Honda Bay

Honda Bay is the sheltered water on the northeast side of Puerto Princesa, dotted with small islands and reef flats, and it is what most visitors to the city do on the day they are not going to the underground river. Boats leave from the wharf at Sta. Lourdes and work a circuit of three or four islands chosen from a fixed list. Luli is the one that submerges and reappears with the tide, hence the name. Cowrie has the trees and the lunch tables, Pandan has the clearest water for swimming, and Starfish is the sandbar. Between islands the boats stop over reef patches for snorkelling. It is a packaged day and makes no pretence otherwise.

What you actually see

• Luli Island - the sandbar island that goes under at high tide and reappears as it drops.
• Pandan Island - the clearest swimming water on the standard circuit.
• The snorkelling stops - reef patches between islands where the boat anchors for half an hour.
• The bay itself - shallow turquoise water and low green islands seen from the boat run.

When to go

November to May is the dry season and the calmest for the crossing and the snorkelling. Boats leave in a single morning wave, so being early at the wharf matters more than the day of the week. In the southwest monsoon the bay chops up, visibility drops and trips are cut short or cancelled outright.

Honest expectations

It is a conveyor belt: every operator sells the same circuit, the boats leave together and arrive together, and the islands are busy for the same three hours. Each island charges its own landing fee on top of the tour, plus tables, snorkel gear and life vests. The reef is patchy and damaged in the shallows near the moorings. The wharf itself is disorganised and pushy.

Nearby

Puerto Princesa city, with the underground river north and Sabang on the same coast.