calumboyan island tour + maquinit hotspring + coron marker

parang nasa Island Cove lang! - at Marili Coral Garden

Day 4: Ang taba ko na, ang itim ko pa! hahaha. This was our third day under the wonderful Coron sunshine and we were still loving it! We started earlier than usual because our destinations for this day were farther than our previous tours. This tour is actually better suited for divers (or at least people who can swim very well) since all the attractions included are underwater. Better bring your snorkeling gear with you if you do this tour. :)

But first, to show you how much we saved. Picture below shows standard fares for the tours in Coron. We got our Calumbuyan tour for only 3000php.

And picture below is part of the market. This is where we buy all the ingredients for our daily lunch before getting on our boat. Sinasamahan naman kami ni Kuya Raymundo (our boatman/tourguide) every morning. 

After naming mamalengke, we get on our boat to start the tour. Every journey to our daily destinations are already tours in itself. Ang ganda ng mga view, pramis. It just makes you eager with anticipation for the tourist spots you're heading to.

Our first stop for our last day was the Marili Coral Garden. Beautiful, beautiful corals! Sabi ni Kuya, mas maganda ung corals dito dahil hindi pa kasing sikat at kasing puntahin ng Coral Bay Garden. We spent 2-3 hours siguro dito. We had our lunch in one of the huts, relaxed a bit by lying on the hammocks and went to the sea with our snorkeling gears to see the corals and feed fishes. Sobrang nag-enjoy kami dito dahil solo namin ung place. There were no other guests during our whole stay. Parang private island ang drama. :P

the water was soooo clear! this was taken from our boat - while the boat was still moving!

some mangroves near the beach

crossing the bridge to our own private island. :P

Naging favorite past time na talaga namin ang fish feeding. We make it a point to bring lots of bread each day for our fish feeding addiction. :P We got a few scratches from the corals, though. There were lots and lots of them. We were trying our best to avoid stepping on them but they were just everywhere and the wind and waves were not helping us any. :P Pero sa mababaw na part lang naman kami. There were deeper parts where you can be high above the corals but we stayed where we could stand up and feed the fishes. :P Kulang na lang, hanggang umuwi eh dito na kami. But Kuya reminded us that we had other places to see. So off we went to our next stop: Coral Bay Garden.

Kaso napagod ako sa pag-iwas sa corals. Haha. I actually tried to sleep a little on the boat while we were at Coral Bay. It was drizzling so I decided to just rest my eyes. When I woke up, we were already leaving  for our next stop. Turns out my friends didn't spend too much time swimming here either. Same thing lang naman daw as Marili. And yes, that Marili corals were better. So sorry, but I've got no pics at all in this place.

Next on our list was the Lusong Shipwreck. The rain stopped a few minutes after we got there. And we got to see a rainbow over the sea! :) The shipwreck was full of corals and there were lots and lots of fish swimming around. This would definitely be a lot more fun if I weren't dependent on my life vest and could swim through the inner parts of the shipwreck waaaaaaay deeper into the water than I could go. Must. Learn. How. To. Swim. And. Dive. Anyway, we still had a blast taking turns on standing atop the tip of the ship (and feeding fish, as usual. :P).

after the rain. :D

those corals are on the shipwreck! isn't this shot so clear? FYI, it was taken above-water!

The last stop on our tour was the Sangat Shipwreck - also known as the Gun Boat Shipwreck. There were a lot of divers when we got there. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late in the afternoon and we couldn't see anything without going too deep. :( But we did make the most out of it with taking lots and lots of pics! Haha. But seriously, I wanna, wanna, wanna learn how to dive. But before that, I need to learn how to swim!

beautiful sunset signifying the end of our boat tours in Coron

 And that concludes our 3-day tour with Kuya Raymundo (and his brother in law - I forgot his name). After we got off the boat, we hired a tricycle to the Maquinit Hot Springs. For 300php, he took us to the springs, waited until we had enough of the warm water, and took us from there to Ralphs. We were at Maquinit for about an hour, relaxing our tired bodies in the warm water.

entrance fees for the hot spring

the hotspring itself.

We headed back to the town, had dinner at some tapsihan near the market and called it a night. We were leaving Coron the following day! :(

On our last day, we woke up early to buy pasalubong for our friends and families. We also got a tricycle to take us to the Coron marker - ang mala-Hollywood marker sa Coron. :P The grass was unkempt, unfortunately, so if you didn't know what the marker says, you might confuse it with COPON or COBON. Haha.

i'm in this pic! look for me and 2 of my friends! :)

AND we were off to the airport. :( Before I knew it, I was flying away from beautiful, beautiful Coron and was going back to Manila. Btw, I must've enjoyed the trip too much because I kept on dreaming I was still on our tour boat during the few times I drifted off while in the plane.

After 5 days in Coron, there were still so much left to explore. I would love to come back one day. Pero hopefully marunong na kong lumangoy (and preferably have a diver's license too!) by that time. In the meantime, I'm gonna be exploring other parts of Pinas muna. :D

malcapuya and banana island + firedancing!

starting off the day with a beautiful, blue view.

We headed to Malcapuya and Banana Island on our third day. The beaches were beautiful but Malcapuya's water was too shallow. Ang layo layo mo na sa shore hanggang tuhod pa rin ang tubig. Banana Island, on the other hand, just surprises you with its water's sudden deepth. Dito, ilang hakbang pa lang, magugulat ka kasi lubog ka na agad.

Haha. Kala mo naman swimming talaga sa beach yung habol ko eh di naman ako marunong lumangoy. :P

But basically, this day was "inuman" day. We bought bottles of The Bar with us and drank on both beaches. (Oh and for the record - I HATE the taste of The Bar Silver. I hate it with a passion. It just makes me wanna go bleeeech. *arte ko lang*) Hmmm... Drinking on beaches - i'ts kind of our thing. We actually once spent two days on a beach in Batangas but didn't get to take a dip in the shore at all! Pano kasi, puro pictorial at inom ang inatupag. We woke up the following morning with hangovers and just enough time for breakfast and quick showers before leaving the beach. Haha.

Anyway, I'm getting off the topic here. At both Malcapuya and Banana Island, we DID dip in the water from time to time. There were lots of fishes swimming about in both beaches so we had another awesome day feeding fishes in the sea. Parang gusto ko na tuloy magkaroon ng sarili kong pool-sized aquarium. Chos.

We decided not to go to Banol Beach. Sayang naman ang 100 pesos each na entrance kung magiinom din lang naman kami dun. Plus, the sky was getting a bit threatening. Ayun nga, umulan ng slight nung pabalik na kami sa town. Not for long, though.

Once we got back at Ralph's we freshened up and headed to Kawayanan for dinner. Food was good, wasn't too pricey, and there was this gwapong waiter who was kind enough to give me my cellphone back after we transferred to a different kubo (I left it at our first kubo).

We also watched some firedancing and bands playing tribal music in front of the Gateway Hotel before retiring to sleep. The performers offered free tribal lessons and passed drums out to the audience but they were speaking in Filipino whereas most of those that they've handed out the drums to were foreigners so I kept on wondering if they understood what the performers were saying..

That about sums up our third day in Coron. And now..... Pic spamming! Enjoy! :P

ang sweet nina kuya. i think they're recreating a scene from Titanic. hihi.

malcapuya

sandy toes resting on a hammock by the coconut tree. <3

because there is no such thing as a tropical beach without some buko juice. :P

ganito ang usong ash tray sa Coron.

group shot by kuya raymundo. :D

the Malcapuya shore from the view cliff

heading to banana island - i love the clouds on kuya's head.

welcome to banana island

'twas like having a picnic area by the beach. :)

it's getting too cloudy

it's getting late! time to leave... :(

the beautiful sky greeted us when we got back to the town

so, so beautiful.

we just had to have our pic taken here. :D

kuya firedancer preparing for his next move

nakakapayat daw ang firedancing. parang gusto ko tuloy..... mamayat. amp.

inverted heart! like. :D

dinner at kawayanan

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. :)

destination: coron - we're on our way! :)

After almost a month, I am finally publishing my series of blog posts for my Coron adventure. :) Damn, I miss Coron!

On Wednesday, the 19th of OCtober, I felt like a giddy little kid waiting for her present from Santa after almost a year of trying her best at not being naughty. Except that not being naughty equals me not traveling and the present from Santa is 5 blissful days in Coron, Palawan. :)

Day 1: We took the Cebu Pacific flight which was (of course) delayed for about an hour. I luckily got a window seat which was really nice because I never get tired of watching the clouds whenever I'm onboard a plane. :)

leaving the hustle and bustle of Manila

a mandatory shot of the clouds from my plane seat

 We landed at the Francisco B. Reyes Airport at around 2:15pm. There was a woman handing out a small piece of paper that we had to fill out - asking if you were there for a visit, how long you'll be there and how you found out about Coron. Me thinks this is a survey acquiring data for their tourism department.

touchdown! busuanga airport

After about 15 minutes, we left the airport via a van that Ralph's Pension Inn (where we will be staying at for the entirety of our Coron adventure) arranged for us. After roughly half an hour, we were dropped off in front of Ralph's, marking the start of our 5-day stint in the town.

the long and (not so) winding road to Coron

We were greeted by Kuya Jun, the owner, given welcome drinks and were lead to our room. We were assigned the Oscar's Suite (our would-be home in Coron) for only 2000php a night.. Btw, all of the rooms at Ralph's were named after Kuya Jun's family members.

welcome drink - sana may maliit na umbrella + a slice of fruit para feel na feel
ang bakasyon. (demanding?!) :P

beds for the four of us

sorry out of focus. hehe.

suite living room

At around 3:15pm, we were already settled in and we headed out for a late lunch-slash-early dinner at Lolo Nonoy's which was a very brief walk from Ralph's. There were a few kubo(s) inside and a few tables as well. Meron silang mga inihaw sa menu. We didn't get to try their grilled food, though. Meron din kasi silang ulam na parang sa mga karinderya. We were so hungry by this time that we just ordered whatever was ready to eat - resulting in the exact same order for 3 of us.

Lolo Nonoy's was just a few steps away from Ralph's. Just look for this red gate!

After we filled our tummies, we went to the boat dock - which was right behind the market - to look for a boatman who can take us on tour for 3 days. We knew what we wanted to do: a Coron Loop tour on the 20th, beach bumming at Malcapuya and Banana Island on the 21st, and off to Calumboyan on the 22nd to go snorkeling for some corals and ship wrecks. Sabi ni Kuya Jun, he can arrange boat rentals for us: 1500php for the Coron Loop Tour, 3500php for the Malcapuya-Banana Island Tour and 4000php for the Calumboyan Tour. But a friend of ours who has just been to Coron told us that we could get the boats cheaper if we haggle with the boatmen by the port. Problem was, mahiyain pala ang mga bangkero sa Coron. Me and my friends just stood there by the port for quite a while - checking out the view and discussing our plans for the night. Maya-maya, may lumapit sa amin na bangkero. Si Kuya Raymundo. Out of the whole lot of them just sitting around, he was the only one brave enough to ask us if we needed a boat for touring. So we went off with the negotiation.

We agreed with 1500php for the Coron Loop Tour, 2800php for the Malcapuya-Banana Island Tour and 3000php for the Calumboyan Tour. Bargain struck. Not bad, I think. :) We were to meet Kuya Raymundo on each morning (before we start our tour) at the market to buy the ingredients for our lunch. Sila na bahala magluto sa island.

After we got the boat/boatman/tours crossed off our list, we went back to the inn, checked our Facebook accounts (pagbigyan nyo na ko, walang signal ang SunCell sa Coron so ito lang ang connection ko sa kabihasnan), and headed out to climb Mt. Tapyas.

The base of Mt. Tapyas was about 2-3 blocks away from Ralph's. It was already getting dark - it was almost 6pm when we headed out to start our trek. There were still a lot of people who were finding their way down the steps but it was already too late to start the climb. After standing there watching people who've just come down complain about how tough the climb was, we decided to wake up early and climb it the following day.

going home.. we'll do the trek the following day (what the eff was I doing with my hair?!)

So what else were we to do? It was too early to sleep and we were still full from our late lunch. Being the drunkards that we are, we looked for a place to get some booze. We went around and found this bar:

this has gotta be my fave bar in Coron! kaso, kamote at mani lang ang pulutan nila.

We looked for other bars in the area but all of the bars had only a couple of other people (who weren't drinking) or had no customers at all. There was one airconditioned bar and one of my friends went to check it - kaso amoy spray net daw. Haha. Some locals were recommending a certain bar (forgot the name, though) but we had to take a tricycle to get there. It was a few minutes drive. Eh ayaw na namin lumayo so we ended up at Lolo Nonoy's - their beer was fairly priced and it was close to Ralph's. The downside: beer bottles were rusty and there were mosquitoes despite the presence of mosquito coils under each table/kubo.

kalawang ba kamo? mukhang hindi talaga uso ang inuman sa Coron

After a couple of buckets, umuwi na din kami at natulog. We had an early day ahead and we didn't want hangovers to start our tours with. :P

Contact Ralph's Pension House at 09154432193. :)