Coron: Private Tour vs Group Tour

There are 2 options for island hopping in Coron and so we tried both AKA we went for a group tour the 3rd day because we don't have money anymore 😵

And I'm glad we got to experience both because now I have something to blog about ✏️

Price

Island hopping in Coron is expensive because we have to pay an entrance fee to each island/lagoon/lake we go to which is not included to the fee of the island hopping. And it's nothing like the entrance fee I'm used to (Php 10, Php 50, Php100). 

and that's the story of how we (2 pax) spent 5000 in 1 day of island hopping 💸💸💸

That night while looking for food, I saw a poster for group tours from a travel agency (there are a lot there) with much cheaper options. We could've had that same tour we had with less than half of what we actually paid for but of course with a different experience/outcome.

Knowing we couldn't afford one more private tour (+ the fact that the rest of the islands we want to see are farther away which requires more 💰💰💰), we booked one for the next day.

So yeah, opt for group tour for budget travel.

Prices for private tour

Prices for group tour

Planning 🗺

Everything is already planned with group tours. I kept on asking the lady from the agency if this or this or this is included and yep, we don't have to think about those anymore. We even get to be picked up on the hostel we're staying at. All we have to do is be there and that's it.

Downside of this one would be that we couldn't get to decide on anything which is the opposite for the private tour.

People

I guess one of the best thing about group tours are the people we get to meet.

We got lucky, there were this group of girls who are of different age groups (I think they work together) who were so fun to be with, and funny too 😛😝😜.  We spent a lot of time in the boat laughing because of the simplest of things. They made the big splashes en route back to the dock fun (they wooed every time 😝) instead of giving bad vibes about getting wet. 

And that's what I wanted for myself this year, to socialize better! (shameless plug: a blog about how I (a shy girl) socialized on my first conference in Singapore)

On private tours, we get to spend 1 whole day with people we already know + our boatmen.

Time ⏲

If time is your concern, then opt for a private tour. I think it makes a big difference, specially if you're like me, who hates being constricted by time (because I panic).

So this is where my group tour rants begin, in bullets because why not:

• We got picked up at 8 am but since we had to be 20 pax for the tour we didn't get to depart from the dock until 10 am. It was also an hour and a half of travel time so we got there and it's already time for lunch.
• I love taking pictures and I also love playing under the sun ☀️ and/or swim 🏊🏻. On this tour we can't do both.
• On the first island (Bulog Dos Island) we only had 40 minutes to stay. It's probably one of the prettiest island I've ever been to but I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I wanted. It had a lot of great backdrops.
• Awkward story: we were busy taking pictures we forgot it's time already. We were the last two to get back on the boat and everyone was staring at us on our way to our seats 👀
• We didn't get to swim until we got to the third/last island 🙈. Decided to leave the camera in the boat and just swim.

Or maybe every island we went to for the group tour (Bulog Dos Island, Banana Island, Malcapuya Island) deserves at least 1 day of stay each to fully enjoy what they have to offer.

In the end, it depends on what suits you best.

Both options has their pros and cons and the best thing to do in my opinion would be to come in groups and opt for a private tour, to lessen the expenses and still enjoy a tour where we get to decide what to see and how long we can stay 🗺

View Coron Photos in HD