Island hopping and snorkeling at HONDA BAY

Honda Bay is another famous tourist destination off the coast of Puerto Princesa  Palawan  known for it's sand islands. According to our guide, it got its name from a Japanese word which means "sudden deep". That's a definition I never heard of before but I observed that it's true, the waters suddenly get deep only a few meters from shore so better wear those life jackets when you go here. At any rate, the Philippine coast guard maintains a heavy presence here so the guides would really require you to wear it whether on the boat or when snorkeling.

Honda bay is in the Sulu Sea side of Puerto Prinsesa City. It takes 20-30 minutes from the airport to Sta. Lourdes where there is a small port. From there, you will take the boat for another 15-30 minutes depending on your island of destination . Tour is for 1, 100php per head. That would include 3 areas.  It's up to you if you want to request for another island to hop in, comes with an additional charge of coarse. The guide told us that the islands are basically similar to each other so 3 destinations is okay. Since we had to fly back to Manila on the same day, we just stick to the itinerary.

We were told that Honda bay is about snorkeling, 80% of it's beauty our guide said is underwater. Bad news for our friend Alex who is not into it. Good thing we were able to convince him to give it a try. He loved it since. We stopped momentarily in an area where they made a makeshift cottage for snorkeling. It's in the open sea so the thought of going down the water is kinda scary for beginners. Also my first. But  life vests really do a lot of wonders. You will never sink as long as you have one.

 After snorkeling for around 20 minutes, we finally hopped into one of the islands,  

Star Fish Island.......

I guess I need not to expound why it's called such. You might not notice it at first but there are really a lot of starfish here. This is maybe due to the fact that island is kinda rocky. It's not exactly rocks but there are a lot of corals washed ashore. The guides will advice you to put your sandals on should should you walk on the water. The sand is not very find but the water is really clear.  It is here where i took tons of photos. I am sorry if I will show so many in this post. Photo overload it is. lol

We stayed in snake island for until 1pm. This is where we spent lunch. The food is covered by the tour fee so your hotel/ resort will be taking care of it. There are no stores in Starfish island so your accommodation would usually prepare the food before leaving for Honda Bay. If you are not a picky eater, you would really enjoy the combination of grilled fish, eggplant with bagoong and green mangoes, shrimps and the like. The usual things I love eating when I go back to my hometown. The experience was really memorable. As a city dweller, eating in a cottage near the beach is simply a refreshing experience.

me, my wife Teresa and freinds Gema and Alex

Our next Honda bay destination was

Snake Island

--- named after its shape when seen from above. I thought of it as non-photogenic at first after being dazzled by the beauty of starfish island but this is the place in Honda bay where fish feeding is very popular. We really enjoyed the experience. It pays if you bring with you some bread to lure the fish, and when you do, they really come in numbers. Don't worry if you don't have one ready with you, there are a few makeshift sari-sari stores in the island where you can buy many things from chips to sodas to halo-halo. We even bought fresh crabs for 300 pesos a kilo.

Fish comes in different shapes, sizes and colors. Too bad we didn't have case for dslrs. Our friend Gema rented one for 250 pesos for her digital camera.

my first to snorkel in open water....

By the way, Honda bay is also home to Dos Palmas Island Resort  which you can visit on a day tour but on separate rate. I think it's at around 1,800 pesos per head and that's exclusively for Dos Palmas.

Honda Bay is really a must-see destination when in Puerto Princesa Palawan as your trip here will never be complete without it. I was personally impressed by the sand islands.If it true that much of the enjoyment lies under the sea, I would say it's a combination of of both above water and underwater view. Having said that, you will not fully enjoy Honda bay if you will not try snorkeling and walking trough the sand islands to simply appreciate the view.........

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for more info on Puerto Prinsesa and Palawan
you might like to visit the following website:

http://www.palawan.com/
http://www.palawan-resort.com/