honda bay palawan

boat shuttles tourists off to one of Palawan's busiest and most visited bay, home to more than thirteen flat sandy islands and an amazing underwater view. going to Honda bay without snorkeling is like going to Banaue and not seeing the rice terraces.a usual island hopping trip in Honda bay can be relaxing as some of its islands kept its semi-exotic features despite its accessibility to the capital city. the take off point is at St. Lourdes pier which is just about 30minutes away from the town center.it is here where the boats dock on a long floating wooden platform as a jump off site to the snorkeling area. one would at first be surprised that the water is quite deep for snorkeling and that the policy for wearing a lifevest even for experienced snorkelers is strictly followed. this is to prevent people from stepping the corals.from there, one will either swim or move along a rope that leads to one of the almost perfect and well-preserved coral reef that i've been to. you'll be amazed at how they protected this site from the history of centuries of dynamite and overfishing in the country. i can stay in this area the whole morning just exploring and listing down each type of corals.
after the swim, we headed back to our boat as more and more tourists arrived in the area. this time heading farther North with Snake island as our destination. passed by the other islands like the famous Luli island which is short for "lulubog lilitaw"
just as we went ashore Snake island's dock site, we brought with us our snorkeling gears as this island is best for fish feeding. at first, i didn't gave in to the idea of snorkeling again as the mangroves got my attention the most.
this long thin and curvy sandbar island stretches up to almost 3kilometers long. i was not surprised to learn that almost 80% of the island is just plain sand. the rest is covered with mangroves giving the island an amazing beachscape.the thriving mangroves expands artistically in its beach stretch. with the growing flora, it gives tourists a fresh outlook of the country's last frontier. i've never been this fascinated with mangroves.don't be surprised if you'll see some people coming out of these mangrove forest, they live in some part of the island. it is where picking sea shells becomes a way of life. they are used to seeing tourists and so a genuine smile won't cost you anything.after a short walk along its shoreline, we went back to the snorkeling site where you can see in people's faces that they saw something very rewarding. this didn't kept me from trying out what seems to be the best activity in this island.true enough, fish feeding here is a great activity. you get to swim with groups of colorful and unusual fishes in just few meters away from the beach line. an awesome experience i almost disregarded. this was our last stop in this Palawan trip and with just the whole morning in Honda bay with just two stops, it ended perfectly. can't help but look forward to going back to Palawan soon.
island: Snake island in Honda Bay

province: Palawan

boat take off: St. Lourdes Pier, Puerto Princesa

escape factor:
boat trip experience: 4.0

beachscape: 4.0
snorkeling: 5.0

beach sand: 3.5

seclusion: 3.0

overall escape factor: 4.0

GPS location:

latitude: 9`54'5.76" N

longtitude: 118`49' 22.24" E