Busuanga or Coron: where should you actually stay?

Almost everyone who flies into Busuanga turns east to Coron Town. It is the obvious move — the boats leave from there, so do the tours, and every travel list points that way. But there is a second, quieter answer to the question of where to stay, and for a certain kind of traveller it is the better one. Here is the honest comparison.

First, a geography correction

Coron is not an island you stay on, and Busuanga is not a town. Busuanga is the large island at the top of Palawan; Coron Town sits on its eastern side. Confusingly, Coron Island — the dramatic limestone one in all the photographs — is a separate island offshore, and nobody stays there at all. So the real choice is: the east side, in or around Coron Town, or the west side, where we are.

Stay in Coron Town if you want…

• Restaurants and bars within walking distance. Dozens of them, plus dive shops, pharmacies, an ATM and a market.
• The cheapest possible island hopping. Join a shared boat each morning for a fraction of a private charter.
• Diving on the Japanese wrecks. The operators are there, and so are the compressors.
• Somewhere to go after dinner.
• A short transfer. Around 30 to 40 minutes from the airport.

What you accept in exchange: crowds at the famous spots, particularly between nine and three when the day boats converge; tricycle noise and traffic; and a shoreline that is functional rather than beautiful. Coron Town itself has no swimming beach.

Stay on the west side if you want…

• Genuine quiet. No neighbouring resort, no boat traffic, no engines at night.
• Water at your doorstep. Swim before breakfast without organising anything.
• Meals handled. All meals included, served somewhere different each evening — partly because there is nowhere else to eat.
• Private boats rather than shared ones. You set the departure time, and you are usually first to arrive anywhere.
• Mangroves, fireflies and dugongs. These are on our side of the island, not Coron's.

What you accept in exchange: an hour's drive from the airport, no restaurants to choose between, and no nightlife whatsoever. Some travellers find that limiting. Most of our guests booked precisely because of it.

The crowd question, honestly

Coron's popularity is deserved — Kayangan Lake and Twin Lagoon are genuinely spectacular. But they are visited by a great many boats each day, arriving on much the same schedule. If your mental image of Palawan is an empty turquoise lagoon and you experience it alongside two hundred other people, that gap between expectation and reality is what you take home.

West Busuanga is not more beautiful than Coron. It is emptier. Those are different things, and which one matters to you is the whole decision.

Cost

Coron Town covers the full range, from hostel dorms to comfortable mid-range hotels, and you pay separately for every meal, tour and transfer. Out west there are fewer options and the nightly rate is higher, but it includes all meals, airport transfers both ways, and the use of kayaks, paddle boards, the pool, the sauna and the yoga deck. Guests are often surprised that a full week works out closer than the headline rates suggest — the extras are where a Coron budget quietly goes.

Who should choose which

• Backpackers and divers — Coron Town, comfortably.
• First-timers with four days — split it, two nights each side.
• Honeymooners — west side. Nothing about Coron Town says romance.
• Families with young children — west side, for the safe swimming and not having to negotiate a boat every morning.
• Anyone who works too much — west side. The absence of options is the point.

If the quiet side sounds like the trip you want, the practical detail is on Plan Your Stay, the rooms and rates are here, and what there is to do out west is on the Experience page. And if Coron Town is the better fit for your trip, we will tell you so — just ask.

Sixteen rooms, one private stretch of coast

All meals included, transfers arranged, and the run of the island. We recommend at least two nights.