Palawan

📍 El Nido, northern Palawan

Looming limestone cliffs frame shallow, turquoise lagoons and the clear channels between islands — the classic El Nido seascape, with easy snorkeling in calm, sheltered water.

📍 Around Coron Bay

A scatter of Japanese WWII wrecks lies in the bay. A few — like the Lusong gunboat — rise so shallow they can be explored by strong snorkelers or freedivers, coral-encrusted and full of fish.

A handful only reach snorkel depth — most of the famous Coron wrecks are deeper dive sites. Confirm depth and take a guide; some are protected.

📍 ~180 km east of Palawan (Sulu Sea)

A UNESCO marine park famed for pristine reef. It's among the clearest water on Earth, but it's remote and only realistically reached by multi-day liveaboard — a bucket-list expedition, not a day trip.

Liveaboard expedition; permits and marine-park rules apply.

📍 West coast, central Palawan

A laid-back fishing-village coast with easy shore and short boat snorkeling on coral gardens, populated with turtles and smaller reef fish — a calmer, less groomed alternative to El Nido.

In laid-back Port Barton, fishermen's shacks along the shore serve kinilaw na isda — fresh catch cured in vinegar, coconut and ginger — an hour after the boats come in. You eat at a low table while the fishing life goes on around you.

Tip: Have it with lato (sea grapes) and a squeeze of calamansi.

Coron's covered market is where locals buy the day's fare, and a generations-old stall steams fat, savoury Palawan tamales wrapped in banana leaves. A cheap, filling fuel for an early island-hopping day.

Tip: Grab several to take on your Coron boat trip — they hold up brilliantly in a drybag.

Walk a few blocks off El Nido's bar-lined shore and family eateries dish up honest home cooking — chicken adobo, sinigang and grilled pork belly — at prices island-hoppers never see. It's the lunch the boat crews actually eat.

Tip: Dodge the beachfront and follow where the boatmen are queuing at midday.