Ten days is a good amount if you’d like to see the hotspots of Coron, El Nido and Boracay, with some fantastic island hopping in between, off the beaten path.
Assuming you’d like to end your trip with a bang, meaning Boracay (fantastic dining and night life on white sand beach), we’ll prepare this page in that order, although you can do it in the reverse.
First, fly to Coron from Manila:
Since it is a one hour van ride from the airport to Coron, you might not have enough time to squeeze in a tour, so maybe as well get settled in somewhere.
Dugong tour
One option is to go north to next see the Dugong/Sea Cows. They can be seen on the northwest end of Busuanga Island, on which Coron town is located. You can overnight in one of the fancy resorts there (we can help you arrange):
After the Dugong tour, depending on where you will be staying, we can take you by private van transfer around the northwest corner of Busuanga Island to the Coron area of island hopping, where you can stay at many fancy beach island resorts and enjoy some diving if you wish. From there you can continue your tour, starting at Pass (or Black) Island as shown in the map below.
Coron area
Alternatively, you can skip the Dugong and head straight south:
where you have the option to see many beautiful sites in the Coron area. Note that Coron town itself does not have any beaches, so we always advise our guests to book their accommodation on one of the fancy island resort (we can help you arrange), to keep that island hopping experience.
Alternatively, if you wanted to experience the fine dining and night life of Coron while keeping an island hopping feeling, we would suggest Discovery Island Resort (we can book for you if you like), as it is located on a small island a short free and frequent ferry ride to and from the town.
Coron area boat tour price is roughly $400 a day for 2 people, not including food and accommodation.
Heading south
Once you’ve had your fill of the Coron area you can continue south through the beautiful and remote Linapacan area, 82 paradise islands along the way (or click on the balloons below to see a sample).
Depending on the time of year (mostly around January), the waves might be higher, in which case you may have to upgrade to a faster boat to make the long distance in a single day (assuming you prefer to avoid the basic accommodation). Otherwise our regular traditional banca boats can easily make it in one day if the water is flat, taking you to the standard four sites a day along the way.
On this end you can also take part in some diving to see manta rays, sea turtles visible earlier in the tour but for which snorkeling gear is sufficient.
Price is $2,500usd for 2 people 4 days (depends on number of people and days, can be combined with Coron area tour above), includes basic accommodation (upgrades possible), food and entrance fees.
On to El Nido
The boat tour would end in Sibaltan with lots to see there, a nice archeological village with a long stretch of beach and a worthy stay if you prefer to stay away from the big tourist crowd. Either way the multiday tour includes private van transfer to El Nido.
Since that is located on the other side of the peninsula from Sibaltan, we can offer you single day private tours there. Either way, make sure to consider the zipline to neighbouring island to walk back ankle deep on sand bar to fancy beach restaurant watching the sun set!
If you’re a family we could recommend Hotel1 (above) for that home away from home feeling.
On to Boracay
Where the dining is exquisite and much to do:
although we did not find the boat tours really worth it, rather renting a motorcycle and visiting the island’s beaches on our own schedule.
Then off to Manila
Many flights to choose from:
Alternatively, you can keep going to explore Panay Island and Guimaras, the mango capital of the world, and eventually visit us!
Booking
The above should give you a rough idea of the total costs of such a trip. Send us a note and we’d be happy to organize a package for you.
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island hopping adventures in the Philippines
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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.