The Super Ultimate Banca Tour
Christopher Lozada, our banca captain, was at the pier at seven with the boat already loaded and the engine running — a man who understood that this particular circuit is best begun before the tour group convoys from the larger resorts have cleared the channel. We were five: two adults, two school-age kids, one younger child, and a cooler with enough food and water to survive a day at sea, which is exactly what we intended. The Calamian waters were flat and glassy as we pulled away from the Coron pier and pointed the bow northeast.
Kayangan Lake earned its reputation on the spot. The approach is half the experience: a steep trail of wooden steps up a limestone karst ridge, views of the bay opening behind you as you climb, and then a descent to a platform above the lake where the water below is a shade of blue-green that has no adequate equivalent in ordinary colour vocabulary. The lake sits in a bowl of karst, completely enclosed by rock, fed by both freshwater springs and seawater intrusion — the chemistry makes the water exceptionally clear. We snorkelled the shallows and then simply floated there, looking up at the limestone walls and the sky above them, for longer than was strictly necessary. No one hurried us out.
Barracuda Lake, a short banca ride away, is the strange one: a lake where the temperature changes dramatically as you descend — warm at the surface, then a sharp thermocline where the water temperature drops suddenly and the salinity increases, a disorienting shift in the middle of an open swim. The effect is difficult to describe and genuinely uncanny. Beneath the thermocline, visibility drops and the water turns the deep blue of much greater depths. The kids refused to go below it after the first test dive, which was the correct reaction. The adults tried it several times.
Twin Lagoon in the afternoon: two lagoons connected by a low rock passageway you squeeze through at low tide, the second lagoon larger and more sheltered, with mangrove on the far shore and long shafts of light coming through the rock arch at the entrance. Smith Beach for a packed lunch — a small private island with a strip of white sand and coconut palms, completely quiet at that hour of the day. The Coral Garden for a final snorkel before turning back, and then the Lusong Gunboat wreck: a Japanese cargo ship sunk during the Second World War and now resting in the shallows at a depth reachable by snorkel, coral-covered, home to schools of reef fish that move in and out of the rusted hull with the casualness of long residence. We floated above the deck in the late afternoon light and looked down at the wreck below us and thought about the distance between then and now.
Kayangan Lake
Declared the cleanest lake in the Philippines, Kayangan sits inside a limestone karst formation accessible via a steep wooden-step trail from the banca landing. The water’s turquoise clarity comes from the combination of freshwater springs and limited seawater intrusion that creates an unusual chemical environment. Snorkelling is permitted in designated areas; the visibility is extraordinary. Entrance fee ₱200/pax. The viewing deck at the top of the trail is one of the most photographed spots in the Philippines — worth a pause before descending.
Barracuda Lake
A meromictic lake — one with permanently stratified layers that do not mix — Barracuda Lake has a warm saline layer at the surface that gives way to a cold, darker layer below a sharp thermocline at approximately 8–10 metres depth. The temperature drop at the thermocline is sudden and dramatic, from around 28°C to 16°C or less. The lake is named for the barracuda that once populated it (rarely seen now). Snorkelling near the thermocline, where the water shimmers at the boundary between the two temperature layers, is a genuinely unusual experience.
Twin Lagoon
Two lagoons separated by a low limestone passage that can be swum through at low tide or waded at higher water. The outer lagoon is smaller and more exposed; the inner lagoon is larger, calmer, and more dramatically enclosed by karst walls. A rope suspended from the rock helps you pull through the passage. The inner lagoon is quieter than Kayangan and rewards a slower visit — the light changes here throughout the day as the sun moves over the karst, and the late-afternoon version of the place is completely different from the morning.
Lusong Gunboat Shipwreck
A Japanese WWII-era cargo vessel resting in shallow water (3–8 metres) off Lusong Island, making it one of the few Coron wrecks accessible to snorkellers without scuba equipment. The wreck is heavily encrusted with coral and sponges after 80 years on the seafloor, and houses substantial reef fish populations. The hull is mostly intact and the depth of the shallowest sections means you can dive down and run your hand along the coral-covered hull before surfacing. Best light for photography is mid-morning when the sun angle illuminates the upper decks through the water.
💡 Day 2 Tips
- Leave the pier by 7 AM. The tour group convoys from larger resorts begin departing at 8–9 AM and all the lakes have visitor caps. Arriving early at Kayangan means the lake almost to yourselves.
- Christopher Lozada (or a similarly experienced private captain) is worth the premium over joiner tours — he controls the pace, times the sites around other boats, and knows when to linger and when to move.
- The thermocline in Barracuda Lake is at roughly 8–10 metres — experienced snorkellers can dive to it on a breath hold. Non-swimmers can still experience the lake by floating on the surface, which is warm and calm.
- Bring reef-safe sunscreen only. Kayangan and Barracuda Lake are enclosed ecosystems — conventional sunscreen chemicals accumulate and cause measurable damage. Authorities are strict about this.
- Pack your own lunch for Smith Beach — it’s a private island stop with no vendors. A cooler with rice, grilled fish or cold cuts, fruit, and drinks is all you need and costs far less than anything you’d buy at the pier.