One day land or boat tour in or around Sibaltan

If you have an extra day in El Nido and have already seen all the sites there, you can get away from the tourist crowds and experience life like a local with a day trip to the archeological village of Sibaltan on the other side of the peninsula.

That is where our multi-day boat tours to or from Coron start or end, but there are several nice islands in the area that you can visit with a one day boat tour, some examples of which you will find at the start of our sample itinerary boat tours to Coron.

If on the other hand you have had enough of island hopping from your stay in El Nido, you can opt for a land tour instead, or stay an extra day for both.

For your local land tour you can rent a kayak or canoe (there is also a crystal kayak) to explore the mangrove forest up the nearby river, learn how locals farm their land with real, hands on experience, opt in for a guide to show you around the village, or explore it yourself.

I lived there for two months and find it really peaceful, the people very nice (untarnished from the zoo of foreigners in El Nido) and the various resorts in Sibaltan (bottom of that page) along the long stretch of beach very relaxing and quaint.

The boat tour is private, but the land tour may be accompanied by others, unless you request otherwise.

Boat tour inclusions

• shark snorkeling dive site (called that because there used to be baby sharks there, but no more – occasional manta rays have been seen though)
• Little Maosonon snorkeling site
• Magransing Island
• Isla Sola
• Rawis Island
• Pical Village tour
• buffet lunch
• mask and snorkel
• soda and water
• tour guide

Price

20,000p for the boat and crew plus 1,000p/pax for food, snacks and entrance fees to the different islands.

Land tour inclusions

• coconut juice
• boiled local banana
• ripe Tundan (native banana)
• coconut wine (“Tuba”)
• Barako (local) coffee
• mineral water
• Farm tour:
• plough the land with the aid of a water buffalo
• fetching water from the river using pingga-pingga (refer to video below)
• planting vegetables like watermelon or lady fingers (“okra”)
• picking vegetables and fruits
• Sibaltan tour: with tour guide to show you around the archeological village, such as to the old Cuyo boat historical museum, and learn how to make straw hats and purses from palm leaves (a cottage industry in this village)

Price

Depends on the number of people, but generally for two people it would be 5,000p.

Possible extras

• lunch on the farm for 300p each, otherwise there are plenty of nice restaurants in the village and resorts. You can also buy fresh fish and seafood from the local fishermen and use the farm’s kitchen for 700p.
• kayak rental for 500p each (and one crystal one for 800p), with which you can explore the mangroves up the nearby river

Discover, learn from and enjoy rural Filipino life!

Sample video:

Transport to and From Sibaltan

The local buses and jeepneys are very inexpensive but incredibly slow, for which we have private vans for 2,500p each way, usually capacity between 6-12 people. If you stay overnight, some of the resorts offer free transport.

If you’d be interested in any of these tours, just send us a note through our contact form and we’ll figure out the perfect option for you.

Experience the thrill of island hopping in the Philippines

Espinosa Kosmans

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We are a family operation managing private custom boat tours in the beautiful Palawan area, and are happy to help travelers with their plans through the country, having traveled a lot of it ourselves and planning to visit it all.