Itinerary 2 weeks: Palawan Pioneers!
Content:
- Coron Â
Check out the main page on Coron here!
Check out the main page on Port Barton & Roxas here!Â
Palawan Pioneers quick summary:
- Manila 0-1 day
- Dugong Dive Center, Busuanga - Wreck - reef - dugong diving
(3-4 nights) - Click here to book.
- Sibaltan - Manta rays - Sharks
(3-4 nights) - Click here to book.
- Optional: Port Barton - Small islands
(3-4 nights) - Click here to book.
- Mecaja dive resort - Wil's wreck
(3-4 nights) - Click here to book.
- Puerto Princessa 0-1 day
Palawan Pioneers Day-by-Day:
Coron - Busuanga
You can fly to Coron from Manila. It's a small domestic flight that will drop you off at a small airport in Busuanga, in the northern part of the island.
Once landed there will be a transfer waiting, no need to arrange that in advance! This bus will take all passengers to all major towns and stays. Just tell them where you are staying and they will drop you off for 250 - 300 pesos. When you're visiting North Busuanga, the best place to stay for your diving is Dugong Dive Center or a resort nearby.
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On this Itinerary we aim to escape the hustle and bustle of touristic Palawan and Coron. The islands and dive centers in the south offer some good wreck diving for sure, and you can always opt to extend your stay, and move to Coron town proper for more wreck diving and island hopping.
Check out the main page on Coron here!
Diving in Coron-Busuanga is not only beautiful and diverse. The landscape above water is stunning! For more impressions I highly suggest you check out the link below!
I suggest staying in Coron - Busuanga anywhere between 3 and 4 days. You can go freediving, canoe, or just explore the island on your deco-days.
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Dugong Dive Center offers various trips to various locations in the northern part of Coron/ Busuanga. Below, you can find a map with some locations that they will visit. From beautiful reefs to less visited wrecks, to complete multi-day trips to Apo Reef between Coron and Mindoro!
​Sibaltan
From Coron, it's quite easy to arrange a transfer by boat to El Nido. El Nido is a lovely little town on Palawan island, all the way to the northern part.
To arrange a boat ticket, you will have to take a tricycle or scooter to the port. Near the entrance, you will find the office, selling you tickets to El Nido for 2600 pesos, per person.
They will ask you to be at the port at 6.30 AM, leaving by boat at 7.30 AM.
From El Nido port there are a few options to visit Sibaltan. With a scooter, tricycle or car, expect to spend about an hour to get to the other side of Palawan. When arriving in Sibaltan, you will have significantly less accommodation options than in El Nido.
2 dive centers are operating in Sibaltan at the time of writing. I can personally recommend Mobula Divers.
You will be amazed by the scuba diving in Sibaltan! Pristine reefs, Manta ray cleaning stations with a 70% succes rate and a few drift dives with guaranteed blacktip sharks make this an incredible experience.
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Optional: Port Barton.
From El Nido, you can catch a tricycle to Corong Corong Terminal for 150 pesos. There you will find many vans leaving as late as 1 PM straight to Port Barton(3,5 hours).Â
Once in Port Barton, the van will drop you off at the terminal, from which you can arrange a tricycle to your hotel.
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Diving in Port Barton is not the main tourist attraction like it is in Coron for example. At the time of writing, 2 dive centers are operating here.
Book a 2 or 3-dive day-trip and discover rarely visited reefs and even a wreck nearby!
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Rizal, Roxas, Mecaja dive resort:
From Port Barton, you can grab yourself a van from the same terminal you arrived in to go to your next destination, only 1 - 1,5 hours away!
A good idea is to book in advance with Mecaja dive resort, they can arrange a pick-up for you. Tell the van driver in Port Barton to drop you off at the intersection, where the road meets the highway at San José.
Mecaja dive resort will be there to pick you up and drive you to the resort in 30 minutes, more or less.
Diving in and around Roxas, Rizal is very "new". Most dive sites haven't been mapped and new places are being discovered every week.
Tip: To find something truly unique, ask them to take you to "Wil's Wreck" named after me since I and Mike were the first to discover this Cargo/ Barge!
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Getting away:
From the Roxas area, you can go straight to Puerto Princessa to catch your flight to the next stop.
Flying from Puerto Princessa might be the best way to continue your trip if you are planning to visit Cebu. If you skipped El Nido for example and stuck around in Coron you might be better off, flying to Cebu City/ Manila directly. Puerto Princessa is actually a quite nice town. You can easily spend a night here while transferring to your next place, however, it is far from as charming as previous villages.