. There is no docking area and it is quite deep.

Next stop was Kayangan Lake, the most popular and instagrammable place in all of Coron. In order to have the place to ourselves we stopped around lunch hour when the day tours were all taking lunch. The day tours go to the lake earlier in the day, so experiencing this popular location without a thousand other orange life jackets was great. It also made the line to the most popular photo in Coron very short. To get into the lake you climb up 150 stairs, hook a quick left to the viewpoint and them back to the trail for 150 stairs down into it. A few things to note, life jackets are required, no food or drink allowed, no fins allowed and no free diving. There are plenty of spots to leave your small bag and phones on the dock though.

Our final stop was the AMAZING Siete Pecados. I loved this snorkel stop so much I considered going back a second time. The reef was amazing, so many fish and corals. We stopped in the afternoon around three and there were only a few other boats. Named after seven sisters who went swimming against their mother’s wishes and drowned, you can only access this area by boat or tour. I highly recommend BDBM. They have overnight Coron-only tours as well as the exhibitions to and from El Nido.

A few friends from BDBM and I chose to do a private tour on our first full day in Coron and the only day the five of us could split the cost. If you are traveling with others I HIGHLY RECOMMEND booking a private tour because you have the luxury of going to certain points of interests (aka customization) and staying away from crowds and other boat tours. From a recommendation I received in El Nido, I booked our private one day trip with Aries Labrador. Having traveled already to some Coron highlights, we opted to build our own itinerary. The other great thing about private tours is that you are generally working with a family and supporting local people. Our captain was his uncle and the chef was his cousin.

Our tour consisted of 6 stops and we began in the morning with a stop at the local market to pick up what we wanted for our lunch. The first stop was Smith Beach. Normally we would have gone later in the day, but there was a cruise ship in town and there would be too many boats there from 11pm onward, since this is a lunch stop for Tour A (most popular island hopping tour). After we stopped for a quick snorkel at the Smith Coral Garden and then headed to Skeleton Wreck. Skeleton Wreck is a highlight due to its proximity to the mainland and it is also a very shallow wreck, so snorkelers enjoy it as well. Around the corner is the Malwawey Coral Garden, which we had all to ourselves. We headed over the Sunset Lagoon for a quick swim into a cave and lunch on the boat.

Our final stop was the NEW Pukaway Cave. This was also the highlight of our day, as it is only open to private tours. The cave is brand new, opening in October 2023 to tourists. In order to enter the cave we were given helmets and clog (water) shoes for protection. It is a steep climb to the entrance and many jagged rocks. As you enter through the narrow hole (similar to a cenote in the Maya Riviera) you begin your descent down a VERY narrow spiral staircase. There is solar lighting, so you can see, however it is slippery and a few areas where you need to shimmy up and down and around rocks. At the bottom there is a large raft to place your stuff. The water is crystal clear (fed through a 100 meter (approx) small hole) and you are surrounded by limestone stalagmites. The best thing about this stop was that we had the cave all to ourselves, as only 20 people are allowed inside at a time due to oxygen and only a total of 50ish people per day.

Just like in El Nido, I recommend one day where you can explore the area and not be on a schedule. Taking a break from boat tours was a great choice, as they are all day adventures and I wanted to relax a bit. My first full day after getting off the BDBM boat was spent eating, drinking and lounging at the hotel.

A few options and things I recommend doing besides hotel lounging are the Maquinit Hot Springs either in the mid-morning or early evening prior to sunset, a sunset hike up to the infamous Coron sign at the Mount Tapyas view deck and a visit to the only white sand beach (and beach in general) in Coron, Marcilla Beach.

The hot springs and beach are both outside of Coron town so a motorbike rental is necessary. Taxis will take you to the hot springs and can wait while you take your swim, but expect to pay more. The Mount Tapyas view deck is free and awesome exercise as you climb 720 stairs to the top. Just do it later in the day when the temperature is a bit cooler.

Coron is known for the plethora of WW2 shipwrecks and the most famous is the Lusong Gunboat. There is an island hopping tour that visits this wreck and Pass Island, but the boat ride is quite long (approximately two hours to Pass Island) so it is not as popular amongst tourists who are short on time or novice snorkelers. It was a great choice for this itinerary since these were the last spots I had not visited yet.

We had only three stops, the first being the Sangat wreck, followed by the Lusong and we finished with lunch on Pass Island. The Lusong Gunboat is a very famous WW2 ship that sits only 14 meters deep, making it very easy to snorkel and see all the colorful corals and fish. Both shipwrecks are popular dive spots, but we had it all to ourselves that day.

If you don't have a chance to jump on The Big Dream Boat Man expedition, I would recommend doing the "Beaches" island hopping tour which takes you to Ditaytayan Island (the famous sandbar in the area), Malcapuya and Banana Island. Barracuda Lake is another popular tour stop that allows free diving (unlike its neighbor Kayangan Lake).

I did eat in town quite a bit and my favorite dinner options were El Kuvo, Alfresco and Hermanos Tapas and Wine Bar. If you aren’t staying at The Funny Lion, their restaurant is worth a stop for lunch or dinner as well. Just like in Panglao, each restaurant offered great food and drinks.

Coron is a small island and neighbors with Busuanga. When selecting a hotel, I wanted something close to Coron town but not in the center. I enjoying eating out and trying different restaurants so proximity to those is important. Top of my list was the Paolyn Houseboats, however they were fully booked even two months out. Choosing this option would mean that I would not be spending my time in Coron town however. The houseboats are nestled on another island (close to the Twin Lagoon) and offer a complete experience there. I would recommend this option if you were staying in Coron more than three or four days.

The Funny Lion is by far the most popular and best spot to stay in Coron. They have hotels in Puerto Princesa and El Nido too, but the Coron location offers amazing sunset views from their rooftop bar and hot tub deck. It is set outside the main town, but taxis are cheaper here ($30-50 pesos). Everything about my stay here was spectacular, from the pool, to the staff, to the breakfast buffet and restaurant. To top it off each day you receive two fresh juices and a fruit plate in your refrigerator, fruit popsicles if you are hanging poolside and in the evening a homemade sweet treat is left on your bed. Needless to say I LOVED my stay here. It is important to book early because even two months before my trip I could only reserve three of the five nights I needed.