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Embark on a memorable desert island Philippines adventure, where you’ll not only survive but thrive, learning new skills, embracing the local culture, and creating unforgettable memories in one of the most unique castaway holidays available.
Looking for an adventure travel experience that combines fun, untouched nature, bushcraft, and a survival challenge?
This is the plan: We meet you in the paradise diving mecca of Coron in the north of Palawan, where, after drinking a coconut together and meeting your new tribe, we’ll whisk you off to an uninhabited desert island, taking a 90-minute speedboat ride straight from the harbour to an untouched island paradise, your new home.
For five nights, we will train you in all the essential bushcraft skills you’ll need to thrive, from friction fires to fish traps. This part is survival light, designed to develop not just your skills but your confidence in this new environment. We sleep in expedition hammocks, and we cook together over the fire, sharing stories and passing around a bottle of rum. Fun is our top priority as we hone your skills throughout chapter one of your adventure. As you get used to tribal life, you won’t want this time to end.
Then, just as you start to get comfortable, sh*t gets real, it’s time to leave the nest and head to a new part of the island, with just a handful of items and your newly learned skills, for the 72-hour survival phase.
Your instructors are now on the other side of the island and it’s on you and your tribe to build a shelter, catch food, make fire and purify water. At times, this might be hard, but when you catch that fish as the sun is dipping over the horizon, it must just be the highest high you ever feel.
Then, after 3 days, you are rescued and head back to what now feels like a 10-star hotel for the best shower of your life and a survival feast.
Sounds like your type of adventure? We hope so!
We meet you at the airport, jump on our traditional outrigger boat and head to our magical island where we shall be marooned for the upcoming 9 days.
We explore our new home, consider our resource needs and choose the location for our camp. After setting up our hammocks, we get to work on building our shelter.
After a breakfast we spend the morning learning the most quintessential primitive skill, how to make fire by friction. We will spend the afternoon catching our supper off the beach.
Today we will look at all the different techniques one can use to find food on a desert island; Including what fruits and plants are safe to eat, how to get into a coconut and where to find shellfish. You’ll make a primitive handline, then catch, prepare and cook fish. You can also try your hand at spearing dinner.
Life on the island slows down. Disconnecting from wifi and phones, you will find yourself thinking about the outside world less and less.
Final day of training. We search for resources that might help you during your final 3 days survival phase. Mangoes, coconuts and shellfish are all welcome finds. That evening we’ll talk about the psychology of survival and you’ll get yourself mentally prepared for the real test to begin.
Survival Phase. This is it. You head to a new part of the island with limited equipment. Now is time to put into practice your newfound skills and apply your ingenuity to survive.
Survival Phase
Survival Phase
Nothing will ever look quite so good as our rescue boats arriving in the morning. We take a speedy 45-minute boat journey to our lovely hotel on Coron. You and your fellow castaways will enjoy one of the best showers of your life, after enjoying a huge breakfast.
That night we head out for a survival dinner.
The expedition ends with a last breakfast together at the hotel.
Allow your inner survivor to escape to a stunning crescent-shaped island north of Palawan for a truly unique trip, perfect for those seeking adventure holidays in the Philippines.
Join us in outstanding natural beauty, an expansive 800-meter white sand beach fringed by crystal clear waters, and a lush tropical interior of palm and seasonal fruit trees, offering an unparalleled Philippines castaway experience.
You will share the island with the Palawan monitor lizard. Growing up to 2 mete
res and weighing up to 70kg, this is the second largest lizard in the world after the Komodo dragon, adding a unique aspect to your Asian island castaway journey.
In addition to the precious palm trees, there are mango, starfruits, and plenty of cashew trees (which are a joy to roast in April and May), enhancing your castaway experience with natural delights.
This destination is all about local culture. Co-run by Palawan’s finest instructor Don Coron and Eddie the outstanding local chef, you will really get a feel for local culture and cuisine, immersing you in a genuine bushcraft adventure in Asia.
Perfect weather conditions mean almost no biting insects. With virtually no sandflies and mosquitoes mainly in the jungle, most of our castaways avoid getting bitten at all on their expedition, making your survival in the Philippines more comfortable.
Embark on a memorable desert island Philippines adventure, where you’ll not only survive but thrive; learning new skills, embracing the local culture, and creating unforgettable memories in one of the most unique castaway holidays available.
We prioritize your safety on our expeditions to deserted islands. We carefully select islands based on factors such as the absence of dangerous animals and provide a thorough safety briefing. Our instructors are certified in wilderness first aid, and we work on a system of informed consent to inform you of potential risks. To learn more about the risks associated with our expeditions, please visit this page.
Our expeditions in the Philippines are typically taught by a combination of our local guide Don combined with one of our top instructors such as Tom Williams, Naomi, or Lucas Miler. All of which have featured in the survival show ‘Alone’.
In the bushcraft world, the minimalist approach wins. It’s more about resourcefulness, from making rope out of bark to devising a signal mirror from a piece of reflective material. Still, we advise you to come prepared with essential gear like weather-appropriate clothing, a sharp knife, a headlight, and a container for water. We supply the additional essentials, ranging from your sleeping apparatus to your cleaver.
Our expeditions are designed to be tough enough to promote self-growth, but not too tough that people quit. That said, about 1 in 30 people will give up and leave the island. The first 5 days are survival lite, building up one’s confidence and resilience in this entirely new environment. After that, the final 3-day survival phase is where the real challenge lies. You will feel hunger more perhaps than ever before and an element of discomfort. However, it is with these experiences that you will gain perspective and appreciation of the comfortable lives we live back home. One former castaway put it very well; it’s a ‘gratitude reset’.
You’ll learn the following bushcraft skills:
Our expeditions are designed to be tough enough to promote self-growth, but not too tough that people quit. That said, about 1 in 30 people will give up and leave the island. The first 5 days are survival lite, building up one’s confidence and resilience in this entirely new environment. After that, the final 3-day survival phase is where the real challenge lies. You will feel hunger more perhaps than ever before and an element of discomfort. However, it is with these experiences that you will gain perspective and appreciation of the comfortable lives we live back home. One former castaway put it very well; it’s a ‘gratitude reset’.
Upon rescue, we are greeted with a boat filled with cold beers and mangos, followed by a brunch of burgers. In the evening, we hop into tuk-tuks and venture into town for a survival banquet, with all drinks included.
Don’t worry if you have any vegetarian or other dietary requirements – we’re happy to adapt the menu to your needs.
During the training phase, you’ll be spending your nights in an expedition Hennessy Hammock equipped with mosquito nets. You’ll be taught the necessary skills to construct your own sleeping quarters in the wilderness for the survival phase.
The hotel accommodation is based on a shared basis. In case you prefer a single room, you can request it on the booking form, but availability is not guaranteed.
The last night we stay at the Funny Lion Hotel or similiar. It is a quirky and charming boutique hotel located on the island of Coron in the Philippines with a lovely rooftop pool and beautiful panoramic views of the island. It’s no wonder this place is almost always fully booked and we have to reserve our rooms a year in advance.
Check out our other FAQs or contact us here.
First off, one of the most important considerations is travel time from your home country. Then you should consider whether domestic travel is required when you arrive. We love the website flight connections to help with travel time.
Philippines – One domestic flight required
ou will initially need to travel to Manilla (MNL), the capital of the Philippines. You can find direct flights from as far afield as London, New York, Toronto, LA, San Francisco, Sydney and Auckland. From Manila, you need to take a domestic flight to Busuanga/Coron (USU), its normally best to book this flight leg separately. Typically your domestic flight will be the day after you arrive in the Philippines so an overnight in a hotel in Manilla will likely be required.
Please arrive in Busuanga/Coron (USU) around 11am so we can pick you up from the airport.
We recommend you download Hopper’ for your phone and enter your dates. They will tell you when the best time to book your flights is before the price creeps up, typically 90 days prior is optimum.
We also love using flight connection maps for finding your best route from where you live.
Google flights is our favourite flight search engines, however, we always recommend booking directly with the airline once you have found your flights as you will have a preferential cancellation policy and better upgrade potential.
Check out our Philippines Travel Guide for more information about the destination or check out our blog for Philippines related articles.
“I did the deserted island experience in the Philippines. I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever done in my life! The level of preparation and training on a one on one bases and as a team was fantastic. My experience was for sure a 10/10 and something I will remember for the rest of my life. If you are looking for an experience that you will never forget then this is for you!”
Ben Eccles
“Incredible experience in the Philippines 2023 🏝 learning from amazing survival instructors with a great group of people. A touch of local culture and food with local guides joining to teach local fishing & cooking techniques. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an adventure. Very eye opening, learned a lot about myself and got to bond with a great group of people 🙌 bring on the next one Tonga 2024″
Christopher Medcraft
“WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!! Finally we did it, highly recommended. Tom took care of every detail. I’m glad I’ve done this.. it’s a one life experience that I was really looking forward. It was a very good thing to start this adventure with Tom, and have his help and advice. Really nice person, extremely helpful and nice to know”
Daniel Loza
