WHAT IS BIG DREAM BOAT MAN?
Big Dream Boat Man is a multiple-day excursion that takes you island hopping in the Philippines to some of the most incredible spots you’ve ever seen! There are different options, but we went with the 4-day 3-night experience going from Coron to El Nido. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives!
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE CREW
Immediately after boarding, we were handed delicious fresh juices, and introduced to the 9 crew members. They were some of the hardest-working people we’ve ever met! We’ve never felt so waited on in our lives, and they did it all with the biggest smile and the feeling that they were your best friend just grabbing you a drink from the fridge. Their energy and passion was absolutely infectious, and we had so much fun getting to know them during our trip! Shoutout to our crew: Captain Albert, Chef Raymond and Genel, tour guides Arius, Dan, and Jojo, boat crew Aris and Vin, and our mechanic Kokoy!
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR BOATMATES
You can expect to meet amazing and adventurous people from all over the world and get to know them super well! Our boatmates were from France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Italy, Canada, America, and the Philippines. We started out as strangers, but by the end, we were old friends already planning when and in what corner of the world we would see each other next!
WHAT TO EXPECT FOR MEALS
The food on Big Dream Boat Man is incredible! The entire trip, Chef Raymond and Genel absolutely spoiled us. Each meal had 5-7 dishes which usually included rice (aka ‘Filipino Power’) a meat and/or a seafood dish, a veggie dish, a salad, and fresh fruit. Breakfast usually included rice, pancakes, sausages, eggs, etc.
They would also come by with snacks like popcorn and fried bananas in between excursions.
There were a few vegetarians, and lactose intolerant people so they made sure to always inform us what was in each dish. We were never left hungry!
DAY 1
The locations on the first day are close enough to do as a day trip from Coron, so they were a bit more touristy than the other days. However, we never felt too overwhelmed with people, and the sights were gorgeous so we understood why they were so popular. After day one we got more places to ourselves.
The first location, Siete Picados, was only 20 minutes from the Coron port and had some of the best snorkelling I’ve ever done in my life. It was spectacular! We saw a huge school of barracudas, a giant triggerfish, and so many gorgeous, vibrant corals. Truly breathtaking! Each snorkel stop was around 40 minutes long. For this one, I could have gladly stayed for hours!
As soon as we were done snorkelling (at every stop of the trip), there was always a hand to help us back on board, and a glass of cold water handed to us with the brightest smile. The service was unmatched!
The next stop, Kayangan Lake, is a brackish lake made up of 70% fresh water and 30% salt water. It was about a 10-minute hike up and then back down some stairs to get to the lake. At the top there is an amazing viewpoint that looks back at Coron Bay.
It’s required to wear life vests in this lake, but they said it was okay if we left them on the surface and dove down, as long as we held on to them at the top. There were many cool underwater rock formations but not many fish, maybe due to the unusual water composition.
We had lunch on the boat after we got back from the lake which was our first meal of the trip. It was delicious! There was salad, chicken, crab, fresh fruit, and rice (aka “Filipino Power”). As we were eating the boat headed towards our next destination – Twin Lagoons.
We had to wear life vests at the Twin Lagoons again. We tried snorkelling, but there wasn’t a lot of marine life in the area, so if we went again we would probably use that stop to use the kayaks or paddle boards available from the boat. The area is stunning, with tall limestone cliffs, and gorgeous turquoise water.
The lagoon is brackish, like Kayangan Lake. It’s a freshwater lagoon mixed with saltwater from the bay, and it’s an interesting sensation! One moment you will be swimming in warm water, and the next you’ll hit a cold patch with a major difference in degrees. It also differs in clarity from one spot to the next, some places are crystal-clear, and others hazy. It was a gorgeous final stop of the day.
From there, we started the one-hour ride to our Night 1 base camp: Banana Island. We arrived around 4 pm, at a beautiful beach camp. We checked into our cute little huts and were very pleasantly surprised – we had a nice bed with a mosquito net, outlets to charge our devices, and a personal bathroom. We thought we were going to be roughing it, but this felt like luxury! They even had solar power for some lights, and one of the fans, so although the power didn’t last all night, we were still able to operate those. The bathroom had a shower but the water was not running at the time, so we took a “Filipino shower”, ie. dumped a small pail of fresh water from a larger bucket over ourselves. It was our first of this style, and it was surprisingly easy and refreshing and saved so much water.
We watched a lovely sunset and sat on one of the cute swings watching the crabs come out of their holes and parade along the beach.
Our guide and bartender extraordinaire, Jojo, set up a bar and our group had some time getting to know each other better before dinner. We had spent most of the day with our faces underwater, so we hadn’t gotten the chance to learn much about everyone else on the expedition. Soon, dinner was delivered to the beach. Fresh fish, lean cuts of pork, salad, rice, and fresh fruit. Another delicious meal!
After dinner, our guides prepared a beer bottle bonfire and asked us some get-to-know-you questions. A lot of people were feeling tired from the busy first day, so many people went to bed early that first night after the question time. We stayed out a little longer, chatting with some new friends and appreciating the amazing stars. We didn’t stay out too late, as we wanted to be energetic for the next full day of activities.
DAY 2
The second day was more travel heavy, with much more time in between stops on the boat. It was nice to hang out on the nets over the water, reading or napping.
The day started around 7am, with coffee and tea prepared by Jojo. A wonderful breakfast was delivered to the beach around 7:30. Fluffy pancakes, scrambled eggs, garlic rice, grilled tomatoes, beef rattles, and fresh fruit!
After breakfast, we played a game of beach volleyball with some of our new friends, while other people explored the island a little bit.
We boarded the boat around 8:15 and headed to our first destination Ditaytayan Island, which was about 30 minutes away.
We tried snorkelling there, but it wasn’t as lively as some other locations, although there were a lot of colorful giant clams. There was also a big sandbar there, and some people hung out on the beach and people played frisbee.
Our next destination, Araw Beach, was about an hour and a half away. The current was really strong so we had to swim to shore and then walk down the beach and snorkel from there. It was glorious! So many colourful corals and plenty of fish of all kinds. We snorkelled for around 45 minutes, taking in as much as we could.
We boarded the boat again and it was time for lunch. Another great meal! Rice, chicken curry, shrimp, salad, and fresh fruit.
As we ate we were driven to our next destination, Sharroh, which was about 2.5 hours away. The island is privately owned, so we were not allowed to use the beach, but we were able to swim in the waters out front. Again, the current was extremely strong so they dropped us off in one spot and then drove the boat back and let us float towards it. It really was strong, so we were only in the water for 20 minutes or so before we were back to the boat. There were some interesting fish and coral, but it wasn’t as vibrant as Araw Island so we didn’t mind the shorter timeframe.
From there we were taken to our camp for the night, Balenben Camp. The water was too shallow to pull the boat right into shore, so they kayaked us in. We again stayed in huts that had outlets to charge our devices, although the power was not 24/7. This camp did not have attached bathrooms, and the showers were “Filipino style”. We cleaned up and felt so refreshed.
While waiting for dinner, we bonded more with our boat-mates by playing some very multicultural and multilingual drinking games! It was hilarious to watch people of all different backgrounds come together and put their spin on the rules.
We enjoyed the sunset and then sat down to eat our dinner, which also had to be kayaked onto the beach! We were served rice, coleslaw, fresh fish with corn salsa, pork schnitzel, and fresh fruit.
After dinner, they made a massive bonfire with palm leaves and wood. We had a little dance party around the fire, and walked down to the water to take in the amazing stars. Then we continued speaking the universal language of laughing and drinking together. Again, we didn’t stay out too late as we still have 2 more days of activities!
DAY 3
They kayaked our breakfast over around 7:30am. We enjoyed our rice, toast, chicken, beans, eggs, and veggies with coffee and juice. Most people were feeling pretty tired this morning; it’s been a busy few days!
After breakfast, we borrowed the kayaks and paddleboards and took advantage of the beautiful calm waters, rowing around the little bay.
We were taken back to the main boat around 8:30am, and driven to our first destination, Bulawit Island known for the turtles, which was about 30 minutes away. We saw a couple turtles but they were swimming so fast and we got gassed pretty quickly following them. We’ve been lucky enough to see turtles in different locations throughout our travels, so we weren’t as desperate to stay with them.
The coolest thing we saw was an enormous stingray! Our guides told us we were very lucky to see this, as they’ve never seen one of that size in this area. We were a little nervous swimming so close (we love you Steve Irwin!), but it was truly magnificent.
After about 40 minutes of snorkelling, we were boated a couple of minutes away to Bulawit Village. We walked around a little, but it’s a very small village. The men from the boat went to a sports complex set up for basketball and started playing with the local kids. Then the kids relented the space and our group played a game of crew vs guests. One of the guests, Piet, is 6”7 so it was honestly hilarious to watch him dunk or catch the ball way above everyone else’s heads, but despite being much shorter than the guests, the Filipinos were well coordinated and held their own!
Our next destination of the day was Cobra Island. Before we could get into the beautiful, clear water lunch was ready. It was the best lunch ever!!! Rice, cucumber salad, calamari with garlic aioli, teriyaki chicken, fresh fruit, and an unreal mango tiramisu for dessert. Still dreaming about all those flavours!
After lunch, I went snorkelling. There were many schools of fish, and I saw a massive sea cucumber! Others went to the beach to toss around a frisbee and chill on the sand.
When we got to our next location, Cagdanad Island, it started raining on us! It was so weird, because the rain seemed to be coming from the direction of blue skies and white clouds. There was a dark cloud but in the opposite direction and further away.
We were sprinkled on for a little bit and then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped went back to the regular scheduled program of sunny beautiful skies. People headed to the beach to play some volleyball.
I was the only one from the group who snorkelled at this spot. The current was strong so I had to walk far down the beach before getting in. The snorkelling was beautiful! There were so many fish and colourful corals and anemones. I saw some massive clownfish and a small one that was the size of my fingernail! It was beautiful to see so many different fish moving in schools together.
From here, we went to our camp location, Linapacan Tourists Camp, which was very close by, only a couple minutes away. We got in around 5pm, our latest time getting to a campsite yet, and we had to be brought in via kayak again.
We got a cute bungalow. The bathrooms were shared, and there were both Filipino-style and regular showers. Our bungalow also didn’t have outlets, but there was an area near the dining table where we were able to plug in our devices.
We saw a gorgeous sunset and watched the stars come out.
Then the karaoke started! The camp was set up with a full karaoke setup and a book with thousands of options. We took turns serenading and being serenaded by our boat mates and the crew.
Our final dinner was amazing – chicken soup with ginger and garlic, rice, fresh tuna, roasted chicken, pork belly, salad, and fresh fruit. The whole crew and joined us for dinner, too!
After dinner, Jojo put on a fire dancing show, and invited us up to be surrounded by the fire.
We spent the evening playing games and getting to know our new friends better, already sad that the experience was ending so soon!
DAY 4
We were able to sleep in a little today, with breakfast coming over at 8am. Everyone was feeling more energized this morning. Breakfast was sausage, potato wedges, scrambled eggs, pancakes, garlic rice, and fresh fruit. Delicious!
We went to our first destination, Nacpan Island, which was around 3 hours away. Everyone slept, read, and relaxed on the way there.
There wasn’t really snorkelling at Nacpan as there isn’t much coral, so we just swam to shore and hung out on the beach. Jojo brought over beers, and some people played frisbee in the water. Others walked along the beach or swam.
After about an hour on the island, it was time for our last lunch on the boat. Another amazing spread: tempura shrimp, fresh fish, tofu and squash, pork knuckle, spaghetti, salad, rice, fresh fruit, and flan for dessert. Big thanks to Raymond and Genel for all the delicious meals!
After lunch, they drove us to our final location, a snorkelling spot just off of El Nido. It wasn’t a particularly vibrant snorkelling spot especially compared to some of the other ones we’ve seen this trip, although the view of the mountains was beautiful. Some people saw a couple of turtles, too!
We could see the port from the final snorkel spot, and the reality that the expedition was ending hit us! Pulling into El Nido, we were struck by the beauty of the small town nestled into impressive limestone mountains.
We docked around 2pm and said our goodbyes to all the amazing crew that kept us safe, fed, comfortable, and gave us the best time ever the last several days! Jojo gave us all handmade shell bracelets that he created while on the trip.
We hugged all our new friends goodbye, already planning where in the world we’ll see them again. Its amazing how close you can get with people when you can’t get away from them for 4 intensive days!!
We had an unreal time. After it was all said and done, the only thing we would change is having everyone get together in Coron for dinner and drinks the night before the expedition to break the ice before it started. We felt like we were a little delayed in getting to know a lot of the people until the second day/night, as everyone was so busy doing the activities and tired the first night. Everyone was so cool and adventurous, so it would have been fun if we could have gotten to meet them all a little earlier!
Overall, Big Dream Boat Man was an incredible way to experience the beauty of the Philippines. We feel so lucky to have snorkelled and swam in some of the most stunning waters in the world, to have eaten like kings, to have visited lesser-known spots, and to have formed real friendships with the people on our trip. If you ever have the opportunity to go on one of these expeditions, take it!