Palawan

Coron

Coron is a northern island is Palawan with lush forests and rolling terrain. Getting off the plane the fresh air smelled amazing. I stayed for 2 nights leading up to the Tao Philippines boat trip. I arrived early in the morning and wasn’t able to check into my hotel for another 6 hours. I walked into town and quickly discovered that there weren’t any beaches close to chill for a few hours. As I was standing at the tourist desk, I met two Canadian guys that invited me to join them for breakfast. Their plan for the day was to rent motorbikes and explore the island. It ended up being a really run day making new friends and finding secret waterfalls.

Later that night, we discovered this awesome local joint called Hippie House. The place is cozy and feels like you’re hanging out in a friend’s living room. I made friends with a few local guys who are guides and dive masters. They broke out the bongo drums, a guitar and a didgeridoo and played reggae music. All of the Filipinos I spent time with were really lovely people.

Coron diving is known for all the WWII Japanese ship wrecks. I ran out of time to dive while in Coron but was able to see two wrecks snoring on the Tao boat trip. Beautiful reefs have grown on a lot of the wrecks so the sea life is spectacular.

Tao Philippines Boat Trip: Coron to El Nido

This was the highlight of the Philippines. Tao is a local company that provides boat trips to remote islands in Palawan. We had a group of 15 guests and then 10 crew on a transformed finishing boat named Emerson. We spent 5 days travel to private islands that only Tao has access to along with the local communities that live there. Each night we spent sleeping in bungalows listing to the ocean. The days we filled with snorkeling, karaoke with the locals, beach volleyball, trip to the Tao farm and sunsets with rum and pineapple. The Filipino islands are prettiest I’ve ever visited. And the people made the experience even more lovely.

El Nido

El Nido is a great place to chill for a few days after the boat trip. It has a nice balance of beaches to relax on and places to party at night. My favorite beach was Las Cabanas – the view was so unbelievable it looked like a computer screen saver. One day we also rented motorbikes and heading to Nacpan Beach for the day. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day and we hung out in a bungalow playing cards. Once the rain finally stopped, we visited a waterfall and then had to hike out of the jungle in the dark. Luckily, our Filipino friends led the way!

Port Barton

Port Barton is a sleepy beach town south of El Nido in Palawan. It’s about a three hour bus ride from El Nido that includes a very long ride down a dirt road. It was a nice place to chill and have some quiet time after El Nido. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that there are no ATMs in Port Barton. If I hadn’t of been with my Irish travel buddy Mike, I would have been in big trouble! Also, the power was only on from 6pm to midnight, which meant that was the only time you could get wifi or AC.

As we were leaving and it started pouring rain. The little minibus struggled getting over the mountain on the dirt road that had turned into a mudslide. We made slow progress and then got completely stuck in the mud. After an hour of trying to unsuccessfully get out of the mud, a marine’s truck appeared and offered assistance. They tied a rode to the front of the minus and dragged us out of the mud in reverse up a windy mountain road. Definitely saved by the marines!