Linapacan | South Island Hopping at Magransing and Mausonoan Islands | Ironwulf En Route - A Travel Story, Photography, and Video blog by Ferdz Decena from the Philippines

Table of Content

Splashy Ride to Magransing Island
Lunch Stop at Mausonoan Island
Great Snorkelling off Binulbulan Island
South Linapacan Island Hopping

Being one of the “35 Clearest Waters to Swim Before You Die” from the viral list site of Daily News Dig, has placed the municipality of Linapacan, Palawan in the world map. While the main photo there is a bit misleading (since that one was from El Nido), being part of the list made people curious of this set of remote islands found in between the north Palawan mainland of El Nido and south of Calamianes Archipelago. My curiosity led me to east of El Nido where I had a chance to go island hopping to the southern islands of this famed municipality to see if the claims were true. Are the waters truly clear as they claim?

Splashy Ride to Magransing Island

We left San Fernando, El Nido mid-morning to our first stop, Magransing Island (Little Maosonan). I was with a company of mostly foreigners, a mix of a Filipina newly wed to an American, their parents and a couple from Australia and UK. It was a splashy ride that took about an hour. We passed by the large Iloc island where we saw a fishing community from the coastal town of Pical. We were supposed to dock on another side of Magransing Island for snorkelling but the waves were strong at that time. We didn’t complain as the small island has a beautiful stretch of white sand beach, blinding and inviting under the mid-day sun. What was stunning was how clear the water was in all its turquoise glory under the cobalt sky. I’ve finally taken a step on the shores of an island in Linapacan. I wasn’t disappointed. I wandered around and found this picturesque branches of trees on the rocky side of the island. In my mind it became my personal landmark to remember it by. I snorkelled and was amazed by the clarity under the water. A few rocks here, some small fishes on the sandy slopes. Just opposite the island are a number of buoys securing a pearl farm owned by one of the country’s tycoons.

Clear waters of Magransing Island Linapacan

More on Mausonoan Island in the next page…

Lunch Stop at Mausonoan Island

From one white beach to another, we hopped to the nearby island of Mausonoan (Maosonan). It’s a larger island which reminds me a lot of Pangulasian Island there’s a long stretch of white sand beach but on two sides, a nice ridge people can actually climb up and an islet people can walk to on low tide. The sands were as fine and the water clear. One side of the island has calmer seas cushioned by the ridge. There were actually fishing boats from Linapacan standing by the area as the seas were more manageable there. A small community of about 3–4 huts was there. I heard the island is owned already but no signs of development yet. That’s how I can describe this island, a raw gem of an island.

There’s a bit of confusion for me though on where Mausonoan Island belongs to as the Tourism of El Nido claims the island is still under their sovereignty. Our boatman however told me it’s already Linapacan and Google Maps agrees to as well.

My companions hitting the beach immediately as soon as we docked

Great Snorkelling off Binulbulan Island

The island name may not sound so nice in Tagalog but this last stop has the best snorkelling I had in this region. The east side of El Nido may not have the towering limestones of the west but the marine life here are miles better. It’s one of those times I wish I still had my underwater camera or casing because this is one of the best places where water visibility was excellent for underwater shooting. We stopped by a coral reef area off Binulbulan Island and despite the strong sea currents I could stay there for more than an hour exploring the coral reef. Nice variety from huge table corals, large concentration of giant clams and plenty of tropical fishes. I’m also amazed there were no jellyfish in this area since El Nido west would be teeming with jellyfish at this time. I was told because of the movement of water.

South Linapacan Island Hopping

Island hopping here in the east coast of El Nido is something different. It’s much more relaxing since we don’t have to compete with the crowds coming in and we felt like castaways having the islands to our own. There were no stunning limestones but the excellent marine life, beautiful beaches more than makes up for it. This is just the tip of the iceberg I may say. Magransing, Mausonoan and Binulbulan Islands are just part of the larger Linapacan municipality. Now I wonder what the main Linapacan Island has to offer. We’ll see soon…

This El Nido east coast Linapacan Island Hopping was arranged exclusively for the guest of Qi Palawan Resort in San Fernando, El Nido. Fee is Php 1,500 per person with a minimum of 4 persons (Php 3,000 per person if only 2 people). This is also exclusive Php 3000 fuel charge per boat for a group.