Maricaban Bay Cruising Club

Yacht Friendly Moorings

Extract from PGYC Cruiser News

This second in our series of yacht friendly moorings features Maricaban Bay Cruising Club, the home of El Rio y Mar Resort and Tequila Mike. It is located on the northern side of Busuanga and is a part of the Calamian group of northern Palawan.

El Rio is a small, friendly boutique resort with 14 high-end rooms available in a peaceful bay setting. Within a few hours of being here, guests and staff are usually on first name basis.

The location offers a very peaceful nights’ sleep with almost ne’er a wave in the bay, and is the best starting point after Pandan island (last issue) for exploring the more than 100 islands surrounding the main island of Busuanga.

Most of these islands are deserted, except for the odd caretaker, and the eastern side of all of them offers a good anchorage backing onto a sandy beach during the Amihan (Dec-May Nor’easterly) season.

These are ‘yer actual’ picture postcard islands. It is worth checking in back issues of this magazine and local internet sites for information on the other two main islands of this group, Coron and Culion islands, as they all have different attractions.

Maricaban/El Rio has seven moorings available for yachts to 50 feet/25 tons max. The moorings are 25 mtrs down and have 1” poly rope underwater and 2.5 tons of concrete on the bottom.

Tequila Mike’s yacht survived the last Nov 20th typhoon, which went through Maricaban with 100 knot plus winds, tied off long to two moorings. For more information but you should read ‘Safe anchorages around Busuanga’.in Issue 4 number 4 of this magazine.

The two photos in this article show an approach to the bay from the NNW towards the first waypoint and the second shows a view toward the moorings with the resort off the starboard side. Keep 100 meters off the resort and you should be fine to the waypoint on the moorings.The charts you will need for this area are:-- Northern part of Busuanga- Western entrance to Coron Bay- Coron Bay.

Another helpful chart is the chart for anchorages around Busuanga. On all charts the area is referred to as ‘Port Caltom’

The mooring charge is 150 pesos per day and this entitles each crew member to the following benefits:-

• 50% discount on all drinks except wine
• 30% discount on a la carte and buffet meal prices
• Free transport to Coron and back (regular shuttles only)
• Free transport to Club Paradise for the day, (500 peso consumable island fee)
• Free use of facilities such as pools, showers, towels etc
• Discounted supplies such as diesel, veggies, beer etc.

Both Club Paradise and El Rio are high end resorts, and sailors are the only group so far who have been given such discounts, so please respect this concession to us mariners and keep the peace. No fishing from yachts is allowed in either resort in an effort to try to protect the reefs and marine life.

In El Rio, there is a beautiful freshwater infinity pool, television / dvd in rooms, internet, lots of watersports with the exception jet skis and parasailing. El Rio is also the closest location to the Calauit Island African Safari, and escorted trips can eb arranged to visit the animals that Tony Parkinson brought over from Kenya in the 70’s, (actually the originals are probably all dead by now but the offspring are thriving!).

The diving from Club Paradise, run by Dirk and Rolfie and a team of experienced divemasters , is excellent. There is a WWII 500 foot wreck just two miles from El Rio and if you need tank fills or equipment, check out the advert in the Cruiser News for the Dugong Dive Centre at Club Paradise.

The house reef there has many large turtles, a giant clam garden, black tip reef sharks and huge cuttlefish as well as large schools of Jacks buzzing around.

Both resorts run on 24 hour generated power and have workshops equipped to help with many repairs. Beautiful rooms are available in both resorts at a reasonable price but bookings can be heavy in season. Well worth checking out if you need a night off the boat in aircon-hot water luxury.

If you blow your horn as you pass the resort on your way in, someone will come out and show you to a mooring suitable for the size of your yacht. First dinghy pick-up is free, but best to use your dinghy to the floating dock after that.

Motor yachts and very large sailboats should anchor 100 meters off the large white roofed building as you pass the resort. Anchor in 25 meters and you should be in sand. This is a honeycombed reef and if you anchor shallower you’ll be dropping your anchor on coral ridges. Certainly not appreciated!

ContactsTequila Mike +63920 9505944

Gm Sharmaine +63 920 6350298

El Rio Y Mar +63 920 9515009

Club Paradise +63 920 9119704

Waypoints:

Port Caltom Bay Entry N 12.11.02 E 120.06.53

Bearing To Moorings 306-307 Degrees Magnetic

Moorings Waypoint N 12.11.46 E 120.05.92

Looking forward to seeing you soon!