Sail Around Marinduque Island

Mogpog

In the northwest corner of Marinduque Island is the port of Balanacan, located within the municipality of Mogpog. The port is on the East coast of a sheltered bay that offers a good anchorage and is used as a typhoon shelter. The port is most often a transit-point for passenger and vehicle ferries, whose passengers and vehicles have little reason to pause in Mogpog and are intent to pass-through, to/from other destinations within the island. In other words there are not too many services available within close proximity to the port itself but there is good road access to the whole island from here.

The East coast of Marinduque Island has many smaller islands where to anchor, snorkel and dive. However, the waters there are generally shallow between the islands and there are many fish-pens deployed, so navigation during daylight is recommended. The west coast of Marinduque Island has fewer outlying islands so navigation and anchorage are easier.

Luzon Datum

Similar to Sibale Island Marinduque has a hill-top lookout. In this case there was no Spanish precursor and the lookout point was established by the US Coast & Geodetic Survey in 1911; it is named the "Luzon Datum". From the Luzon Datum, on a very clear day, your can see most of the significant features of southern Luzon, Mindoro, Tablas and the islands of Romblon. It is from the Luzon Datum that US cartographers measured all major geographic locations in the Philippines. One interesting feature of the Luzon Datum is that, along the footpath that leads to the hill-top lookout, there are many black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis) that, unlike in other locations, display little concern for the humans that pass their way.

Boac / Boac River

The capital of Marinduque Island is Boac town, located mid-way down the West coast. The town has many Spanish colonial buildings still maintained and it is home to the Christian-inspired, Moriones Festival, that takes place each year during Holy Week. To the North of the town perimeter is the Boac River.

The Boac River is famous for being the victim of one of the World's most significant mining disaster and environmental pollution events of the 20th century when, in 1996, a tailings-dam in the Marcopper mine site, near the center of Marinduque Island, broke and discharged an estimated 1.6 Million metric tons of copper, manganese, lead and zinc residue into the river. Today, the Boac River is still completely devoid of aquatic life; the river estuary, where the Boac River exits into the Sibuyan Sea, is heavy polluted and all marine life in the immediate vicinity are determined to be potentially toxic. As at today, Marcopper (now owned by Barrick Gold, part of Canadian-based Barrick Mining Corp.) have reportedly paid approximately US$25,000 to 30 families - direct victims of this and other mining accidents on Marinduque Island.

The Three Kings

To the southwest of Marinduque Island are the Three Kings Islands ("Tres Reyes") in the municipality of Gasan. The Tres Reyes islands are named Gaspar, Melchor, and Baltazar, after the three kings who visited Jesus immediately after his birth. Gaspar Island is famous for its beaches, Melchor for its cliffs and Baltazar for its coral reefs. Anchorage to the immediate East of Gaspar Island is acceptable, where a drop-off to the South is also good for freediving.

Elefante Island

At the very South of the Marinduque island group is the tiny Elefante Island (also referred to as Elephant island), that rises abruptly from the sea to more than 100 meters. Elefante Island was home to the former up-market Bellaroca Island Resort (currently closed, since Covid pandemic) that encompassed the whole island. To explore the island you can pull-in to the small pier on the North of the island.