ISLAND-HOPPING TOUR OPTIONS IN CORON
There are 4 popular island-hopping tours in Coron – A, B, C and D:
Tour A– includes the locations of Kayangan Lake, Coral Garden, and CYC Beach
Tour B– includes the locations of Barracuda Lake, Banul Beach, Skeleton Wreck and Twin Lagoon
TourC– includes the locations of Malcapuya Island, Bulog Dos Island, Banana Island
Tour D– includes the locations of Lusong Gun Boat, Coral Garden and Pass Island
The most popular tours are Tour A and Tour B. We chose to do a mixture of Tour A and B locations on our private tour. When choosing your island-hopping tour, it is worth considering a private or group tour package.
A group tour is fixed, with a set leaving time, route and destinations, and you will pay per person. A group tour generally leaves the pier at 8:00am, and all boats follow a similar route for the same tour, so expect a lot of crowds on a group tour.
Alternatively, a private tour is completely customisable, and you can plan the time you want to leave, the route and where you want to go. The price of a private tour is per boat, and can be affordable if split between a group of 4 or more people. When planning a private tour, plan to visit no more than 5 locations and depart from your hotel no later than 6:30-7:00am to beat the crowds of boats on group tours.
>> READ MORE – Things to do in Coron
HOW MUCH DOES AN ISLAND-HOPPING TOUR IN CORON COST?
Tour prices differ greatly between group and private tours.
A group tour will cost around 1500PHP ($45 AUD) per person and include everything – entrance fees, environmental fees and lunch.
On the other hand, a private tour will cost around 3500PHP ($100 AUD) per boat. The cost of a private boat will include the boat and crew, but not the cost of entrance, environmental fees or lunch. However, if split between 4 or more people the costs can be quite affordable, and you also get the advantages of a customisable departure time, route and locations.
Depending on where you are going, the costs of extra entrance and environmental fees can differ. We visited the below locations on our tour and the cost to enter each location was per person.
Kayangan Lake– 300PHP ($9 AUD) per person
Barracuda Lake– 200PHP ($6 AUD) per person
Twin Lagoon– 200PHP ($6 AUD) per person
Banul Beach– 150PHP ($4.50 AUD) per person
Skeleton Wreck– 150PHP ($4.50 AUD) per person
A total of 1000PHP ($30 AUD) of extra fees per person.
In addition, we also visited the local markets near the pier before departure, and bought our own fruit, vegetables and rice for the crew to cook up on our lunch stop. For 2 people, we spent an extra 300PHP ($9 AUD) altogether on food.
In total, we spent 5800PHP ($170 AUD) for 2 people on a private island-hopping tour in Coron. This cost could have been brought down significantly if we had shared our private tour with more people.
>> READ MORE – Island Hopping in El Nido
ISLAND HOPPING TOUR PROVIDERS IN CORON
It is easy to book an island-hopping tour in Coron, either in person, online or through your hotel. Our homestay host was very informative and helpful in advising the best way to book an island-hopping tour in Coron. However, if you would like to book a tour in advance, we have listed some of the best tour-providers below to help make planning easier.
Coron Island Escapade Day Tour – This island-hopping tour includes Malcapuya Island, Banana Island and Bulog Dos Island. FIND OUT MORE HERE.
Coron Reefs and Wreck Day Tour – Discover the beautiful reefs and historic wrecks near Coron. Visit the WWII wreck, snorkel near Pass Island, and marvel at Lusong Coral Gardens. FIND OUT MORE HERE.
Coron Island-Hopping Tour A – Join the most popular Tour A, and visit the beautiful Kayangan Jake, snorkel at Quin Reef, relax on CYC Beach, have lunch at Atwayan Beach, and visit Hidden Lagoon. FIND OUT MORE HERE.
WHAT TO EXPECT ON AN ISLAND HOPPING TOUR IN CORON
If you have chosen a private tour, expect to spend some time at the local markets to purchase ingredients for lunch before you depart. That is why we recommend leaving your hotel no later than 6-6:30am, and the pier no later than 7:00am. If you are on a group tour, expect to be picked up at 7:30am, or meet at the pier at 8:00am.
We visited the most popular locations of Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake, Twin Lagoon, Banul Beach and Skeleton Wreck. These are the most popular locations on and around Coron Island.
There are 13 lakes in total on Coron Island, and Kayangan Lake is one of the two lakes open to the public. Kayangan Lake opens at 7:00am and was our first destination on our private tour. We were the second people to arrive that day, and had at least 30 minutes here to ourselves. When visiting Kayangan Lake, expect to climb the 360 steps up and down to the lake, and stop at the lookout half way – as the view is spectacular.
Each visitor is only required to spend 45minutes in total here. Whilst at the lake you can walk along the boardwalk, or swim in the lake. It is advised that you wear a life jacket (provided by your tour boat crew), as the water is only 30% salt and not much buoyancy. Definitely bring your snorkels here!
Barracuda Lake is the 2nd lake on Coron Island open to the public, and is similar to Kayangan Lake, but without as many steps to get there. The lake opens at 6:30am. Whilst swimming, you are also required to wear a life jacket due to the low salt content. Make sure to bring your snorkels to witness the crazy underwater world. This would be an amazing place to scuba dive. Barracuda Lake is also known as Luluyuan Lake in the local tribe’s dialect, which means “behind there is a lake”. Despite the name, there has been no spotting of barracudas in the lake.
By the time we visited Twin Lagoon, the flock of tour groups had arrived. We anchored near the lagoon on the east and swam in, snorkelling and free diving, until we reached the cliff that divides the 2 lagoons. There are two options to access the other lagoon here, you can either climb over the stairs (which is normally packed with people getting in and out), or dive down and swim through the 2m tunnel from one lagoon to the other like we did. We only recommend this option for strong swimmers.
By this time, we were hungry for lunch. We stopped at Banul Beach, and sat under the huts on the beach while our crew cooked us lunch on the boat. We arrived around 11:00am, so there weren’t many people here. We swam and took in our last beach day of the Philippines. Banul Beach is surrounded by tall limestone cliffs and the water was pristine, blue and clear. We ate a platter of fruit, grilled vegetables and rice for lunch.
Our final location was Skeleton Wreck, just a short distance from Banul Beach. This is a popular dive spot for scuba divers and snorkellers alike. There are some amazing coral reefs and colourful fish, but the star of the show is the sunken war ship. The shallowest tip of the ship is 5m from the surface, and was perfect for free diving, or observing from above. Due to the currents, some tour boats would float near the ship wreck where snorkellers were, so we needed to constantly be aware and avoid bumping into other people and boats. This would be an amazing scuba diving location.
WHERE TO STAY IN CORON TOWN
Two Seasons – This 5-star eco-friendly resort is only a short boat ride from Coron Town on Bulalacao Island. This resort is a 100% self-sustaining resort. FIND OUT MORE HERE
The Funny Lion – This boutique resort features modern amenities, sunset views and a rustic-chic charm. This is a perfect venue for watching the sunset. FIND OUT MORE HERE
Bangles Homestay – Stay in local accommodation, where you know your money is going straight back into the local community. This is the top rated homestay in the area. FIND OUT MORE HERE
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BreannaCo-founder & StorytellerBreanna is one half of Chalkie and the Chippy. A former country South Australian school teacher, she writes most of our destination guides and keeps the stories honest, practical and a little bit cheeky.
