Dugong Snorkeling Off Luxury Catamaran Or Native Banca

• Day Trips
• Palawan
• Sea Kayaking
• Snorkeling
• Wildlife

On a native outrigger banca or on our motorised Admiral 38 sailing catamaran “Tribal Adventures” will  take you on an unforgettable experience: snorkeling with a dugong, or seacow.

Tribal Adventures departs at 8am from Palawan SandCastles in northern Busuanga, one hour drive north of Coron town. Tribal Adventure Tours, operator of the catamaran, does a van pick up of guests from their Coron hotel at 6.30am for an additional charge.

This day tour takes you to northern Busuanga’s Dugong Bay, the picturesque island-dotted habitat of over 30 dugongs – the largest family of sea cows in the Philippines.

About an hour out of Palawan SandCastles, you’ll arrive off Calauit Island where we pick up a native Tagbanua guide: we do this because the habitat of the dugong is in the territory of the native Tagbanua, who through tradition and their own spiritual beliefs have a special affinity with the seacows.

We sail around the coast of Calauit for about 30 minutes before getting to the known sanctuary for dugong. It’s here we wait for the dugong to appear above the water, before submerging again. If it’s our turn, we enter the water quietly having donned our snorkel and mask,  following our Tagbanua and Tribal Adventures’ guide. And, it must be appreciated the tour is under the control of the traditional custodians for the dugong sanctuary, the Tagbanua: slots are limited and everyone waits their turn to be invited for the chance to interact with the dugong. Interaction is not guaranteed and waiting for your turn can mean waiting minutes and even an hour or three. Note, the native bancas do not have a bathroom: it’s peeing in the water or visiting a basic toilet on the shore at a simple home of a Tagbanua family.The catamaran, by contrast, does have a toilet and waiting aboard the cat is a tad more comfortable and better protected from the sun. We don’t pursue or get too close to the gentle creatures, which are the size of a cow when mature. Often, in fact, a curious dugong will come over to check us out–we seem to be entertainment for some of them.

Spotting dugong, let alone snorkeling with one or more, isn’t guaranteed, and when there’s no encounter there’s the beauty of the coral reefs, turtle and fish as consolation. But since the Tagbanua have got on board, our success rate for interaction has been over 90%–so there’s a good chance!

The catamaran sailing trip recommences with a cruise of Dugong Bay. The cat is a platform for adventure with sea kayaks that get lowered for use in the lagoons and bays we visit. There’s also further opportunity to snorkel: pretty coral reefs abound. Using a banca, kayaks may not be aboard but will await the return from the dugong snorkeling experience at SandCastles before embarking on a magical paddle to the Midpid island sandbars.

An ideal cruise of either the catamaran or a banca will finish with a paddle of the Midpid Islands: if it’s low tide you’ll be bowled over by the exposed snaking sandbar that links all three islands.

The Wow factor doesn’t end there. After arriving at SandCastles, you can soak in a fresh water spring plunge pool, sipping a beer.

Meals — morning merienda, lunch, afternoon merienda and sundowner are included, as is snorkel and mask, a crewed catamaran, a Tribal Adventures guide and a Tagbanua guide, and entrance and park fees. The cost of two-way car (max 3 pax) or van (max 9 pax) transport by Tribal Adventures, if you so opt, is 7,000 pesos. That’s in addition to your private catamaran or banca dugong snorkel trip, priced as follows on a per person basis for the number of persons in your party:
For 4+ persons = 9,409 pesos (cat); 6,875 pesos (banca)
For 3 persons = 11,630 pesos (cat); 8,025 pesos (banca)
For 2 persons = 13,030 pesos (cat); 8,991 pesos (banca)
For 1 person = 23,750 pesos (cat); 16,388 pesos (banca)

Note our Admiral 38 sailing catamaran is available for dugong snorkeling upon request at lengthy notice from 15 April to 29 August. Otherwise a banca is used.

On the trip we may also visit, estuaries, rivers and caves, the Midpid Island sandbars and the vicinity — without being intrusive — of an island nesting site for turtles.