Biking The Coral Triangle Heartland of Busuanga

• Culture
• Expeditions
• Mountain Biking
• Palawan
• Sea Kayaking
• Snorkeling

The Philippines’ sparsely populated Palawan region is a rich corner of the Planet’s famed Coral Triangle offering superlative snorkeling, kayaking and biking.

Yes, biking!

Particularly of the single track variety through its well-preserved jungle, a lifeline for its thriving coral reefs.

Have you experienced both the thrill and serenity of biking jungle trails? These tracks link rural outposts and cross numerous streams. They have been cut by successive generations of water buffaloes dragging their sled-like trailers to take products of the forest to market. The result? Metre-wide knock-offs of professionally chiselled mountain biking tracks — absent many a rocky obstacle & definitely minus the usual hordes of recreational bikers.

Yes, you’ll have biking nirvana all to yourself, save a carabao (water buffalo), a farmer, a kid going to school. It’s not a Bali experience where you jostle with cars and compete for a snapshot vantage point with scores of other bikers.

You’ll cycle quiet rural and jungle roads and paths, stopping to greet the occasional passersby and meet locals going about their day, exhibiting the signature fun and happiness of the Filipino. The fun will be contagious as you drop into streams to cool off, and swim jungle waterfall rockpools.

Your guides, being locals, will open your eyes to the rich diverse fauna and flora of Busuanga–and open the door to better understanding the native Tagbanua, the Indigenous custodians of Busuanga and its other islands making up the Calamian Islands. During the trip you’ll visit Coron Island on a luxury catamaran. There you’ll be witness to one of the great successes in Indigenous rights. Also, during the trip, you’ll visit Bambuhay, a cultural hub of the upland Tagbanua which showcases the physical culture of the tribal custodians of the Calamian.

You’ll also be biking for a purpose: To further kids’ education. Income from biking trips builds classrooms; the bikes we ride find their way back to students needing wheels to better get to school.

And, there’s a second purpose: we bike to destinations that best showcase The Coral Triangle:

To the idyllic islands of Culion and an unparalleled panoply  of coral species;

To the majestic limestone island of Coron by luxury sailing catamaran and expedition sea kayak;

To interact as a snorkeler with dugongs off the island of Busuanga.

As the expedition draws to an end, you’ll have the answer to what makes Busuanga — and the Calamian islands of which Busuanga is part — such a special corner of the Coral Triangle.

The trip includes biking over 5 days, a day half-day snorkeling with dugong, a day catamaran sailing & kayaking Coron’s lagoons, and a half-day snorkeling coral reefs off Busuanga’s Pearl Bay

Tribal Adventures’ bikes are mountain bikes, mostly hard-tails (add 2,000 pesos a day for Giant dual suspension bikes), pitched to the gravel, sand & dirt portions of main roads, tracks and trails that get us out to experience true life on Philippine islands.