Palawan 2014: Honda Bay's Pambato Reef

In a few hours, the day will be over. Here’s to wishing that you have gone through April Fool’s Day unscathed. Once or twice, in my life, I admit to having been fooled. But I also admit to having been on the other end, doing the fooling. It was a lot of fun, but care must always be exercised when doing these things, because there are simply some jokes that aren’t funny… or may be too funny. Know what I mean? Before the day ends, however, here’s a little look back on one of our stops during our Honda Bay tour. This time, it’s this tiny place called Pambato Reef. 

honda bay pambato reef 01If you are thinking of a place where you could simply stand and look around to check the magnificent views, Pambato Reef is not it. Oh, of course, you’ll be surrounded by the blue ocean and topped by the blue skies, but that’s pretty much it. It is, after all, a reef.

Pambato Reef is located in the middle of Honda Bay, with only a large floating raft acting as a platform for people to check in and jump off on. The raft is strategically placed in one of the shallowest parts of the reef, around 10 feet deep, to allow for snorkeling and checking out the schools of fish and the corals in the area.

honda bay pambato reef 02The raft has a roof in the form of a giant sea turtle, locally known as the pawikan. 🙂 Once you arrive, a guide will be giving a bit of a lecture about the place before you are allowed to go into the water.

honda bay pambato reef 03 honda bay pambato reef 04Where did the place get its name, you ask?

“Pambato”, in Filipino, means “bet”. Basically, it is the area’s “bet” for the honor of being the best and most beautiful coral reef in Palawan.

That’s gotta be a tough one, though, considering Palawan has a million other places with gorgeous corals, most of them still unexplored and unopened to the public!

For now, though, let me share some snaps taken during our visit.

honda bay pambato reef 05 honda bay pambato reef 06 honda bay pambato reef 07 honda bay pambato reef 08 honda bay pambato reef 09 honda bay pambato reef 10 honda bay pambato reef 11 honda bay pambato reef 12Look! We even had a “guest” clinging to one of my companions. 🙂 Needless to say, it resulted to some major freak-out on her part… and laughter on ours. 🙂

honda bay pambato reef 13

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