The Discovery Palawan Nature Escape Cruise takes divers to Apo reef and the north of Palawan. It’s an outstanding adventure. The cruise is short, only four nights, but it has a lot to offer: stunning landscapes, lots of activities, and, most importantly, good diving. The cherry on top is the wellness program, with yoga and massages. This cruise the perfect trip for groups of divers and non-divers traveling together.

The boat leaves from Batangas, visiting Apo Reef, famous shipwrecks in Coron, and more. The multiplicity of dives and activities fit into just five days is amazing.

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When to go to Apo Reef and Coron

Discovery Palawan makes this trip to Apo Reef and Coron from October to March.

The Discovery Palawan also goes toTubbataha from March to mid-June, but you need to book early because these trips get fully booked up to a year in advance. There are some last minute promotions for MArch and April 2020 due to cancelations so please check the bottom of the article for the Promo code.

How to get to Batangas

I flew to Manila and took a Grab Car from the airport to Batangas. There is a good highway from Manila airport, so depending on traffic, it takes between one and two hours to get there.

The cruise company can book your airport transfer for you to ensure you get to the port in Batangascomfortably.

Tip: Reconfirm the departure port with the cruise company. I first went to Batangas port, only to realize that the boat was leaving from the Bauan government port, which is 20 kilometers further. The only way I could get there was by tricycle, and it was an adventure I would not recommend if you are looking for a comfortable trip.

Boarding the Discovery Palawan

I arrived around lunchtime, and I was very excited about boarding the Discovery Palawan.

Friendly faces were waiting for me and took care of my luggage. It was the first sign of the friendly service that was to come during this five-day cruise. We were showed to our cabin and signed our diving liability releases, and then settled in.

We also met Colin, the cruise director. He was funny and put everyone at ease. He was also incredibly flexible, willing to adjust the schedule to the desiderata of all the passengers. We got to choose the diving times, and the activities in between dives, which gave a bit the feeling of being on a private boat.

Lunch was served on the top deck before we departed, and then we headed out of Batangas Bay. We spent the afternoon setting up our diving gear and relaxing on the deck. All the cruise passengers met outside on the upstairs terrace facing the front of the boat to watch the stunning sunset.

Discovery Palawan Nature Escape: The Boat

The boat is 49 meters long and has 20 cabins. It’s small for a cruise ship, but large for a diving liveaboard, so it has lots of advantages for this kind of trip.

One major advantage of small cruise ships is that they can truly explore the trip’s destinations. It’s easier to disembark for activities, and passengers can get to know each other better as well.

On the other hand, the advantage of a large liveaboard boat is that there’s room for more activities, like yoga and massage, and more activities for non-diving passengers. The Discovery Palawan has a full-time tour leader that takes the non-diving guests to various activities.

The boat was built in 1972 in Holland as a three-masted schooner. It is in an old style, but it is still very comfortable. There is plenty of lounging area, so it never feels crowded.

On deck 1, there’s an indoor salon that also serves as a camera charging room and as an indoor cinema. The dining room is on deck 2. It is outdoors, so you can enjoy the view and the breeze while you eat.

Deck 3 has a bar with a seating area and both indoor and outdoor areas. My favorite place to relax and enjoy the scenery was in the outdoor bar area. Many of us met up there every evening before dinner to watch the sunsets and the dolphins.

This boat is also great for families as it is large, with plenty of enclosed areas. However, the stairs between the decks are quite steep, so I wouldn’t recommend this boat to people with mobility issues.

The cabins on the Discovery Palawan liveaboard

I stayed in cabin 5, a lower deck cabin with a queen bed. Though the cabin was small, it was mainly white, which helped it feel light and fresh, and it had two portholes that provided plenty of natural light, though the windows don’t open.

The bed was comfortable and had plenty of space to store luggage underneath. Space in the cupboard is limited, so don’t bring too much luggage, especially if you are sharing the cabin.

The rooms are air-conditioned with their own thermostats, so you can adjust the temperature to your liking.

They have ensuite bathrooms that are relatively spacious for a boat. The hot water shower had great pressure, and soap, shampoo, and conditioners were all provided.

The Discovery Palawan is one of the most stable liveaboards I’ve seen, likely because it’s larger than most liveaboards. Some nights when the weather was calm, I’d forget that I was sleeping on a boat!

The boat is great. Some will say it looks a bit old, but it is very comfortable ( except the stairs that were to steep to my taste). What makes the Discovery Palawan special is the quality and friendliness of its staff. In my past trips, I have always found Filipinos to be very hospitable, but the staff on the Discovery Palawan wowed us with another level of outstanding service

The food on the Discovery Palawan liveaboard

I could tell from that very first lunch after boarding that the food was going to be good on this trip. I had mentioned my dietary requirements, and they were incredibly accommodating.

The food is varied, served buffet style, and delicious. Typically the divers would have a light breakfast early, around 6 am, and then a full breakfast after the first dive with the non-divers. After the second dive, we wouldn’t have lunch, then an afternoon snack after the third dive, and finally dinner around 7 pm. Needless to say, we didn’t go hungry!

The full breakfast had a few hot dishes, an omelet station, and bread, cheese, and fruits. Ginger tea was served in addition to tea and coffee.

Lunch and dinner were also buffet-style. Salad and vegetable lovers will be happy, there were two or three different salads, and vegetable dishes served every night. There was also a variety of meat and fresh fish.

Most meals were on the top deck’s outdoor dining room. The view and the breeze made these meals great experiences.

We also had two meals on the beach on a remote island, and those were particularly special. On day two, the crew brought all the tables, chairs, and buffet to the beach. What an experience to enjoy a delicious lunch on your own private island!

Then on day three, they organized a beach party for us. We went to the beach in time for the sunset. A lot of people did yoga on the beach, but I was feeling lazy that evening and just watched the sunset from the top of a little hill.

The team had an impressive setup with tables, music, and even some party lights. The food was as delightful as it was good-looking. What a special moment!

Discovery Palawan Nature Escape: The Dive sites

The diving itinerary covers some world-famous dive sites. From the inaccessible Apo Reef to the Japanese wrecks of Coron, there are some must-see dives on this cruise.

Apo Reef dive sites

Apo is a beach-fringed island in the middle of nowhere. It’s home to one of the biggest coral reefs in the world. Not many people get to dive here because it takes around 15 hours by boat to get there. It’s definitely worth the trip, though, and we did three dives at Apo reef.

The first dive was a gently sloping reef that turns into a wall. The coral was relatively small but full of colors. We didn’t see many big fishes except for a white tip shark and a parrotfish. We saw an eel, a few common nudibranchs, and an octopus.

The second dive was a steeper wall going to 50 or 60 meters. Two big white tip sharks were patrolling the area when we started the dive. The wall’s colors were beautiful, with a strong purple tone.

We saw plenty of soft corals, a few nudibranchs, and a turtle to finish the dive. There weren’t many big fishes around, but there was also very little current.

The third dive was on the other side of the island and was quite similar to the first two dives. Visibility was great, and the coral was lovely.

I had heard a lot about Apo reef for the last 15 years and was really looking forward to diving there. It was a great day of diving, but I probably would not rank it as one of the top dive sites in the world, mostly due to the lack of big fishes and large corrals. The biggest fishes we saw were about 30 cm, aside from the sharks and the bump head parrot fish. Apo Reef is technically a protected area where fishing is not allowed, but that doesn’t seem to be respected. The number of fish was much lower than in places like Misol in Raja Ampat, Palau, or even Bohol in the Philippines.

 

 

 

Diving Coron: Famous Wrecks and a Reef

Our next destination was Coron Bay, and we visited several famous shipwrecks in this area, along with a reef.

Kogyo Maru shipwreck dive site

Kyogo Maru is an auxiliary supply ship. It was built in 1927 and sank in 1944. It is over 100 meters long.

The wreck starts at 34 meters. You can navigate towards the hull, and go inside the wreck at the center. The hull is full of cabbage corals with crocodile fish, scorpionfish, stonefish, and more.

Tip: Visibility is often poor, so make sure you keep your diving group insight.

Olympia Baru shipwreck dive site 

This wreck goes to 30 meters. The ship is upright, sitting in the seabed. We swam through the cargo space, and saw a lot of lionfish, as well as batfish, a giant pufferfish, and even two crocodile fish mating.

Okikawa Maru shipwreck dive site 

This was my favorite of the three wrecks we dove in Coron. There was an impressive number of fishes around the wreck. For macro photography lovers, there were plenty of nudibranchs and stunning soft corals. This, combined with the spectacular landscapes of the wreck, made it a stunning dive.

 

Diving twin peaks near Coron

After diving the three wrecks around Coron, it was also nice to see a reef. Twin peaks is a mix of a wall and a gently sloping reef. It surrounds two small islands that look like peaks, and that’s where the dive site gets its name.

The reef was colorful, with lots of small fishes and nudibranchs. Some sections of the reef were in good condition, with nice soft corals, but other sections had many bleached and broken corals.

There was no current, and it was a very easy and relaxing dive.

Diving at Barracuda Lake

The final site on the cruise had a different kind of diving. Barracuda lake is a soft water lake with super warm water. It starts at 29 degrees at the surface and reached 40 degrees as we went down to 27 meters. The lake is named for barracudas that used to live there. Don’t get too excited: we didn’t see any on our dive.

There’s not too much to see in the lake. We saw a few catfish, shrimp, and shells. It was still a very fun dive as we played with the thermoclines and the difference in temperature.

Tip: There’s no need to wear a wetsuit if you dive at Baracuda lake. You can also remove a few weights from your weight belt as it is soft water.

The lake is behind some majestic limestone cliffs. The view all around is spectacular.

Dive Organization

Even though the boat can carry many more, there were only seven passengers on this trip, as many had canceled following the appearance of the coronavirus.

With only five people diving, we had one group accompanied by two divemasters. The dive briefing was held in the outdoor dining room upstairs. Then we’d get dressed and head down to the boat.

The diving crew was incredibly helpful and took care of loading all our equipment, including fins and cameras. All we had to do was jump into the boat. It was a truly five-star service.

Having two divemasters in our group was also great, as one of the divemasters could surface earlier with the people running low on air.

Tip: During the whole trip, the water temperature was around 27 degrees, so a 3 millimeters wetsuit is enough for this itinerary.

Other Activities on the Discovery Palawan

The Discovery Palawan Nature Escape cruise offers a lot more than diving and is, therefore, a perfect option for groups including divers and non-divers. Non-diving guests did a lot of kayaking and snorkeling in beautiful landscapes. Even the diving group got to do extra activities in between dives.

Exploring Apo reef island

While at Apo reef, we went to visit the island. It felt like a private island, as we were the only people on it. We discovered a pristine white beach.

The walk through the mangroves to the lagoon was peaceful and beautiful. We were surrounded by the sounds of nature: birds, branches cracking, and waves. We were told that blacktip sharks can often be seen in that lagoon, but we didn’t see them on that day.

The passengers participating in the wellness program were doing yoga on the beach. One of them was having a massage while listening to the waves. Total bliss!

The crew prepared a huge buffet lunch on the beach. Tables were set up, and they even installed a bar. It was spectacular.

After a prodigious lunch, we hiked to the lighthouse. The views from up there are stunning. It was a clear day, and we could see the lagoon and all the way to Palawan.

Soaking in Maquinit hot springs

Our trip also included a visit to a hot spring. We got to soak in a beautiful pool by the mangroves and the sea. The temperature in the pool ranged from 38 to 40 degrees. What a great way to end a diving trip to relax those sore muscles!

Tip: Look in the mangrove trees. We saw five night herons there.

The wellness program on the Discovery Palawan

In addition to diving and exploration, the Discovery Palawan also offers a wellness program.

While onboard, I did two yoga classes and got a massage. The massage felt heavenly, as my body was getting tired from doing three dives a day.

The yoga sessions were also great. They were held at the front of the boat during sunset. What a spectacular setting! Our instructor, Camille, was amazing, and she got us to totally relax through a mix of meditation, asanas, and yin yoga postures.

We finished in time for sundowner drinks to end our day.

Conclusion

Our days were very busy with 3 dives, plenty of sightseeing, yoga, and massage. Each night, we would go to sleep exhausted but contented with plenty of great memories in our head.

The Nature Escape cruise offered by Discovery Palawan is a short but very enjoyable trip, taking you to remote paradisiac islands. It is great for divers as well as for non-divers, and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a short escape in Southeast Asia. You might also want to extend your trip in Palawan for a few days.

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For more travel inspiration in the Philippines, read my review of diving in Bohol and the Donatela Luxury resort