Pass Island: Beautiful Pictures From Coron's White Sand Paradise

Pass Island Coron is one of the whitest, sandiest, tropical islands I've ever travelled to.

Imagine pure white silica, soft underfoot, and tall, green palm trees towering skywards and casting blissful shadows over the beach. Then imagine a cold beer in hand and refreshing, calm waters to swim in.

That's Pass Island, Coron's white sand paradise.

And in the early morning I had this entire paradise to myself and just a few other bloggers.

Pass Island Coron

We had left Coron Town early in the morning. Too early for most people's liking. We were making the journey north to a small village on the coast of Busuanga Island named Concepcion.

I was with a group of travel bloggers, content creators and You Tubers from around the world, and we were visiting Pass Island at the end of our week in Coron. We had already visited the standard tourist sights, from Kayangan Lake to Twin Lagoons, and we had saved the best until last. Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet who was accompanying us even claimed that this could be one of the best islands in Coron.

The early start, I hoped, would be worth it once we were were setting foot on the soft white sand.

The Softest White Sand in Coron

We arrived at Concepcion after an hour of travelling in a cramped mini bus from Coron Town. We pulled up to the long concrete pier that ran out into the water, but everything was quiet. This is Coron, and nothing ever happens when it should. It looked like we were already running on island time.

The boat wasn't ready, and so we stopped off at a nearby hotel for coffee while we waited for the Captain to appear.

An hour later, with all the bloggers falling asleep again and the idea of Pass Island fading from memory, the boat crew finally appeared, and we set off from the pier and out across the water towards the islands that lay ahead of us.

Soon enough, a white sand island took shape on the horizon, the water around the boat turned from dark blue to clear turquoise and I was soon setting foot on the white sand I'd been waiting to feel between my toes.

Watch Out for The Monkey

Pass Island was the paradise we were hoping for and as soon I walked across the white sand and dived into the clear water I'd forgotten all about the morning's early rise, the wait for the boat crew and the fact that I was soon leaving Coron completely.

Pass Island was spectacular. It was stunning. It was tropical. It was a place that I only ever expected to see in movies or on an embellished tourism brochure. But this place was real. I was standing on the sand. It had to be real.

But as with any tropical island, there's always, it seems, a monkey. And this one was angry.

We'd had trouble securing any cold beers at Concepcion for the trip to Pass Island, and I was tasked with hunting down any cold beverages that might be for sale on the island for the rest of the group.

After all, it's not really a paradise if there's no beer is it? It doesn't matter how white the sand might be.

This monkey was defending the hut with the cold beer cooler inside, baring its rabid yellow teeth at me while I tried to sneak around the menacing perimeter it was drawing in the sand.

Eventually, with the monkey temporarily distracted, I dashed into the beer hut and began bargaining for a crate of cold San Miguels and a few Red Horse beers with the locals.

Cold Beers in Paradise

Pass Island was a paradise even before the beers were secured, but with a cold beer to drink on the sands it became more than a paradise. It was simply sublime.

We'd arrived early enough to beat the crowds that arrive on the small island in the later afternoon, and the early start was now long forgotten on the sands of Pass Island. We'd lost all sense of time here. Hell, it was only 10am and we were already through a crate of San Miguels and making steady progress on the Red Horse.

Pass Island really is one of Coron's best islands. I'd recommend you visit before the rest of the world does too.

All Photos and Words by Richard Collett

This article originally appeared in a slightly edited format on my website Travel Tramp!