Paddling Palawan
Sea Kayaking in the Philippines
by: Tim Morch
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
An incredibly clear,
multi-hued blue sea dotted with dozens of islands distracted me from my attempt
to assemble my Feathercraft Wisper XP kayak. My eyes kept scanning Bacuit Bay,
just outside El Nido, on the northwest end of Palawan Island.
Striking karst formations that typify the landscape displayed an endless series
of limestone cliffs leaping from the sea to extraordinary heights. My eyes
darted from a frame assembly to a nearby island and back.
Located
between the Sulu Sea to the southeast and the South China Sea to the northwest,
Palawan is the southern most province in the Philippines. Palawan
consists of more than 1700 islands, nearly 25% of the 7,107 islands that
comprise one of the largest archipelagos in the world. It was designated a fish and wildlife
sanctuary in 1967, protecting the sea as well as the virgin jungle that covers
the island, making it an outdoor paradise.
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
I had my boat together
soon enough, keen to experience nirvana first hand. After a few day trips to stretch the muscles
and get comfortable, my paddling partner, Ian, and myself loaded all
necessities for a short expedition south to Port Barton.
We set off across the
bay with a rolling 6 ft. swell and strong wind blowing on the starboard beam.
The “amihan” is a northeast trade wind that blows from mid-December until
mid-April. As we were to learn, it can
get powerful for weeks on end. A few km across Bacuit
Bay, we paddled into sheltered water
behind Antalula Island. A small sand beach tucked into
the west side looked like a potential campsite, especially as we were hoping to
watch sunset. But it was still early, so
we decided to continue.
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
On a chart or GPS it
is easy to identify the beaches and they all look enticing. Unless there is a good sized village, there tends
to be no marking on most islands. It
also excludes resorts. Rounding Pangalusian Island, we discovered a major resort
under construction. With 600 labourers working 3 shifts, 24 hours a day, this
was clearly not the place to stay.
Across the strait lay
a beach dotted by a few bamboo homes and we paddled that way. We beached and were greeted by Roy, a
construction contractor living in the area since 1987. Roy
was full of information, including a key piece of data that eluded us thus far:
Palawan was under a Signal 1 typhoon
warning. Roy
recommended we stay inside his storm shelter and we accepted gladly, hanging
our Hennessy Hammocks in a sturdy mangrove frame wrapped in a tarp. That night saw some strong wind gusts and
heavy rains, but by the following morning, it appeared that all was well.
Roy told us the
storm was 420km offshore, so we set out believing the storm had passed.
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
The waves were rolling
around 10 feet as we rounded the headland and paddled south to the the town of Liminancong which lay at the northern end of the Endeavour Strait.
For the next couple of hours, the water became calm and we glided
the strait heading south to the mouth of Malampaya Sound.
Malampaya Sound was once
known as the fish-basket of the Philippines. Today, although there is an incredible
variety of species, the numbers are low.
Twenty-nine resident Irrawaddy dolphins
patrol the narrow sound that stretches over 20km inland.
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
Camp that night was an
abandoned resort where we watched the clouds roll in and the wind start up. It is important to watch not only the high
tide reading on your GPS, but the most recent high tide indicator on the
beach. I always set camp well above and
it turned out to be an especially good thing that night. The rain was biblical and the wind topped out
around 100kph. The following morning, we learned that Roy had not informed us the direction Tropical
Typhoon Sendong was offshore. Turned out
it was 430 km east and actually passed overhead hours before.
We took a day off to
let the ocean regain some sense. The
winds were all over the past 24 hours and, as a result, the waves were as
well. The mouth of Malampaya Sound is
full of rocks and small islets. To get out, you must pass between a small
group of islets and a rocky point. I watched the local boats (bancas)
make the transit through some challenging seas and followed their path.
The sea got really wild for an adrenaline-filled kilometre. To the right, a series of jagged rocks poked
out in a chaotic half-barrier that set the ocean askew. Crazy currents and irrational waves went in
every direction. The island lay 150
meters to the left and the waves that did get past the teeth busy sending a
large rebounding wave to add to the soup bowl.
Quite a ride!
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
Breaking through the
challenging channel, we settled into the massive rollers that ran down the west
coast. For the next 5km there was nowhere to beach as the coast is sharp rock. We worked our way around the corner into a
gorgeous protected bay and made camp in a perfect lagoon. This was a boat access only beach, as there
were no roads that lead there.
The
wind came on early the next morning and we worked straight into it until we got
to the lee of a point. Rounding the
point, we again fought the headwind into the bay, ultimately reaching the village of Binga.
A local family living across from where we beached let us hang our
hammocks in their yard and use the lovely fresh water that was piped down from Mount Capoas. Mount
Capoas is the highest mountain in
northern Palawan. It springs from the ocean to an impressive
1131m. In this area, one is always in
the shadow of Capoas.
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
Filipinos are very
friendly. Everyone in the Philippines
speaks English, so it takes communication out of the equation. Our new friend John was young, educated and
spoke English extremely well. Like
everyone from Binga, he was intimate with the sea. Unlike the others, he was studying to apply
to the Navy. With John’s assistance, we
enjoyed a few cold Red Horse Extra Strong beers and ate fresh barbequed tuna.
The next morning, the
entire village was on hand to watch us load our kayaks, climb in and break out
through the surf. I am not sure who got
more entertainment: them watching us or us watching them!
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
The remaining couple
of days the heading was due south to Port Barton. The wind was coming over the island and we
hung in the lee of sand beaches with rolling hills covered in "cugen"
grass in the background. Occasionally,
we would round a rocky point or outcropping to arrive at another beach. Alimanguan and San Vicente are the only two
towns of any size on this part of the coast and we paddled into each to have a
look and grab supplies.
As with every
expedition, the critical factor is water.
I carried up to 22 litres of water at any time. Regardless, every opportunity missed to
top-up on water is an opportunity wasted.
In Palawan, it seemed that even the
tiniest village had a shop selling water, so there was no problem. There were also several streams rolling off
mountains to be boiled or treated along the way.
Just north of Port
Barton, we stumbled on a Canadian who owned a chunk of secluded beach with
camping. No roosters, no dogs and no noise were enough to entice us to
stay for Christmas and New Year's. Regrettably,
my paddling partner was injured at this time falling from a rock and had to end
his trip. I disassembled my kayak and took the bus back to El Nido for
another excursion around the Bacuit archipelago.
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
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| Photo: timmorch.com |
Check out some of the video footage:
Hello
ReplyDeleteCould you tell me what kayaks you were using? Looks an amazing trip and thinking of recreating it my self!
It's good to know that you choose Palawan, Philippines to kayaks. Also, I enjoyed reading your post/experience. I'm looking forward for your more adventure in the Philippines.
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