One Day With a Palawan Fisherman
While most visitors to Coron are still sleeping, another group of boats is already on the water.
Not tour boats.
Fishing bancas.
Spending a day with a local fisherman shows you a completely different side of Palawan—one where the sea isn't an attraction. It's a workplace, a source of food and a way of life.
The Day Starts Early
Depending on what they're fishing for, local fishermen may leave before sunrise or even during the night.
The boat can be remarkably simple: a traditional banca with outriggers, an engine, containers for the catch and fishing gear.
Around Coron and Busuanga, fishermen use different techniques including hook and line, nets, crab pots, squid jigs and fish corrals.
There isn't one typical Palawan fisherman. Methods change according to the season, location and target catch.
Fishing Means Waiting
Tourism tends to present the sea as constant activity.
Fishing can be the opposite.
Travel to the fishing ground. Prepare the line. Drop it.
Then wait.
Watch the water. Check the current. Move somewhere else. Try again.
Knowing the sea matters enormously. Years of experience teach fishermen about currents, weather, depth, seasons and where particular species are likely to be found.
And some days, the fish simply don't cooperate.
That's part of fishing too.
What Might You Catch?
The waters of the Calamian Islands support an extraordinary variety of marine life.
Depending on the location and season, local catches can include danggit, lapu-lapu, maya-maya, tanigue, galunggong, squid, octopus, shrimp, crab and lobster.
But the sea isn't an unlimited resource.
Protected areas, fishing regulations and sustainable practices are increasingly important to ensuring that future generations can continue fishing these waters.
Back to Shore
Catching the fish is only half the story.
Back on land, the catch becomes part of another economy.
Some fish are sold to local buyers, restaurants or markets. Some travel much farther. Others are taken home and eaten by the fisherman's family.
The seafood you see at Coron's public market in the morning may have been swimming in the waters around Busuanga only hours earlier.
Experience the Real Palawan
A day with a fisherman shouldn't be a staged tourist fishing trip.
It should be about joining a real local fisherman and discovering his everyday life.
Travel aboard his banca. Learn about his fishing gear. Help prepare the lines when appropriate. Learn how he reads the sea. Discover the day's catch.
And perhaps, at the end of the experience, prepare and share a meal from the day's legal catch together.
It's not simply about catching fish.
It's about spending time with someone whose family and community have depended on these waters for generations.
The lagoons show you why tourists come to Coron. A fisherman can show you why people have lived here for generations.
Discover the people behind the destination with ilovecoron.com.
Because I Love Coron.
Interested to Experience This?
Book this experience and spend a day with a Palawan fisherman.
Discover the sea from a local perspective, learn traditional fishing practices and experience a side of Coron and Busuanga that most visitors never see.
Book this experience with ilovecoron.com
