Between 2000 and 2020 the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group was active in the Sulu sea, abducting tourists, fishermen and freight ship crews to make demands for ransom. Two cruising yachts were also attacked during that time (2 German boats, one woman shot!), so cruisers have given the area a wide berth ever since.
We were a bit nervous about crossing the Sulu Sea at first, but when the wind died on us completely we did some reading, found that there had been no incidents in the last 6 years after the Philippine military cracked down on the terrorist group, and decided to do a stop-over on Pangutaran, an island with a coastguard station. The shore is straight and the anchorage open, but protected in winds from the W (we anchored in 20 m sand off the reef shelf just north of the old main pier). The guys from the coast guard came out after we had anchored–first just two of them, then it seems that word got round and another, bigger boat came out: this time all coastguard officers, all police officers and everyone else who wanted to see the yacht was aboard 
Even though we had already checked out of the Philippines they invited us to come ashore and imagine our surprise when we got picked up at the dock by the police car to be taken around the island! We did a stop at the brand-new coast-guard station with modern equipment (all part of the joint maritime monitoring and patrolling that armed forces of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia do). The guys we talked to have worked for the coastguard for 6 years and had no incident reported during all that time. They assured us that there is no more pirate activity and that the Sulu sea is safe and peaceful now. Next came a stop at the mayor’s house, where his mother invited us for tea, snacks an interesting chat and sent us off with more veg and fruit than we could carry, followed by a visit to the market where we got more gifts…
Our friendly guide from the tourist office (no tourists yet, but they are preparing for visitors!) assured us that the islanders would be thrilled to see more yachts (the easiest tourists as they don’t need transport to get there), the vibes in town were friendly and we had a great experience as the first cruisers visiting the island in a long time. Hopefully more will dare to venture to friendly Pangutaran in the future!
