mt tapyas trek + coron loop tour

I was never afraid of water... And so it is ironic that I never learned how to swim. I have a lot of memories of being in rivers and beaches when I was a little kid. I would never hesitate to jump into the water as long as I had my trusty salbabida with me or just knowing that my dad is there ready to dive and save me after I jump into a river a hundred times as deep as my then-height.

I have always thought to myself that just seeing the beautiful beaches and lakes and rivers and falls were enough. After all, I could wade my feet into the water and enjoy the beaches and swimming pools as long as I do not wander to the deeper parts. And the existence of life vests comforts me as I try to awkwardly pretend to swim around the deeper parts of the oceans on boat tours. I was satisfied... That is, until I experienced everything that Coron has to offer.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. After all, water is not everything that is Coron.

Day 2 - Because we failed at our attempt to climb Mt. Tapyas the day before, we woke up early to catch the sunrise from atop the mountain. It was a hard 718-step (or so they say) climb all the way to the top for a smoker who has had no exercise at all and has gained a considerable number of kilos over the last couple of years. I HATE sweating. But this was a good kind of sweating. Maybe because the view from the top was all worth it.

while climbing the stairs, umabot pa kami ng konti sa sunrise. :P

it was a long way up

finally: our destination.

do you see a man lying down? i have, unfortunately, forgotten the name of this mountain.

The way down was a lot easier. ('Yun na ba 'yon? Walang ka-challenge-challenge. CHOS.) We got all sweaty so we went back to Ralph's, took quick showers and prepared ourselves for our first day out on the waters of Coron.

We started the boat tour with a visit to the WW2 Shipwreck. It was my first time snorkeling (late bloomer ako eh. haha.) and it was such a GREAT first experience that I almost didn't want to get back on the boat. My rented snorkeling mask didn't fit well and my hair kept getting in the way (halatang first timer. hehe.) but that didn't keep me from wandering away from the boat. Thank you, dear life vest, for giving me the courage to do so. :P

they're coming for yoooouuuuuu! (or for your bread, rather) - from ronnie's cam

Our next stop was Banol Beach. There are actually lots of tiny beaches that you can visit during your Coron Loop Tour - Beach 91, Atwayan Beach, CYC Beach, Sampaloc Beach etc. We saw some of the beaches from our boat while we were on our way to the Shipwreck and we decided to go to Banol Beach because it looked like it had the longest stretch of sand. The rest were, as I would like to call them, micro mini beaches.  :P We also decided against going to the other beaches so that we could spend more time here. We probably spent 3 hours of the whole trip here - just taking pictures of ourselves. Oh, and we had our lunch here too. :)

beautiful Banol shore

one of the picturesque rock formations

I found refuge from the sun under a nipa hut.

We then headed to Twin Lagoon, named so because there's a limestone formation dividing the outer and the inner lagoons. To get into the inner lagoon, there was a tiny cave-like opening that you had to either swim under or go through lying down on a raft. We were not in the least bit pro swimmers... so we opted for the raft. :P The inner lagoon was soooo beautiful I spent several minutes just floating around, staring at the sky. Imagine being surrounded by huge limestone walls in every direction, with refreshing water encircling you and the warmth of the sunrays peeping down at you from the beautiful bright, blue sky. It was heaven on earth - or in the lagoon, rather. :) Anyway, we got out of the inner lagoon through the raft too, but dare I say that we made it out in... uhmmmm... errrrr... ahhhhh.... style? Haha. We had a pretty funny way of getting out. Go judge for yourself. :P

leaving the inner lagoon - from sharon's cam

And off we went to our next destination: The Barracuda Lake. The lake kinda paled in comparison to our first three destinations but being the first-time snorkeler that I was, hindi ko din ito pinalagpas. Nagpa-float-float at pa-snorkel-snorkel pa din kami for a few minutes before we left. :D

barracuda lake marker - from sharon's cam

We then headed to our 5th stop: the famous Kayangan Lake. Medyo mataas ung climb and I was sooooo tired from all the snorkling I did the whole day so I didn't get to appreciate this spot all that much. Medyo over-rated na nga because this is actually the most photographed place in Coron but I personally enjoyed other places more. Don't get me wrong, maganda din dito. I was, I guess, already too tired to appreciate it. 

Our last stop for the day was Siete Pecados. Medyo nakabawi na ko ng energy by this time so snorkeling galore na ulit. :) The fish were sooooo aggressive. I felt like they were literally attacking me. Haha. There were lots and lots and lots of them so make sure you bring lots and lots of bread if you're planning on feeding them. :)

aggressive fish! oh my!

you pay your entrance fees for sieta pecados to this guy. 

the end of a beautiful day

And that concludes our 2nd day in Coron. Maquinit Hot Springs was supposed to have been included in our tour but because of the tide (not being high enough? too low?I don't remember exactly. Basta dahil sa tide.) the  boat couldn't take us there so we decided to just call it a day, get some well-deserved rest and prepare ourselves for beach bumming the next day. :)