TAO Island hopping adventure

When we initially decided to organise a trip to the Philippines – a couple of friends recommended doing a Tao Island-hopping Expedition.

Reviews online seemed great, and from the videos I saw on YouTube, the trips appeared to be pretty epic.

Swimming, snorkelling, sunning, eating, sleeping all day, every day for a week – what could be better?

The five day trip became the centre of our 26 day adventure to the Philippines.

In the end our group was six people.

We didn’t know the itinerary or who else, if anyone, would be joining our group.

A friend of ours did the trip over NYE one year and her group was alone on their boat.

The cost of our trip was $US780 or about $1200AUD including food, transport, accommodation, snorkelling, as well as port taxes, environmental fees etc 

For more details – check out the Tao website here.

There’s heaps of information, especially regarding what to bring.

When the 20th of January finally rolled around, we rocked up at the Tao Office in Coron Town for our briefing.

It’s there that we first laid eyes on our other expedition and crew members.

We had a drink of their (in)famous Jungle Juice and of course, had to go around the room introducing ourselves. 

We also had to put some money down as a deposit for the cashless experience on the boat.

What happens is incidentals – like drinks and massages etc are free – until the end of the trip. When you’re “checking out” they tally up all your expenses and give you your bill.

It can be dangerous because you lose track of your spending, and you never really know how much things are, but it’s not super expensive anyway.

I think my bill was about 7000PHP ($200) in the end, which I thought was a bit steep, considering I hardly drink, but spread over a week, it’s not that much I suppose.

Anyway, at the briefing they told us to be at Coron Port by 0830 the following day, to clear the port formalities, have our bags searched for drugs (!!) and then to board the boat.

This was the first time we laid eyes on the boat and it was pretty cool.

It was bigger than I thought (but we were 26 people) and pretty epic.

We had a resident sea dog, Melita, a hen (!) as well as nine crew members – or “Tao Lostboys”. 

Our Expedition leader was Demy.

Before long we were on the way – sailing out into the islands.

Our first stop was Sangat Island for a spot of snorkeling.

A couple of hours later we stopped at the Coral Garden Reef off Lusong Island for some more snorkeling.

Around midday it was time for our first Tao meal – and it didn’t disappoint.

They served us heaps of fresh seafood and fruit and vegetables and, of course, rice.

In the afternoon we had another stop – this time at the Malcatop Wreck for some more snorkelling.

Around 1530 we sailed into Depelengued Island to find our home for the night – Patsy Camp.

We didn’t really know what to expect in the way of accommodation on the expedition, so we were happy to finally see how it all worked.

They set you up in basic little thatched huts called Tukas.

Inside there’s a mattress, pillow and mosquito net and not much else.

Some of the huts are singles, others are doubles or double stories.

There are basic toilets and showers (often open air), a kitchen/eating space.

The idea is you leave your bag on the boat, and just bring a little, (waterproof) daypack to the island each night, with just the things you need for the evening.

We definitely over packed but it was all good.

We had a lazy afternoon and evening before getting washed up and hitting the sack.

January 22, 2023

Around 0730 we were back on the boat for breakfast.

It was basically fruit and coconut chopped up and served in a coconut shell. 

Around 11am we arrived at Inapupuan Island for our first snorkeling stop.

A few hours later we stopped for lunch and some cliff diving (for the brave) at Doble nuebe.

In the afternoon we continued to Ginto Island for the night.

We arrived at our camp around 4pm and spent the afternoon swimming, relaxing, exploring playing with my drone and enjoying the epic sunset.

That night there was a bit of a talent quest at the camp “restaurant” which was my cue to retire to my hut.

January 23, 2023

After another epic breakfast – eggplant fritters, fried eggs and fruit – we headed back out to the boat – to continue our adventure. 

Our first stop was “Cobra Island” (Manlihan Island) where we had a snorkel and a swim to the beach.

Next up it was Kala-Kala Island (Lacalaca Island).

More swimming and snorkeling there, before the Lost Boys showed off their coconut tree climbing skills – to get us some fresh coconuts. 

We spent a bit of time exploring the beach and a couple of caves.

Eventually we decided to call it a day and head back to the boat to continue the adventure.

Around 1500 rolled into “The Farm” one of Tao’s main base camps.

This was the best camp, in my opinion. 

There was a proper restaurant, decent showers, electricity (!!) and plenty of activities.

There was a bar, a gym, volleyball, basketball and a few other things.

There was also a big pagoda to climb for epic views (and phone reception).

There was a big space where local women came to give massages.

I’m not entirely sure why, but we had to get all our gear off the boat and transfer it to the island. From the next day, we were going to be changing boats.

We spent the afternoon chilling out and having decent showers.

We also managed to squeeze in a massage before heading to the restaurant for our fancy dinner.

I went to bed early, but I think a few people partied into the night.

Tuesday 24, 2023

We had a lazy morning before heading back to the restaurant for our fancy breakfast burgers.

We had the morning to explore the island and so a few of us decided to do a hike over the ridge to Botao point.

The hike up was easy enough, through a farm and then up and over.

But coming back was tough. The path was impossibly steep and gravely making for a precarious return to the camp.

We had one last meal at the fancy restaurant, before a little trip to the camp’s farm.

Around 1400 we packed up and headed out to discover our new boat, crew and dog.

It was only a short sail to our next camp on Darocotan Island. 

There seemed to be a few different camps here, but we only saw a couple of people.

Our camp was pretty beautiful, with sandy white beaches and beautiful clear water. Across the way there were huge, striking mountains.

There was also a shipwreck just off the shore that you could swim out to to explore.

The best part about the camp though, was dinner. Lechon, or suckling pig.

Normally I guess we would have been bothered seeing little piglets playing near a pig on a spit, but we were all so excited to try the pork and so did not seem to mind too much.

We sat on the beach enjoying the sunset and a couple of drinks while waiting for our succulent dinner to be ready.

Wednesday 25, 2023

After a divine breakfast of pancakes and caramelised bananas – we packed up and headed back to the boat.

It was pretty windy, and the water was rough, but around midday we made it to our next destination – the beautiful, pristine Nacpan Beach.

We tried a couple of times to anchor the boat, but the water seemed to be too rough and the waves too big.

Eventually, we decided to jump off and try to swim to the beach.

It was a long, long way, but eventually we crawled onto dry land. We spent an hour or so exploring the big white sandy beach before starting the long mission back to the boat.

Around 1330 it was time for lunch again before continuing on on our adventure. 

A couple of hours later, around 1600 we arrived at our final Tao camp – on Cadlao Island.

I think the Island was hit pretty hard by a recent cyclone and it seemed like it was still recovering.

The setting was nice, but the camp itself was just a bit run down and tatty. 

The huts were also built all up the cliffside which was a bit of a pain (on your feet, literally). 

We had a swim and a walk along the beach to explore, before heading back to get freshened up.

We had a nice last dinner of seafood and spring rolls before calling it a night.

Thursday 26, 2023

The weather was pretty average and the sea was still rough so we had a lazy start to the day.

Breakfast burgers were on the menu again.

Because of the weather, we decided to chill at the camp before heading directly to El Nido to finish the trip.

We spent some more time exploring the beach and its rockpools, and relaxed on the beach, reading and resting. 

We had one last lunch before swimming out to the boat.

Around 1300 we were back on the boat and sailing off towards our final destination – El Nido.

We sailed around Cavayan Island before heading south to Corong Corong, El Nido.

About 1500 we got into port – or at least close to it – we had to be transferred in little tenders. This was a bit of an ordeal with all of our bags and it took a while.

We went to the Tao office to pay our debts – for all the drinks and massages – before heading off to find our accommodation in El Nido.

I think my bill was about 7000PHP ($200) in the end, which I thought was a bit steep, considering I hardly drink, but spread over a week, it’s not that much I suppose.

The end of the cruise was somewhere between sad and unceremonious but I guess the crew was tired and we were all eager to get to our hotels to have a decent shower for the first time in a week.

That night we headed back to Corong Corong for a group dinner at Bella Vita El Nido.

Dinner turned into drinks and we went into town to Tribu Kuridas for a few (too many) beers.