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DUGONG MOMENTS

Our island-hopping trip plays out at the most spectacular destination for tropical islands and beaches in Asia: the Calamian Islands, a cluster of remote islands in the northern fringes of Palawan province in the Philippines. The 163 isles that make up the Calamians are outstanding in Asia for their glorious white sand beaches, azure clear sea, and coral reefs that are full of colour and vigour – snorkelling and swimming here is among the best that can be had in the world. Most inhabitants are fishermen who live in quaint houses constructed of bamboo and roofed with palm fronds, with the villages set in bay and fronted by assemblies of colourful outrigger boats. Seafood is among the freshest and most varied in the world, and throughout the trip we will do various activities, including kayaking in rich mangrove forest, snorkelling among the coral reefs and World War II shipwrecks, snorkelling with dugongs, birdwatching in one island, visiting the native Tagbanua tribe in their village by special arrangement, and even walking in undisturbed rainforest and then swimming in a river pool in the forest. Accommodation is in mid-range or upscale resorts half of the time, and guesthouses during other nights – all resorts we choose are built rustically and tastefully, and incorporate environmental sensitivity in the design. We will mostly travel by boat from one destination to the next. 

STOP PRESS: We have two tours of the Calamians. The one outlined on this page involves only light activities; the other tour is more adventurous with longer walks and fishing with fishermen. Another difference is accommodation: comfy rooms in the tour on this page, or several nights of sleeping in hammocks or fishermen’s huts in the second tour, which is featured at Mariner Tribes.

We will visit the following places and do the following activities:

Seafood galore

The array of seafood at the market in Coron Town is a great place to get acquainted with the variety of fishes in the Calamian islands. It’s also the kind of place to build an appetite, and we promise you that you will need a huge appetite: we feast on seafood practically every day. We go to restaurants that do seafood the local way – the fishes are mostly grilled and then served with a choice of side-dishes (these include a tamarind-flavored soup with fish and vegetables, a salad of fresh and succulent seagrasses, and so on). Other notable dishes include squid cooked in vinegar and soy sauce, raw tuna tossed in a salad of coconut milk and pineapple and chilli, octopus cooked in onion and soy sauce, dried baby fish salted and stir-fried, fillets of fish cooked in a variety of herbs, simply steamed crabs, and so on. We cut no corners when it comes to seafood: we let you indulge in some of the freshest and tastiest seafood that can be had anywhere in the world.

Coron Island

Coron Island is run by a Tagbanua, a tribe of indigenous peoples that were the original inhabitants of the Calamian islands. Now they practice self-rule in the island, and in order to protect their culture and ancestral homeland, any outsider who visits the island needs prior permission from the Tagbanua. We are able to secure an invitation, and we will spend two days in the island exploring the island’s bewitching terrain: it mostly consists of domes of karst forest and cliffs towering over the sea, holding some of the most intact karst forest in Asia. During our stay, we will take a short walk through the karst forest, and also go waddling in the muddy bay at low tide to explore the mangrove forest and pick up delicious shells. Accommodation is in a comfy homestay, and staying with a local family gives us the chance to soak up the local culture and the somnolent way of life.

Snorkelling reefs & shipwrecks

We will snorkel in rich, untouched coral reefs on several occasions. There is much to see in the reefs, and you will be able to see some of the exotic tropical species that you have heard of or seen on TV. We will snorkel with species such as green turtles, lion and scorpion fishes, giant clams, jack fishes, barracudas, several species of starfishes, reef sharks, rays, squid, octopus, and several species of colourful reef fishes such as angel fishes and mandarin fish. Aside from great reefs, the Calamians are also home to one of the most dense graveyards of underwater ships in the world: a large flotilla of Japanese ships took refuge in the Calamians in World War II, and an American assault practically sunk all the ships at anchor. Now these wrecks make an exciting playground for divers, and some of the wrecks are at remarkable shallows – we will snorkel among the shallow wrecks.

Dugong encounter

Dugongs are the stars of the Calamians. These unique herbivorous sea mammals are cute and docile giants; they grow as large as cows and live in shallows off the beaches, eating sea grasses and surfacing every five minutes to breathe. Unfortunately, their populations in Southeast Asia have plunged in the past generation as coastal communities consume their meat (which tastes like pork). Yet the community of dugongs in the Calamians is a rare success story – their numbers in the Calamians are thought to be increasing (or at least are stable). We will get close to one or more dugongs during our dugong-watching excursion: we will take a boat to some of the furthest flung isles in the Calamians where the dugongs reside, and then snorkel among them in the shallows off the beach.

Mangenguey birdwatching

Just as the sea has dugongs and impressive reefs, the Calamian islands also harbour many colourful bird species. On one day we will do a birdwatching tour in one island that teems with birds, and we will encounter illustrious birds such as rufous night herons (a rare species of heron that lives in trees), Asian glossy starlings (a starling which has a bluish-purple plumage and great ability to sing – these birds can replicate the melodies and trills of other birds), golden naped orioles (a striking yellow bird that lives in beach forest), several species of terns (which dive into the water to catch fishes with elegant swoops), and many others. In the evenings, we will also enjoy the spectacle of the fruit bats that live in the trees and set out at dusk: great numbers of them fill the sky after sunset, setting out to feed at night, and these bats fly silently and you can only hear their wingbeat. Their demeanour and appearance after sunset makes them look mysterious and almost prehistoric.

Kayaking in Sangat

The mangrove forests in the Calamians are among the most extensive that remain in Asia. These are valuable habitats for spawning fishes and crabs, and they are also great atmospheric places to explore. We will explore a mangrove forest on one day in kayaks – this is easy kayaking through limpid water – paddling through the eerie silence of mangrove forests, where the stillness is so complete that you can hear even the slightest splash of a paddle. Aside from kayaking in mangrove forest for a few easy hours, on a second occasion we also explore a second and more extensive mangrove system in the boat of a fishermen – this will be a trip up a meandering river that has its sides both densely knitted with mangrove forests.

Culion discovery

Culion is one of the largest islands in the Calamian archipelago and it has a fascinating history. The Spanish erected a church and a fort in the island about 400 years ago, and managed to defend their territory against the raiders from the south. The church still exists, and it’s still functional: it’s an unusual structure, built from rough stone found at the place where it was built, and the church is still surrounded by battlements that hold rusting cannons. Later, early last century, there was an isolation hospital of leprosy in Culion, and now there is a museum that commemorates the hospital. All of this is found Culion’s single town, a town that has a single street that skirts the coastline, with two-storey wooden buildings build on stilts out on the water of the bay. We will stay overnight in Culion in one of the house built out on the water, and after seeing the historical sights – the museum, the church, the fort – we will have free time to contemplate the somnolent way of life at the back terrace of the house where we stay, which is set on the water. You can also jump into a green and clear sea directly from the back terrace. 

Rainforest walking

Forests in the Calamians remain largely intact, and there are two types of forest – karst forest and normal tropical forest. We will take a walk through the two types of forest on two occasions. These walks are short and ambling, like a walk in the park: we will walk through karst forest for a few miles in Coron Island, and then we will explore tropical forest in the largest island in the Calamians. The latter is a walk along a stream through untouched, old-growth rainforest; the stream has several features such as pools, and we will end out walk by swimming and having a picnic at one of the pools hidden in the forest. 

Start & Finish: Coron, Busuanga

Duration: 12 days

Price: Prices start at €1300 (US$1750) total per person for two travellers, €990 (US$1350) each for three travellers, and then continues to fall thereafter depending on the size of the group. The price is all-inclusive; the only things that aren’t covered are incidental or superfluous personal expenses.

Crew & Boat: Clients mostly travel in sizeable vernacular outrigger launch (or banca in Tagalog; the boat is equipped by radio equipment, life jackets, and first aid). There are also some land transfers in aircon minibuses. The crew consists of skipper, general boat-hand, tour leader, and local guides where needed. 

Accommodation: Upscale resort on two nights, mid-range resort on two nights, guesthouses on six nights, and homestay on one night. 

Dynamic Prices & Flexible Arrangements: Since we mostly cater for private groups, the itinerary here is a default or suggested itinerary that we usually alter depending on the clients’ budget and preferences. The prices quoted above are for a full complement of crew and mid-range hotels. You can change these arrangements to something that suits you better – find out more about ways with customised arrangements at Dynamic Pricing.  

Palawan Plus: The Calamian Islands are situated in the northern fringes of Palawan province in the Philippines. You might have heard of Palawan, which is an emerging and celebrated destination in southeast Asia. Yet the Calamians have a little of everything that the rest of the province holds, and are indeed the best part of the province for island hopping tours thanks to larger spread of desolate beaches, relatively healthier coral reefs, quainter fishing villages, and greater seascapes among the dense scatter of isles. If you like, we can also organise trips to other parts of Palawan or longer trips that include other parts of Palawan – we know the entire province very well – but we believe that the Calamians are more rewarding in every sense, and it would be better to spend more time in the Calamians rather than extend the visit to other parts of Palawan. 

Photography Plus: Our tour leader in the Calamians is also an award-winning photographer in the Philippines. He specialises in coastal seascapes (one of his beach pictures won first prize in a Canon competition) and ethnography. A native Calamanian, he has long experience working in the Calamians, allowing him to choose the best locations for spectacular photography. He can organise fine-tuned travel photography journeys focused on photographic instruction – and using the same hands-on practical instruction principles and modules as employed in our flagship Travel Photography tour. Any photography tour in the Calamians could be built on any locations mentioned in the tour on this page and the sister tour Mariner Tribes.

Flight Assistance: We can assist you in booking and purchasing your flights (or to give you advice if you prefer to purchase the flights yourself) between Manila and Busuanga, where our tour will begin and finish. 

Detailed Info: For any questions or more details about this tour, please write to us.

Terms & Conditions: For the general terms and conditions that govern our tours and operation, and Frequently Asked Questions, please go to Nitty Gritty (FAQs)