The best snorkeling I did in Philippines

The dark tinge of my sun burnt skin is still very much evident as I write this post. I just got back from Coron, which is by far the best snorkeling I did in the Philippines. I have snorkeled in a few places in the Philippines, Camiguin, Moalboal-Cebu, Balicasag-Bohol, Sohoton-Siargao, El Nido-Palawan, Honda Bay-Palawan. By far though, Coron has the most variety of corals and marine life in one area that I have seen.
These are my best 3 snorkeling sites in Coron.

Siete Pecados (seven islands) – colourful corals and lots of marine life at the two largest islands, my topmost choice
Smith’s coral garden – has an underwater sloping cliff best visited during high tide.
Coral garden – saw some beautiful corals

We hired our own motorboat (banca) via a tour agent and selected the different snorkeling sites to go to. When hiring a private boat, it is recommended to request a boat of at least 10-person capacity. We were initially given a smaller 6-person capacity boat which is quite small (and very noisy), but it just so happened that the coast guard did not allow that boat to leave because of incomplete paperwork.
If you don’t want to go through a tour agent when hiring a boat, just go to the loading area (tricycle drivers know where it is) and directly hire someone from there (refer to costs at the end of this article).
Unlike joining a tour where everything is inclusive of the tour fee, in private boat hires you have to pay for entrance fees and organize your own lunch. For lunch you can buy something from the market and ask the boat crew to cook it for you, or just bring your own food.
Here are some photos of what we saw.