A Trip to the Most Beautiful Islands on Earth...

The Big Lagoon at El Nido, Palawan, Philippines, January 5, 2018

This chronicles my trip to the islands of Palawan, Philippines from January 1, 2018 to January 5, 2018

Our trip took us to Coron (January 1-3), El Nido (January 4-5) and Puerto Princessa (January 6).

Day 1 - January 1, 2018

A Cloudy Start...

We began our journey to Palawan with a bit of dread as the forecast for the whole week was nothing but rain and thunderstorm. More ominously, a tropical depression had formed just south of the area and could develop into typhoon, passing by just in time to ruin our trip.
The sight from our plane's window seemed to confirm my fears and I was afraid the whole trip might be a total waste of time and money.

We disembarked our plane and began a long ride to the City of Coron, our first stop in Palawan.

Glimmer of Hope

As we rode a shuttle from the airport to the city of Coron, we passed by the lush landscape and saw some sunshine peaking through the clouds.

Our first tour that evening was a boat ride to the mangroves, where fireflies live in abundance and light up the mangroves like Christmas trees. The water is also filled with bio-luminescent plankton that could be triggered to light up by disturbing the water. Unfortunately it was so dark that my camera could not take any adequate pictures. Our tour included dinner at a floating restaurant called "Panget" with views of Coron.

Day 2 - January 2, 2018

We woke up to hear news that the coast guard had cancelled all sea-based tours in Palawan due to a tropical storm passing by the area. Coron wasn't directly impacted, though, and the sky remained mostly cloudy with hardly any rain or wind. This day was supposed to be the start of our island tour, but the only thing available was a town tour that included a hike up Mt Tapyas and a trip to a hot spring. This day was a disappointment.

Day 3 - January 3, 2018

At last! The coast guard cleared the way for the island tours and we signed up for the "Ultimate Island Tour" that included stops at several different sites, including a two beaches, a lagoon, a ship wreck (for snorkling), and Kayangan Lake.

We boarded our boat from a slippery slope at the dock, waiting for about an hour for the rest of our tour group to arrive and for the coast guard official to sign off on the passenger manifest before departing for our first stop.

The waves that morning were pretty rough, and our ride at the beginning started out with a lot of boat-rocking and splashes of water soaking the passengers.

First Stop at CYC Beach

Our first stop was at a tiny island no bigger a couple of acres with a small beach. Here we got a chance to snorkle a bit. There were several other boats parked nearby, along with a group of scuba divers warming up for the day. We stayed here for a while because it turns out the right-hand outrigger on our boat broke under the strong waves on our way to the beach. We had to wait nearly two hours for a replacement boat to arrive, so we ate lunch on the boat in the meantime.

Second Stop - Underwater Ship Wreck & Coral Garden

This was the biggest missed opportunity for me. Our boat had to park farther away than the other boats due to overcrowding. Which meant we had to swim farther away and get past several parked, departing or entering boats to the site. The water was very dark and deep. As I tried to swim my way to the shipwreck's site in very dark waters, a couple of departing boats blocked my way and I got disoriented by all the boats around me blocking my view and direction. I swam back to our boat and waited there for the others. I've seen pictures of this site, though, and the coral garden growing on the shipwreck is supposed to be stunning.

Third Stop - Beach 91

This is where we were supposed to have lunch, but we had our lunch at the first stop while waiting for our replacement boat.

Fourth Stop - the Twin Lagoons

This lagoon has a shallow and narrow entrance that you can walk across, but the center of the lagoon is 5 meters deep.

Fifth Stop - Kayangan Lake

Our last stop of the day was Kayangan Lake. This is a deep freshwater/brackish lake in the island where lifevest-only swimming is allowed. There is a small hike to an overlook then a descent to the lake.