Coron Palawan Island Hopping Tour Experience

Last Updated on: 13th June 2024, 03:28 am

A trip to Coron Palawan won’t be complete without availing of the Island Hopping Tour experience. One of the most famous islands in the world, Coron Palawan is a tropical paradise you shouldn’t miss. Here’s our Coron Palawan Island Hopping tour experience for 2 days.

See also: Mt. Tapyas Coron,Palawan: Hiking Experience

Day 1: Joiner Tour

Our hotel arranged the island hopping tour for us, managed by Calamian Islands Travel and Tours. We decided to take the joiner tour, and our tour costs 1,850 per person. We traveled to 6 island destinations and though it was tiring, it was a fun and memorable experience for us.

Note: Snorkel/Aqua gears are not included in the package, so make sure to bring your own.

Twin Lagoon

Our first destination is Twin Lagoon, a beautiful lagoon comprising two bodies of water separated by huge limestone cliffs. My last trip here was 10 years ago, but its beauty never changed.

Our way of entering the lagoon was different compared to my last trip. Before, we entered the lagoon by swimming beneath the limestone but now, we entered by kayaking to another entrance. It was a long kayak, like 15-20 mins kayak, depending on how fast you paddle. It wasn’t easy to paddle because of the sea current, but it’s okay since our crystal kayak was photo-op-worthy : )

Note: Renting the crystal kayak is not included in the tour package, so you need to pay 1,500.00.

Since it’s a joiner tour, our time was limited and even less because we needed to kayak back again to our boat. It was quite embarrassing because we were the last ones to arrive at the boat, and our boat groupmates waited too long for us. One of the kids, who is a cute little European boy, kept shouting at us to hurry up, it was hilarious. Lmao.

Despite the limited time, we still enjoyed our stay there by swimming and taking pictures of the lagoon (the place is truly photography-worthy!). Out of all the lagoons in Coron, this one is my favorite.

Barracuda Lake

Our next destination was Barracuda Lake, and it was my first time here since it was not included in our tour 10 years ago. We climbed a narrow wooden staircase first before reaching the lake. Barracuda Lake is known for its underwater limestone cliffs, and honestly, it’s more awesome when you see it in person.

It’s called Barracuda Lake because of the large Barracuda fish skeletons found at the bottom of the lake. I didn’t see a skeleton nor a Barracuda fish, maybe because they don’t swim near the surface and I can’t free dive. Hopefully, I see one the next time I return here.

Kayangan Lake

Next up is Kayangan Lake, probably the most popular tourist spot in Coron. Before reaching Kayangan Lake, we have to climb a hundred steps up to a viewing area. We did some picture-taking first, though there was a long line of tourists waiting to take their picture in this iconic view deck.

After our photo-op, (our tour guide was really dedicated to taking our pictures lmao), we took another flight of stairs down to Kayangan Lake. Though it was not my first time, the view still took my breath away.

The lake is quite similar to Barracuda Lake, though this lake is larger. I remember the first time I went here, there were little to no tourists, but now the place is a bit crowded and there’s a LOT of foreigners. We swam in the lake for almost an hour before heading back to our boat to take our lunch.

We also took pictures on the lake boardwalk, courtesy of our tour guides/photographers : )

Twin Peaks Coral Garden

After our lunch, we went snorkeling at Twin Peaks Coral Garden. While there were many colorful corals to see, you could see many broken corals too. Despite that, there’s a lot of fish and I saw some starfishes too.

Beach 91 and Hidden Beach

Our last destination was Beach 91, and it was truly a beautiful beach- probably 10 times better than Boracay. We went swimming there for an hour, then our tour guide told us that there was a place called “Hidden Beach”, which is located beside the cliffs. To get there, we need to kayak for about 10-15 minutes. This is not part of the tour but since we’re up for adventure, we decided to go there. And I’m glad that we did!

It was nestled in the limestone cliffs and the view was truly amazing. Our tour guide also showed us a hidden cave and we did some picture taking there. Too bad it’s our last destination and we didn’t stay there for too long.

Day 2: Private Tour

Since our joiner tour experience was very compressed, we decided to have a private Coron Palawan Island Hopping tour the next day. Our hotel arranged again for our tour, which costs 4,000 per boat. Lunch was not yet included in the tour, so we bought fresh seafood and meat from the market before we left.

Since it’s a private tour, we can choose the destination we want without time constraints. We chose our favorite 2 destinations: Twin Lagoon and Hidden Beach.

Twin Lagoon Part 2

We stayed here for 4 hours and I’m so glad we returned! Since we could stay longer, I enjoyed swimming here much more than our joiners tour. Before noon, the whole lagoon was almost ours because many tourists left since most of them were part of the joiner’s tour. It was an awesome experience, seeing the huge limestone cliffs while swimming in the deep part of the lagoon (the lagoon is 45 ft deep.) While all of us know how to swim, we still need to keep our life vests with us as part of the safety protocol.

There are many fishes in the shallow area of the lagoon, and some of them are touching our legs already! So watch out for that. We also saw a lot of sea urchins near the rocks, so make sure to wear aqua shoes for protection.

LUNCHTIME

After 4 hours, we returned to our boat to have our lunch. The boatmen cooked the food for us (their service is free of charge), and we had a seafood feast + fresh meat for lunch.

HIDDEN BEACH PART 2

Our next and last destination was the hidden beach. This now belongs to my “top beaches I’ve been to” list because of its clear turquoise waters and view of the limestone cliffs. The scenery is just photography-worthy, just look at our pictures below.

When we got here, there were only a few tourists until late in the afternoon, the whole place was ours. We also went again to the hidden cave and did some snorkeling in the deep parts of the beach.

We stayed there until 5 pm and I can say that going here was much better the second time around : )

Joiner Vs. Private Tour: Which one do you prefer?

Personally, I prefer the private tour since we can customize our itinerary, plus no time constraints. Nevertheless, both tour experiences were memorable and the rest of our trip went well. Kudos to our tour guides who are very enthusiastic about taking our pictures (thanks for the IG-worthy pics!) and ensuring our safety.

Thanks for the wonderful memories, Coron Palawan! It’s worth going back here after 10 years- hopefully, I’ll return here soon. Here’s to more island-hopping adventures!

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