Coron
Cliff-ringed lakes, the clearest water in Palawan, and a WWII fleet resting on the seabed — the islands' wilder, quieter side.
Palawan's adventurous side
If El Nido is Palawan's postcard, Coron is its adventure chapter. The scenery belongs to the same family — limestone cliffs, turquoise lagoons — but the mood is its own: freshwater lakes so clear they barely seem to hold a surface, snorkelling straight over shipwrecks, some of the best wreck diving in Asia, and a seasonal chance of a dugong crossing your path. It feels a notch quieter and rougher round the edges than El Nido, and that is precisely why a certain kind of traveller loves it more.
Coron rewards the curious — divers and snorkellers, couples after an island resort with real seclusion, and anyone who likes their island hopping with a sense of discovery rather than a queue. One thing to settle before you book, and the mistake we most often unpick in other people's itineraries: Coron Town has no beach. It is a friendly, workaday base of seafood grills, cafés and dive shops; the beaches, lakes and reefs are all a boat ride away. Where you sleep, then, shapes the entire stay — so it is the first thing we pin down.
What to do in Coron
Start with the classic Coron Island tour — the region's answer to El Nido's Tour A, and often sold as the "Ultimate" island circuit. A banca threads between the cliffs of Coron Island to Kayangan Lake, reached by a short, steep stair climb to the viewpoint that fronts every Palawan brochure, then down to water so clear it barely registers a surface. Nearby lie the twin basins of Twin Lagoon, split by a limestone wall you swim under or clamber over between warm salt and cool freshwater, and Barracuda Lake, a surreal cliff-ringed lake where divers pass through shimmering thermoclines — abrupt layers of warm and cold water. Most trips add snorkelling at the Siete Pecados marine park and over the shallow Skeleton Wreck, parts of which sit just a few metres down: your first shipwreck, no dive licence required.
With a second full day, we point people two ways. The reef-and-beaches run heads south to postcard sandbars and swimming beaches — Malcapuya, Banana and Bulog Dos — softer, blonder sand than the cliff-and-lagoon scenery most people come for, and a lovely counterweight to it. Or take our contrarian favourite, Black Island: a longer crossing that puts most visitors off, which is exactly why its near-empty beach beneath dark cliffs, its cave and its quiet snorkelling still feel like the edge of the map.
Divers come for the main event — a Japanese supply fleet sunk in 1944 and now a cluster of coral-clad WWII wrecks, from the shallow, penetrable Okikawa Maru to the deeper Irako for the experienced. It is the finest wreck diving in the country; see our diving holidays page for how we build a trip around it. In season, boats also nose out to look for the dugong, a rare sea cow grazing the seagrass meadows near Dimakya; sightings are never promised, and we only arrange it with operators who keep a respectful distance. For a full day out of the water, Calauit to the north is a genuine oddity — a former game reserve where giraffe and zebra roam a Palawan island. And whatever the day held, end it the local way, easing into the Maquinit Hot Springs as the light goes.
Where to stay: town or island resort?
This is the decision that defines a Coron stay. Coron Town is the practical choice — walking distance to restaurants, small bars and dive centres, and quick to the jetty for those early tour departures, which makes it the natural base for divers and active travellers. Just picture a working harbour town rather than a beach destination. The island resorts scattered through the surrounding bays are the opposite proposition: your own stretch of sand, a house reef off the deck and near-total quiet, reached by the resort's own boat. For honeymooners and couples they are among the most romantic stays in the Philippines — properly secluded without ever feeling stranded, since town and its tours remain a short cruise away.
Many of our travellers do both, and it is the routing we most often recommend: two or three nights in town for the lakes, the wrecks and the dive boats, then two nights on an island to let the pace fall away before the flight home.
Our take: give Coron four nights and don't stop at the classic tour — it's Black Island, a wreck dive or a lucky dugong morning that turns Coron from "pretty" into the story you tell at dinner parties. And keep the transfer day loose: flights and ferries here move with the weather, so we never build a tight connection around them.
Combines well with
The natural pairing is El Nido, linked by the 4–5 hour fast ferry — the classic lagoons first, then Coron's lakes and wrecks, with no backtracking. Flying in or out through Cebu makes it easy to add Cebu or Bohol as a contrasting second act, and a route through Clark pairs neatly with a night in Manila at either end.
Coron rewards travellers who plan it properly.
Town or island resort, ferry or flight, Black Island or a wreck dive — tell us your dates and we'll send a free tailor-made Coron itinerary within 24 hours.