The Best Coron Island Hopping Tours: Should You Pick A, B, C or D?

Selecting your Coron island hopping tours? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with such a wide range of tours on offer, featuring lagoons, World War II wrecks and beaches.

One thing is for certain: you do not want to miss anything important. However, you also don’t want to waste your precious vacation time.

Having visited Coron twice in the past five years, I created this easy guide to help you decide the best Coron island hopping tours for you.

Located in the northern part of Palawan, Coron is one of my favourite destinations in Palawan. It’s a fantastic first or final destination on your island hopping in Palawan itinerary.

Firstly, it’s quieter and cheaper than El Nido. Secondly, it’s better for snorkelling, with healthier reefs and World War II shipwrecks..

Before I jump into the details, now’s a good time to open up a new tab with my ultimate Coron travel itinerary and my guide to picking the best El Nido tours (A, B, C or D).

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you decide to click through and make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you – thanks for your support.

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Where is Coron?

Coron is an island in the northern part of Palawan in the Philippines. The Philippines has over 7,000 islands, and yet, Coron is a stand-out.

It has transparent, turquoise lakes, vibrant coral gardens, sunken World War II ships, white-sand beaches and limestone cliffs.

The limestone in Coron even has a name: Coron limestone.

Just remember, Coron town proper is located on the island of Busuanga. From Coron town proper, you can take a tour to Coron island. There is only one place to stay on Coron island itself, the Paolyn Houseboats.

Coron town is a small fishing town with a basic port. Positioned next to Mount Tapyas, it has spectacular views over the island of Coron.

Is Coron Worth Visiting?

In Coron, you’ll soon find yourself sailing between limestone islands and barely-touched beaches.

Every now and then, you’ll pull up to the islands to kayak or swim around deep, turquoise lakes and lagoons.

At other times, you’ll stop at a coral garden or a World War II shipwreck to go snorkelling.

If that sounds like a day well-spent to you, Coron is absolutely worth visiting.

Island hopping is the main attraction in Coron, as the town is surrounded by a number of gorgeous limestone islands and islets. 

However, there are also things to do closer to the town, including climbing Mount Tapyas for a view over the bay or visiting the local hot springs.

How Many Days Are Enough for Coron, Palawan?

The best amount of time to spend in Coron in Palawan is two to five days. 

Two days is the minimum amount of time you’ll need in Coron. This allows you to take at least one or two Coron island hopping tours.

If you’re not too tired in the evening, you also have time to climb Mount Tapyas and visit the hot springs. 

There are four main island hopping tours in Coron (A, B, C and D), each taking one full day to complete.

If you don’t want to miss a thing, factor in four or more days to fully explore Coron.

If you want to explore outside of Coron town, you will need to put aside more time. Either employ a driver or rent a scooter (if you’re an experienced driver).

How to Get to Coron

If you’re visiting Coron, you’re probably either:

A) Beginning your Palawan itinerary in Coron and working your way from north to south, or…

B) Visiting Coron after touring El Nido and/or Puerto Princesa (or other destinations in the south).

1. Arriving in Coron from Manila or Cebu

If Coron is your first destination in Palawan, you will need to take a flight from Manila or Cebu to Coron airport, the Francisco B. Reyes Airport (USU).

As I explain in my guide on how to get to Coron, it’s a very small airport located half an hour’s drive north of Coron town.

Once upon a time, in 2018, when I first visited Coron, taxi drivers used to swarm you as soon as you exited the airport.

Nowadays, things are far more relaxed. As you walk outside, a minivan driver will ask you which hotel you’re staying at.

There are several buses waiting to whisk new arrivals away to their respective areas in Coron town. The official will direct you to the correct bus for your hotel.

They charge a fixed price under the direction of the government, which is 150 PHP (£2.10).

If you’d rather not share a minivan with other people, you can order a private Coron one-way airport transfer instead.

2. Arriving in Coron from El Nido

The best way to get to Coron from El Nido is by taking a multi-day island-hopping tour from El Nido using either Big Dream Boatman (my recommendation) or Tao Philippines.

However, if you don’t have time for an expedition, you can either fly directly from El Nido to Coron or take the direct ferry to Coron, taking 3.5 hours

Check out my guide on getting from El Nido to Coron for the full comparison.

What is the Cost For Island Hopping in Coron?

The Coron island hopping tours (A, B, C and D) are usually the cheapest when you book a group tour.

• Group tours cost approximately 2,000 PHP (£25) per person.
• Private island hopping tours cost 5,000 to 7,000 PHP (£60 – £100). This price is split between your group, so if you have a larger group, the price per head might be cheaper.

Multi-day expeditions between Coron and El Nido, on the other hand, start at several hundred USD.

Entry fees for Coron Island Hopping Tours

The main attractions in Coron require an additional entry fee, which supports sustainable tourism.

The entry fees may or may not be included in the cost of the Coron island hopping tour. This is something you will need to check when you book.

The entry fees are approximately as follows (per person):

• Twin Lagoon: 200 PHP (£2.80)
• Kayangan Lake: 300 PHPS (£4.20)
• Twin Lagoon: 200 PHP (£2.80)
• Banana Island: 150 PHP (£2.10)
• Malcapuya Island: 250 PHP (£3.50)
• Siete Pecados: 100 PHP (£1.40)
• Banul Beach: 150 PHP (£2.10)
• Skeleton Wreck: 150 PHP (£2.10)

Types of Coron Island Hopping Tours 

1. Multi-day expeditions

The multi-day island-hopping expeditions between Coron and El Nido are the one thing you should not miss in Coron.

Starting at several hundred USD, these expeditions give you the chance to stay in traditional bamboo huts on some of Palawan’s remotest islands.

You get access to incredible, uncrowded coral gardens and beaches on uninhabited islands.

During the day, you can expect to spend your time snorkelling, cliff jumping and relaxing on the boat.

The tours travel in both directions between Coron and El Nido, making them a great alternative to taking a ferry or flight.

You will bypass so much of Palawan’s beauty by skipping a journey through this area, which is called Linapacan.

The expeditions are organised by two main companies:

1. Big Dream Boatman: The best small group tours and the best value for money.
2. Tao Philippines: The original tour operator, but more expensive.

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A private tour in Coron gives you the privacy and freedom to do what you choose. This is especially helpful if you are travelling as a group of friends, family, or work colleagues.

Even if you take a set A, B, C or D Coron island tour, you can ask the crew to take a detour to nearby attractions.

They will be far more flexible with the itinerary if you are travelling on a private tour. On group tours, they have a large number of people with different interests to cater to.

Private boat tours don’t include a buffet lunch.

However, it’s very easy to make arrangements for lunch because Coron port is directly opposite a market.

Our private guide insisted on us buying fresh fish, vegetables, and rice. He then cooked us a delicious barbecued lunch to eat on the beach.

He didn’t charge extra for the price of cooking the lunch, but I imagine that they added what they deemed appropriate to the cost of buying food from the market.

Either way, the food from the market was inexpensive and cost less than your typical meal in Coron town.

Private tours are typically suitable for up to six to eight people. They include a private boat and a private English- or Tagalog-speaking local guide. 

3. Group Coron island hopping tours

Group tours usually consist of 10-12 people in one boat.

They follow a set itinerary and don’t deviate from the route or timings to keep the majority happy.

This is a good option for solo travellers or small groups who want to make friends.

It is also budget-friendly. A buffet lunch is included and entry fees are typically included in the tour price.

4. Coron island hopping tours by yacht or speedboat

The fourth island tour option in Coron is to take a private yacht or speedboat.

The main benefit of doing this is that the tours are quicker and more comfortable.

Speedboats are much faster than the traditional bangka boats used for standard tours, so you may be able to visit almost double the number of sites in one day. You can also travel at your own pace.

The typical itinerary is Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake and Twin Lagoon, with beach and snorkelling stops (Banon Beach and CYC Beach). A three-course lunch is provided, although there’s scope to bring your own food and drinks onto the yacht.

Check the availability for a yacht or speedboat tour in Coron.

The Best Coron Island Hopping Tours: A, B, C or D?

There are five main Coron island hopping tours: A, B, C, D, and the Coron Ultimate Tour. 

If you’re limited on time, the Coron Ultimate Tour is specifically designed to cover the most popular sites in one fell swoop.

It visits Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon, Sunset Beach, Siete Pecados (coral garden), Skeleton Wreck, and CYC Beach.

However, the downside is that it is fast-paced and more about ‘ticking boxes’ than really experiencing the sites.

If you really want to experience Coron and its surrounding islands, tours A, B, C, and D are better.

Tour A and B are the most popular tours. Tour A visits Kayangan Lake, thought to be the cleanest lake in the Philippines and possibly in southeast Asia.

Tour B visits Barracuda Lake and Twin Lagoon, two other immensely popular sites famed for their underwater cliffs.

Tour C is the best option for a relaxed beach day on Coron’s remotest islands.

Tour D focuses on snorkelling and includes a visit to ships that sank in Coron Bay in World War II.

Ideally, you’ll have time for all four tours. If not, you’ll need to decide what the most important things for you to see are.

⛰️ Looking for things to do in town, too? Open a new tab with my ultimate Coron itinerary, which includes tips on climbing Mount Tapyas.

1. The Coron Ultimate Tour

Best for: A jam-packed itinerary visiting Coron’s most popular locations and a World War II wreck.

Visits: Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon, Sunset Beach, Siete Pecados (coral garden), Skeleton Wreck, and CYC Beach.

Kayangan Lake

The Coron Ultimate Tour gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

It pretty much fits in all of the most popular tourist sites in Coron, along with one of the best coral gardens for snorkelling, a beach, and a World War II shipwreck.

It visits Kayangan Lake, the cleanest lake in Palawan. Just like the next stop, Twin Lagoon, it has underwater limestone cliffs ideal for swimming.

The only thing is, the Coron Ultimate Tour does not visit Barracuda Lake, one of the most popular (and on the rise to be the most popular) places in Coron.

The island hopping tour is also very fast-paced, leaving little time for you to enjoy each place before you’re shuttled off to the next.

Check the availability for the Coron Ultimate Tour.

2. Coron Tour A

Best for: Visiting Kayangan Lake and snorkelling at a powdery beach.

Visits: Kayangan Lake, CYC Beach, Sunset Beach, and Las Islas De Coral.

Visiting Kayangan Lake is a must for many people visiting Coron. Why? It’s supposedly the cleanest lake in the Philippines, and some argue, in the whole of southeast Asia. 

Kayangan Lake, Coron

The transparent water is only 30% saltwater (the remainder being freshwater) and full of tiny silver needle fish. If you stay still long enough, they’ll come and give you a light nibble.

There are small caves located on the left-hand side as you enter the boardwalk. 

The lake is also popular for free-diving, because it has underwater limestone cliffs and crevices, although the rule is that every swimmer must wear a life vest at all times.

To reach Kayangan Lake, there is a 10-minute stair climb. It passes a viewpoint over a small seaport and green limestone cliffs. The view is almost as popular as the lake itself. 

Tour A’s main attraction is Kayangan Lake, but it also visits two of Coron’s most popular beaches.

CYC Beach is a small cove with silky white sand. It’s located on a tiny island surrounded by mangroves and small corals.

The coral garden, Las Islas De Coral, is best known for its multicoloured corals and fish. 

CYC Beach

The tours normally stop at Sunset Beach for lunch. It’s very similar to CYC Beach, but it is lined with wooden shacks and picnic benches for people to eat. 

Check the availability for Tour A.

3. Coron Tour B

Best for: Visiting popular lakes and lagoons and a shipwreck.

Visits: Barracuda Lake, Twin Lagoon and Smith Beach.

If you’re keen to snorkel in some of Coron’s lagoons and lakes – and a shipwreck is just another bonus in your eyes – Tour B is for you.

The Twin Lagoon and Barracuda Lake

The tour begins by visiting Barracuda Lake, which has jagged underwater limestone formations.

Skeleton Wreck is the next (and well-awaited) stop. The Japanese warship, now layered with coral and barnacles, sank during World War II.

Tour B also visits a reef for snorkelling, followed by Twin Lagoon. This key destination has two clear lagoons separated by dramatic limestone cliffs.

Twin Lagoon

Because the lagoons are so shallow, the main way of exploring is by kayak, although you can swim in the deep-water areas.

Check the availability for Tour B.

4. Coron Tour C

Best for: A relaxed day visiting beaches, coral gardens and a sandbar (family-friendly too!).

Visits: Malcapuya Island and Ditaytayan Island sand bar 

Sometimes you just want to take things easy, and this is the tour for that.

On Tour C, you can enjoy the powder all day long (with the exception of stopping at a coral garden for some snorkelling).

The tour begins by visiting Malcapuya Island, one of the most spectacular beaches in Coron. The shallow water is ideal for swimming and very family-friendly.

Malcapuya Island

Ditaytayan Island is another peaceful island, but this time with a lengthy sand bar, bordered on both sides by warm, shallow swimming waters. Here, you can sunbathe with the water on either side.

Check the availability for Tour C.

5. Coron Tour D

Best for: Snorkelling over two World War II shipwrecks.

Visits: East Tangat Wreck, Lusong Gunboat Wreck, and Lusong Coral Garden.

Coron Bay is scattered with underwater ships from World War II. Some are shallow enough to snorkel over, while others are perfect for divers to explore.

Tour D is the best way to explore the World War II wrecks in Coron. Both wrecks have been in the ocean for so long that they’re now covered in corals and barnacles, which attract colourful schools of fish and other sea critters.

Lusong Gunboat is the first wreck on the itinerary and one of the most famous. The ship sank after being hit by bullets from a machine gun, before crashing on the beach and eventually being swept just offshore.

Pufferfish, batfish, and angelfish are regular visitors. Better yet, the wreck is also close to the large Lusong Coral Garden, one of the best in Coron. 

The second wreck on the tour, East Tangat, is a 40-metre tugboat or anti-submarine boat (experts aren’t quite sure) which sank in September 1944.

Weighing 500 gross tons, it is planted on a sandy underwater bank in shallow water.

There aren’t as many corals on this wreck, but it attracts fish like butterflyfish, sea stars, and angelfish.

The tour also stops at Pass Island, which has soft silica sand known for its exfoliating properties.

Check the availability for Tour D.

Coron Island Hopping Tours: How to Rent a Private Boat in Coron

If you ask the right people, it’s possible to rent a private boat and guide in Coron for a reasonable price. I managed to do this with two friends directly through my hotel.

Your success rate will depend upon their connections and your success at haggling.

This gives you the chance to visit places that are not covered on the typical tour routes in Coron.

Below I’ve listed a couple of locations that we visited during our time island hopping in Coron. 

If you take a private tour (A, B, C, or D), you can also request to change one of the stops to one of the following locations, which aren’t included in the typical tours.

1. Banul Beach

Banul Beach is by far my favourite beach in Coron. I’d go so far as to say that it’s my favourite beach in Palawan. 

The shallow waters must have a very high concentration of salt because it’s incredibly easy to float on your back for minutes at a time.

The water is very shallow, and the sand is perfectly powdery. There’s also a small patch of corals.

With wooden huts and picnic benches set up for shade, it’s an excellent place for a lazy day.

The beach is empty in the morning, but gets busier at lunchtime when it’s visited by boats on the Coron A, B, C and D tours.

There are toilets on top of the hill, so you can spend an entire day here if you wish, just like I did.

Banul Beach is between Sunset Beach and Twin Lagoon, making it an easy additional stop on Tour B.

2. Hidden Lagoon

Our private boat guide also took us to Hidden Lagoon, near to Banul Beach. It’s smaller than Twin Lagoon, but first thing in the morning, we had it completely to ourselves.

Jump into a kayak and glide over the shallow waters, spotting sea urchins and manoeuvring through a mangrove forest.

You can even take a lap of the limestone bay and corals outside of the lagoon.

Hidden Lagoon is only a 10-minute boat ride from Kayangan Lake, so it makes an easy addition to Tour A.

How to Prepare for Coron Island Hopping Tours

You don’t need to prepare lunch for your tour. Group tours include a delicious barbecued buffet lunch, featuring seafood, chicken, pork, and salad or vegetable dishes with fresh tropical fruits.

The spread is so ridiculously extensive and well-prepared that the lunch quickly became one of the highlights of booking a Coron island hopping tour for me.

I ate carved pineapples in the shape of a bird, cucumber spirals, and much more.

However, you’ll need to be prepared in some other areas.

1. Check the weather

Most Coron island hopping tours provide the option to reschedule or get a full refund if the weather conditions are sub-optimal.

If there are any signs of rainstorms, you might want to take advantage of this. 

For days with a lighter drizzle, the activities may still go ahead. However, consider packing a light raincoat and something warm to wear.

The ideal conditions for a tour in Coron are sunny, warm weather with good visibility and no rain.

2. Bring cash for entry fees and add-ons

You can check the fine print of your island hopping tour in Coron to see what is and isn’t included.

Most of the time, the entry fees are included in the tour. However, kayaks and snorkelling equipment may cost extra.

Lunch is typically included in group tours but excluded in private tours. There are no card machines on the boats, so you’ll need cash.

3. Pack your dry bag

If you’re wondering what to wear in Palawan when island hopping, here’s a quick overview. Don’t forget your dry bag – otherwise, your belongings may get wet on the beach or boat.

• Comfortable sandals or flip flops
• Reef shoes
• Sunglasses
• Swimwear
• A change of clothes or cover-up
• Lightweight towel
• Suncream
• Cash
• Optional: your own snorkelling gear

4. Allow time for your journey to the port

Unless your tour includes free pick-up from your accommodation, don’t forget to allow time for your journey to Coron port. 

The port is a five- to 10-minute drive from most of the hotels in Coron town. Traffic can be busy in the morning, and if you take a tricycle, it’s slower than a car.

It’s also best to pre-arrange a taxi or tricycle, just in case you can’t find a driver on the spot.

A 15-minute tricycle ride from the town to the port should cost around 20 PHP.

Coron island hopping tours typically depart from Coron port around 8am. It takes 30 minutes to 1 hour to sail from Coron to the island hopping destinations.

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I hope you found my guide useful, and you’re starting to feel excited for your trip. Leave a comment below to let me know your plans – I’d love to hear from you!

Suggested reading:

• Island hopping in Palawan itinerary – start here!
• Next up? El Nido itinerary
• Puerto Princesa itinerary

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