I cannot say Coron is the best Philippine island ever because admittedly, I have not explored my own country as much as want to [its 8,500 miles away :(]. However, I can say that Coron is as beautiful as everyone said it is. Wildly regarded by travel bloggers as one of the best islands in the country, its pristine beaches, clear waters, beautiful corals, and friendly people makes foreigners and locals alike flock to the island all year round.
Despite how popular it has become in recent years, somehow Coron still retained its “small island” feeling – the carinderia’s (small restaurant/take out food for locals), botica’s (pharmacy stores), BBQ at night, and most notably, the lack of food chains. Coron WAS El Nido before it became too popular and too crowded.
Isaw (chicken intestines), my favorite street food!
I planned to go to Coron originally for two things – Kitesurfing and Deep Water Soloing (DWS). Unfortunately, the kite season ended early this year and so I had to change plans at the last minute. I decided to use that time to get PADI certified and what better place to do it than Coron?
Sidenote: For Kitesurfing, I highly recommend Kite Camp 250K – it is a paradise for kitesurfers. An island set in the middle of the Calamianes group of islands, this camp is surrounded by favorable wind and like most of the islands of Palawan, surrounded by clear waters. They have instructors, equipment for rent, paddle boards, and anything else you need for your water adventure. The island has its own chef and the accommodations include the meals for the duration of your stay. Check them out!
Getting there
You can fly to Busuanga airport directly or if you are coming from El Nido like me, you can take the ferry. I used Montenegro fast ferry since it is faster and more convenient for me. A one-way ticket costs about $35 per person and you can buy at their El Nido office. As long as you buy the ticket the day before you plan to leave El Nido, you should have no problem securing a seat.
As soon as I arrived in Coron, I head out to the nearest carinderia to get the ‘local deets’ while eating lunch. Filipinos are very well know for their friendliness and hospitality. The girl who served me and her sister gave me good tips such as where it is cheapest to stay, where to get the best food and which tour company I should take. From there, I took a tricycle to the town proper to find my accommodations. If you are traveling solo or with a small group, you will find plenty of accommodations in town without needing to reserve the hostel/airbnb/hotel in advance. I decided to stay at Zuric Inn and after booking my island tour for the next day, I called it a day and stayed in my room to get some much needed rest.
The island tour I took is the ‘Ultimate Island Tour” (very dramatic name, I know!) that includes Siete Picados, Kayangan Lake, Twin lagoon, Skeleton wreck, CYC beach and Barracuda lake. This took us the whole day and the package included hotel pick up and lunch. You can rent some snorkeling gear before heading to the boat (provided by the tour operator) or bring your own. Lather up your skin with TONS of sunscreen (SPF 100). It’s definitely hot out there!
Siete Picados is a small island with beautiful coral reefs teaming with fishes that you can see from the boat. We spent about half an hour here just snorkeling and enjoying its pristine, clear, waters.
Then we head to Kayangan Lake known as one of the clearest lakes in the Philippines. Right now, you are not allowed to jump into the lake without a life vest after a drunk tourist drowned while free-diving (shame!). Still, with the tour guide watching me and with his permission, I took off my life vest and dove for a bit! 😉
I skipped the skeleton wreck since I will be scuba diving there anyway the next day. For lunch, we head to CYC beach where they spread out the food for us to feast!
Afterwards, we head to the twin lagoons – two breathtaking shallow saltwater lagoons with stunning water and separated by a small opening in the rocks where you need to swim under. Unfortunately, there was a big group doing some team building activities while we were there so I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures. I was able to dive and swim there for a bit though!
Before we cap the tour, we went to Barracuda lake. Barracuda Lake is a must-go for scuba divers because of its unique mix of fresh water and salt water. Surrounded by lime stones, the lagoon was formed by a karst sink-hole which has separated the lake from the open ocean. It is volcanic activity beneath the surface that heats up the salt water trapped inside. It is less popular than Kayangan lake and therefore less tourists! We had the whole lake for ourselves for almost an hour!
The next day, I signed up for a scuba diving ‘discovery’ lesson (discover scuba diving + 1 fun dive) with Coron Divers. This is my first time scuba diving so I was very cautious and downright frightened. Deep water where I cannot see the bottom scares me the most. I figured the best way to get over it is to confront it head-on. The team at Coron Divers was very understanding of my situation and made sure I was comfortable the whole time. I dove with Kuya Arni (‘Big brother’ Arni) who is the scuba dive master and the most patient instructor ever hah! He helped me manage my mini panic attacks and assured me of my safety while we were underwater. For this day, we went to Siete Picados and then explored the East Tangat Gunboat wreck.
During World War II, US helldiver bombers and hellcat fighters sunk the Japanese supply fleet hiding among Coron islands below. As a result, Coron now boasts the best wreck diving in Southeast Asia. Each wreck has its own special characteristics, but on the whole they are big, mostly intact, within reasonable diving depth and full of amazing artifacts. These wrecks were what we explored when I decided to continue onto the lessons and complete my PADI certification.
On my last day, I thought about going for another scuba diving session (maybe at Barracuda lake) in the afternoon but since I had to fly out the next day, it is just safer not to. For single dives, it is recommended to wait at least 12 hours before flying (Oh yes, this was one of the questions in the exam I took to get PADI certified!).
I will post a separate blog for the DWS attempt I did in Coron. As a newbie rock climber and doing deep water solo for the first time, the experience is quite special to me and I would like to put more time and attention with that post. Ciao!
The Travelling Accountant 