🏝️ The highlight reel
Real moments from real Palawan crews, no stock photos.
📆 Upcoming dates
Pick your week. Everything else lives on the trip page.
Islands of Palawan
Phone down, mask on. Seven days snorkeling, freediving and island hopping through the most remote islands left in the Philippines.
Three things you will do on this trip that you will still be talking about years later.
Snorkel a sunken warshipThe bay around Coron is full of ships that went down in 1944, and some of them sit shallow enough to snorkel right over. Coral growing up the hull, fish moving through the deck, all of it in water clear enough to see from the boat. No tank and no certification. Just a mask, a breath and a look down.
Five nights with no signalYour phone has had you since the alarm went off this morning. Somewhere on the first boat day the bars drop out and they do not come back for five nights. No wifi, no notifications, no group chats, nobody needing anything from you. You trade the screen for a mask and a reef, and you get back more hours in a day than you remembered existed.
Completely empty beachesWe anchor at islands with nobody else on them. Not quiet, not off season, empty. No day trippers, no beach vendors, no other boats, no footprints but ours. Just the crew, a volleyball net and a stretch of sand that belongs to us until we decide to leave.
You are in it every single day. Here is what lives down there, and every way we get you in.
This is open ocean, not an aquarium, so what shows up on the day is up to them. We suggest being a strong swimmer for this trip. Life jackets are on the boat for anyone who wants one, and every swim is optional.
📅 The day by day
Seven days. Every single one of them optional.
Land in Coron, sunset swim, briefing at 5, first family dinner.
We all meet at our hotel in Coron town for the first night. Land at Busuanga, ride in past the karst cliffs and the fishing boats, check in, and most importantly get straight in the water for a sunset dip to wash off the flight. Briefing is at 5 PM at the Coron office, then our first family dinner and drinks together. Your first taste of paradise.
Hike the 700 steps, board the boat, masks on, camp at Ngey.
A good sleep leads into a strong morning workout and the never ending Tapyas stairs, 700 of them to the best view on the island. Worth every step. Then a proper breakfast, we prep for the island hopping journey, and we board the boat that carries us from island to island for the next five nights. First stop is the first jump off the side, masks on, straight onto a reef. Camp tonight is Ngey, and it is the moment the signal disappears for good.
Snorkel the Coron wrecks, freediving exercises, camp at Tabayan.
The big water day. We snorkel the shipwrecks Coron is famous for and the reefs around them: neon water, live coral, and things on the seabed that have been down there since the war. Your leaders run some simple freediving exercises here, breathing, relaxing and duck diving, so you can get down for a closer look. Life jackets are on the boat if you would rather float. Tonight we sleep at Tabayan, huts on the sand, nothing between you and the sea.
Bootcamp, coconut coffee, kayaks and a reef out front, massages at Dara.
Wake with the sunrise, grab coffee with coconut creamer and crush a beach bootcamp, then a big egg breakfast. Here we take time to do nothing and get in sync with where we are. After lunch we move on to Dara: snorkel straight off the beach, take the kayaks and paddleboards out, fresh coconut pina coladas, beach games that turn competitive fast, and the 60 minute massage that is included in your ticket.
A morning snorkel stop, then the farm, a five course dinner and a fire show.
A morning in the water at a reef stop on the way, fishing lines out the back of the boat with the crew, and then we reach the farm, where the locals make everything on site: soap, shampoo, all the food, even the local drink. Some of the best meals of your life, including a five course farm to table experience with things you have never heard of, coconut water soup and coconut chocolate creme brulee. Secluded beach, sunset, and a fire show to finish it.
Lagoons and one last reef, best sunset of the week, white party.
One last full day in the water, hopping through Bacuit Bay: lagoons to swim and paddle into, limestone walls straight out of the sea and one last reef to snorkel. It ends at Cadlao, the island sitting right across the water from El Nido, with one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world to dress up for. Tonight is the white party and the last night of the crew together, so everything the week has been building turns up here.
Into El Nido, whenever your flight needs you.
We finish in El Nido, and we can have you there any time in the morning you need, so book the flight that suits you. Time to say goodbye, look at the photos, and think back on a week spent in the water, going island to island, eating all the local seafood and drinking an unearthly amount of ginger tea. Then the group chat starts, and most people are already working out which SYB trip is next before reality hits.
Every swim, snorkel and workout is optional. Do all of it, or lie in the hammock and meet us at lunch. Snorkel stops, camps and running order can shift with the weather and the sea.
Off the grid does not mean roughing it. Every hut is made up before you walk in.
Night one is at Hotel 180 in Coron town, with air conditioning and a hot shower.
Then five nights in beach huts on private island camps, right on the sand, working west through the chain from Coron to El Nido.
A team goes ahead of us and puts the camp up before the boat lands, then takes the whole thing down after we leave. You carry nothing and you build nothing. Walk up the sand, find your hut, drop your bag.
Shared spot is a beach hut shared with one other traveller.
Private spot is the whole beach hut to yourself.
Coron to El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
✅ What's included
❌ Not included
📸 #SYBPalawan on Instagram
Real moments from real crews. Post yours and you are in the archive.
Because this is one of the most visually unreal places we go.
You’re in Palawan, moving through limestone cliffs, hidden lagoons, and clear blue water.
Most of the experience happens by boat. You’re island hopping, swimming in remote spots, and spending full days out on the water with the group.
Yes, and most people do.
So much of the trip is shared (boat days, meals, moving between locations) that it’s easy to connect quickly.
People who want a mix of movement and island life.
Typically:
Yes, but in a natural, water-based way.
You’ll be:
Climbing in and out of boats and lagoons
Staying active with light workouts and movement
It’s not intense, but you’re definitely not sitting still.
We suggest being a strong swimmer. Most of the week is in open water off a boat.
Life jackets are on the boat and you can wear one any time. Every swim and snorkel is optional.
Coral reefs, reef fish, giant clams and the shipwrecks off Coron. Sea turtles live on these reefs.
It is open ocean, so no animal is guaranteed.
Simple breathing, relaxing and duck diving drills led by your SYB leaders, so you can get down for a closer look while snorkeling.
It is not a course and there is no certification. Go as deep as you are comfortable, or stay on the surface.
Snorkeling every day, kayaks and paddleboards at camp, and fishing with the boat crew.
There is no scuba, so you do not need a certification or any experience.
Yes. Masks, snorkels and fins are on the boat.
Bring your own mask if you prefer it.
Explorative, social, and a bit more off-grid.
Days are spent out on the water, moving between islands and lagoons. Nights are more relaxed, dinners, drinks, and time with the group.
You are based in Palawan, exploring some of the most iconic areas:
We start in Coron and work our way west to El Nido, so the whole week moves in one direction. Camps are Ngey, Tabayan, Dara, the farm and Cadlao, though they can shift with the weather and the sea. Most of the trip happens by boat.
With us, it is.
We work with experienced local boat crews and partners who run these routes regularly.
All transportation and logistics are organized in advance, so you’re not figuring anything out on your own.
Yes.
We have a photographer and videographer on the trip, so you can stay present and still come away with great content from the week.
If you like the idea of:
Then yes.
If you’re looking for something highly structured or nightlife-focused, this may not be the best fit.
Palawan is not the easiest place to get to, which is a big part of why it still looks the way it does. The short version is more doable than people expect.
You fly into Manila (MNL), then take a domestic hop to Busuanga, the airport for Coron (USU). The trip ends in El Nido, so you fly home out of El Nido (ENI). Do not book a round trip in and out of Coron.
What we would book for the February 2027 trip:
Flights are not included. You book them yourself, and fares move, so treat those numbers as a ballpark rather than a quote. If you would rather route differently, you can fly into Puerto Princesa and drive north, or spend a night in Manila on the way home. The full breakdown with times is further up this page.
1️⃣ Pick Your Trip - Choose your dates and destination.
2️⃣ Book Your Spot - Pay with cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, or a payment plan.
3️⃣ Book Your Flight - You’re in. Grab that flight.
4️⃣ Six Weeks Out - We’ll send a quick form for your flight details and food preferences.
5️⃣ Three Weeks Out - We’ll send the trip guide, party themes, and group chat invite.
6️⃣ Let’s Go - Show up at the airport and find the happiest crew there.
All payments are non-refundable.
Cancel more than 45 days before the trip and you get a one-time trip credit for the amount paid, usable within 12 months on any future trip date.
Cancel within 45 days and your payment is non-refundable and non-transferable.
Travel and medical insurance is required.
