CRUISING 2026

Our cruising season was delayed this year, death in the family, kid in love, some work stuff, all got in our way, so we departed Subic Bay the end of February. By this time the blunderbuss Northeast winds, Amihan, the very winds that bring us our dry, summer weather, usually have subsided so great cruising time!

First stop is the mid-way mark to Puerto Galera, Punta Fuego. This is Beverly Hills, like country club where the rich and famous have massive mansions and a private club. We check the harbor master, yup they have fuel and a place at their dock for us for the night,

In a rare instance of good luck on fuel buying, we topped off at Punta Fuego at 57pp a ltr. A few days later the price almost doubled, wew.  We often make the stop at Punta Fuego for fuel, it is the only place in the country with a proper fuel dock, where an attendant hands me a hose and I had him a credit card. 1700 liters diesel, 20 liters dinghy gas, one night’s berthing and two yummie ice cream bars on the bill!

Next day we pull out at first light heading to one of our “homes” Puerto Galera, a boating mecca. The last half of this passage has traditionally been rough, pounding head seas but our late departure gave us almost calm seas all the way into the historic port. Puerto Galera was once home to the Spanish Galleon fleet. Many ancient shipwrecks have been discovered, and some still look for the mystical Spanish gold, legend says is awaiting at the bottom of the sea,

We call on Channel 68, the Puerto Galera service boat puts out to help us with our mooring. The club manages a cluster of moorings for visiting yachts and provides the service boat for shuttles ashore.  We instantly see some old friends waving away, good to be “home”.  My goal is to get some diving in, so I called our fav dive shop, Reef Haven, and arrange a dive. Donna reunites with old friends and a “ladies night out” is planned.

Ah the pains of parenthood, Priam decided to stay in Subic Bay with friends this cruising season. This is a rational decision based on his school progress. But I feel the big driver is more basic human biology than that, he is in love!  He is finally at an age where he is the perfect dive buddy and helper on the boat too, darn! Ah but we do have one of Donna’s sisters with us, a fantastic cook, so it evens out.

We hung out at PGYC for a few days, take in the local fun, Sabang, White Beach and Muelle areas but without shortened season and planned return to Puerto Galera for the Easter Regatta, we move on.

The route east from PG takes us through the dreaded Cavetti Pass, again our belated season gives us a calm ride all the way.  Two days and we are at Busuanga Island.  This year we visited El Rio Y Mar Resort on the east side of the island. We had not been there for many years. This is a top end, albeit remote resort. They offer cruisers secure moorings in an area with limited anchorage options. We go ashore, enjoy happy hour on their pier bar, then sander into their very busy restaurant. We have a scrumptious meal and are treated to their roving minstrel.  Any requests? He asks. I take this as more of a challenge than a request. Do you know any Kingston Trio songs? A bit of silence, oh I got him! Then he moves the capo on the classical guitar, smiles and break out one of my favorites, Jamaica Fairwell. With a beaming smile and a little tear, I bellow out the chorus with him. What joy!

But I’m sad to say I’m on my way
Won’t be back for many a day
My heart is down, my head is turning around
I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town

We cover our bill including the 900 pp for the mooring. This is the top end of mooring fees for resorts in this area, probably why there were no other yachties here. Most places either charge less or have the fee consumable at their restaurants and bars, a bit more yachtie friendly.  All and all, though a very nice night out with the girls.

We have a bumpy ride around the south end of Busuanga Island, the cat nor the girls like rough seas haha, but it ends quickly as we pass inside of Matay Reef. The seas flat the girls and cat happy, we pull into one of the most spectacular anchorages on earth on Coron Island.  This is a tiny hole, which requires stern tying inline with the other boats. This procedure can be tricky and provide your new neighbors with great entertainment. It requires dropping the anchor, launching the dinghy and takin a line to shore. Donna and Darlene do this like pros. We carry 600’ of thin Poly line on a spool just for this usage. This is a common method in the Pacific Northwest in crowded small anchorages, so I am prepared.

Not only is this one of the most pictorial places on earth, one you often see posted online from many tourists, it is center to three activities.  First night we had to my top mission, the Miniquit Hot Springs. After we jet across the calm channel, we find the usual bamboo boat loading dock is all gone, no way to get ashore. Not to be deprived of our soak we head around the mangroves looking for another access. One of the hot springs staff saw us and met us at a small sandy clearing. We anchored the dinghy and wad ashore to easy access to the ticket booth.

This is a unique hot spring as it is pure, clear salt water seeping out of the ground. There are three pools, too very hot—that’s for me—and one larger not so hot pool. This is also a bird sanctuary, and some interesting native feathered friends swoop and dive over the soakers. I give my tired old bones a good long soak, so nice.

The second draw to this magical hole in the wall is the hike up to Kayangan Lake. The local indigenous clan manages the lake, and scads of local bancas bring hordes of sun burned tourists, cameras blazing to the landing before the steep climb up to the lake.  It is the main source of income for these folks, and they do quit well with it. Donna takes Darlene up over in the dinghy, I stay on the boat for some chores. Later I drop a kayak in the water to go to meet them, nice place for a paddle too.

The third attraction is more functional; we take the dinghy across to Coron Town for supplies. It is confusing, much like home where Vancouver city is not on Vancouver Island, here Coron Town is on Busuanga Island.  The girls head to the public market and go shopping. I go get some dinghy gas, for my first real shock at the new pricing, and it will get worse. I also get our purified water jugs filled and packed back to the boat. Then I go find some things I need and meet the crew at our fav sandwich shop where I get a grand Cuban sandwich. Dinghy loaded with 20 ltrs gas, 60 ltrs water, bags of fresh produce and off we go back to our little hole.

We retrieve our stern line, which we wrap around a tree, not tie to it for easy retrieval, pull anchor and off to another on my list of traditional and favorite places, Busuanga Bay. I first came to this bay on recommendation of a friend I met in Borneo thirteen years ago. My love for this tiny bay has never stopped.

The bay is a top frequented cruiser hang out. The original resort, then Puerto del Sol, changed hands and names a few years ago, not Marina del Sol. In a rare case of besting the “good ol days” the new owners kept all the charm and added some really nice amenities. They remain dedicated to the cruising community. The old, grab a mooring and eat with us, then the mooring is free, morphed into a more accountable offer. The mooring charge is 350pp but if you spend 500pp in the bar/resto it is free. We stayed ten days and did not pay for one night, hahaha. The staff provide just about any service you like, motorbikes, laundry, accept rubbish and take deliveries, fresh bread, purified water refills. They can also arrange fuel delivery.

The is a new “kid in town” the Sunset Moorings. A very local cruiser friendly chap placed a row of secure moorings on the outer bay. It has become the fav of the newer visitors. By all accounts, Andy, the proprietor, also takes good care of his visitors.

No stay in Busuanga Bay is complete without trucking up the hill to the amazing El Faro resort/resto. I arrived huffing and buffing to a warm hug from Nanita, the owner. Donna catches up on all the local gossip in Tagalog, I get a little in English as well. This place rightfully boasts the absolute best place to enjoy a sunset on the planet. One can enjoy a cocktail, cool off in the west facing pool hanging over a steep cliff and watch the big ball dip into the ocean, night after night.

I have often said, history laid a golden egg on this remote area. Towards the end of WWII, the Japanese sought to hide what remained of their supply fleet by moving to a hidden lagoon on a out of the way island. The US Navy foiled their plan and on one tropical morning launched 120 planes to destroy this fleet. All seven ships were sunk withing minutes. Fast forward today, all the ships are in acceptable dive depths, all have had salvage crews remove engines, props and shafts leaving gapping holes, a diver’s dream.

Since my first visit I have enjoyed diving with my old friend Gunther’s dive shop. His son and two great young folks run it now. I like going with them and helping as a dive master, showing folks through the wrecks. This year a new challenge has hit the area. The war has caused so many flight cancellations and rerouting that the industry has been hit with cancellation after cancellation.  The airlines were just sorting all this out, so I hope it does not do too much harm.

Old friends visited, new ones made, wreck dives, hot springs soaks and many great meals later, time to move on.  Stay tuned for the next legs of our adventure!