CORON

So finally, I decided to go to Coron!!!

I always told myself that places in Palawan would be the last places I would visit because they told me that once you've been there, you'll have difficulty appreciating other places. 

 This blog will detail the activities we had during our four day stay in the world's most beautiful island, some tips, reviews and of course - the budget!

Day 1: City Tour (Mt. Tapyas and Maquinit Hot Springs)

We arrived in Coron through a 5:30am flight via Philippine Airlines. We didn't have any delays upon take off so we arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The flight is just an hour away from Cebu.

A van picked us up. Even without prior arrangement, I think they already grouped us based on where we will be staying and there were 6 of us staying in Coron Vista Lodge.

Our stay in this place was comfortable. The staff were approachable and willing to help. They were even flexible with the breakfast time since we had to have our breakfast at 4:30-5:00am for two days. 

For today, we decided to stay in and rest since our itinerary was Mt. Tapyas and Maquinit Hot Springs. 

We had our lunch in Kawayanan Grill. 

It is best to visit Mt. Tapyas during sunrise or sunset so we decided to leave by 3:00 PM. 

I knew we were going up but I didn't expect it would be 724 steps! Gaaaaaaaaah. For someone who don't usually do exercise, you'll really have multiple (!!!!) stops before reaching the top. And of course, you're takeaway pamaul is a guarantee afterwards. Hahaha 

I suggest you don't do this on your first day. *wink* 

I had to have my feet massaged twice in order to have some relief. Haha

But the hike in Mt Tapyas is just like life telling you that you need to work hard for the good things :)

Being on top gives you a really good view of the city - a view worth the pain going up. 

The walk going down was already smooth :)

We then hired a motorcycle going to Maquinit Hot Springs. There are motorcycles waiting at the foot of Mt. Tapyas.

At first we were offered Php 500 since we were three (3) pax but they gave a final price of Php 400. 

I think we could have haggled more though. Haha

Anyways, entrance to Maquinit Hot Springs is already at Php 200. And boy, it's really hot! Haha

Its temperature is around 38-40 degrees celsius. You have to go in slowly so your body can adjust to the temperature. 

We went back to our hostel and had our dinner before dozing off. 

It's time to get ready for Day 2!

Day 2: The Ultimate Island Tour

After having our breakfast, we were picked up for our tour.

The pier is just 5 minutes away from where we're staying.

Today's adventure is the Ultimate Island Tour!

We got it at Php 1,300/pax contrary to the Php 1,800/pax I saw online :D

We chose Be Cool Travel and Tours because they had the most number of places to visit with almost the same price as others. 

Here are the islands we visited:

-CYC Beach and Coral Garden

- Smith Beach and Japanese Ship Wreck

-Banol Beach (We had our lunch here)

-Twin Lagoon

-Kayangan Lake

-Siete Pecados

For the first two destinations, it's actually 2 in 1. At the CYC Beach, you can also see the Coral Garden. For the next beach destination, you can also see the ship wreck so basically it's really just 6 destinations. Haha

Here are some pictures of this day's activities:

At the port :)

Some pictures at the CYC Beach and Coral Garden

Pasensyai nalang ang duha ka baby shark Haha

Yes, the water is crystal clear :)

 Smith Beach and the Japanese Ship Wreck

Even if the shore is near, the area is actually very deep. I wasn't able to get a good look at the ship wreck because I panicked when small fishes wereswimming near me. Haha

Banol Beach

We had our lunch here and the area is very picturesque. 

This is the only stop over where we got to enjoy swimming at a shore.

Twin Lagoon

In order to have pictures in the Twin Lagoon, you need have a waterproof case for your phone.

You have to swim through the two lagoons. We stopped by the other side and it was 50-100 feet deep. Hahaha No shores so you really have to swim. 

If you're not a good swimmer, make sure to have your life jacket.

Our guide, Kuya Naruto was kind enough to pull me through the lagoon.

This is the only picture I got of the Twin Lagoon. 

Kayangan Lake

This is one of the main highlights of the tour. 

This is where you can take pictures of the "iconic Coron photo" - like your visit won't be complete if you don't have this snap in your gallery. Haha

Going to the lake is also not an easy feat. You have to climb around 160 steps up and another 200 steps down to reach the lake.

But it's totally worth it! If I won't be willing to go up Mt Tapyas the next time I visit Coron, I'm so much more willing to climb up and down for Kayangan Lake. 

There was so much calm and beauty in the lake, you'd really stop and appreciate God's creation.

Our last stop was at Siete Pecados. 

I didn't have any picture but we did snorkeling and the corals in the area was so amazing!  

Some might already be tired because this is already the last stop, but I strongly recommend that you gather your remaining energy and swim here. 

Day 3: City Tour and Firefly Tour

We could have opted to do another tour for today but it's going to be another day at the beach if we do that. 

I was eyeing at the Island Escapade Tour at Php 1,500/pax and includes 3 beaches: Bulog Island, Banana island and Malcapuya Island. You can do this tour if you want to do more beach bumming :)

For today, we decided to just explore the city. Being the sleepyhead that I am, I woke up at 10am, had my breakfast and started my exploration at around 2pm.  

You can basically walk around the "main street" in 30 minutes. 

The main street is a strip where you can see all the restaurants, bar, travel agencies, spa and souvenir shops.

Had my lunch here at Lolo Nonoys :)

It's one of the recommended restaurants in the city.

I went back to the hotel after getting my second foot massage. Haha

By the way, massage can be very pricey. 

It ranges from 350-500/hour. (I'd still prefer my Nuat Thai Thai Massage. Haha)

By 6pm, we were on our way to the Firefly Tour.

I was VERY excited for this tour since I love to see fireflies and I'd always consider magical but.... I was honestly disappointed.

The tour cost us Php 950/person and because it was almost a full moon, we only saw a few.

Well, it's still "magical" to say the least but it's not worth its monetary value.

We had our dinner buffet in the floating restaurant called "Panget"

We just had a bad experience though because the manager asked us to transfer to another table because the one we occupied was good for 4. He wanted us to transfer to a table good for 3 in order to accommodate the 4 foreigners.Which can be okay if only he asked us if it was okay for us. But he just said, "Ma'am transfer po namin kayo sa table good for 3 kasi good for 4 po talaga yang table na yan." I think that was rude knowing that we already had food on the table.

Anyways, this was the tour that really didn't live up to the value of what we paid for. 

Day 4: Calauit Safari Tour and Black Island

We had to wake up early for this tour since this starts at 5am.

The Calauit Safari is around 1-1.5 hours away from the city.

We had our stop over in this place (see picture below) to have a light breakfast (coffee, milo and bread)

I think this is a private owned property. We also had our lunch and PM Snacks here.

The safari is 7 minutes away via boat from the main land. 

We had another breakfast before doing the giraffe feeding - the highlight of the tour.

Even if the giraffes and zebras are out in the open, they're still considered wild so we are always reminded to stay at least 5-10 meters away from them. 

The camouflage tree

The Civet Cat

They have turtles, too :)

After the tour, we went back to have our lunch by the beach.

Then we visited Black Island. According to the locals, it is called Black Island because of the stone formations that can look really black especially during rainy season.

As for the sand, it is nothing black. Haha 

Even if the itinerary says we will visit three islands for the tour, staying in this island would suffice. 

It was already around 7pm when we got back to the city.

It was worth the Php 2,300! This is the most expensive tour by the way.

But it's definitely a must try! 

So that's basically for our adventures.

Now, the most important question (at least for me) - how much do we need to prepare?

The rate is not inclusive of the airfare and other miscellaneous expenses.

Miscellaneous expenses would include motorcycle fare, massage and food. Haha

And I think the range of the budget will be around that amount (for 4 days) because most are really packages.

Here some of my takeaways/tips for the trip:

•  During our Ultimate Island Tour, we only stayed for 15-30 minutes in a place. If you'll be staying for four days or more and if you have more budget, I suggest that you take Tour A and Tour B. These tours are basically the same with the Ultimate Tour but with less places to visit and I suppose, more time to stay in the tourist spots.
• Don't go to Mt. Tapyas on your first day. Haha! Well, maybe for those who are not used to exercise :D I had difficulty walking for the rest of the days because my legs were so painful afterwards. 
• There's only one ATM in town so it would be best if you bring your cash with you even before flying. 
• Look for an accommodation inclusive of breakfast. If breakfast is not included, average cost is still around Php 100-150 so I think it would be wise to have breakfast already included.
• Food in restaurants are usually pricey. A meal can cost around Php 200-Php300 and that's without drinks. You can opt to eat in a carenderia though. In our case, since we got package tours and lunch is inclusive, we basically only have dinner to think about. That's why we'd rather try the recommended restaurants.
• Be careful with the goggles given during tours. We had a bad experience during our Ultimate Tour because we "lost" the goggles they gave one of our colleagues. During the briefing, they'd tell you to take care of it and if you lose it, you'll be paying Php 2,500. My colleague didn't actually use her goggles and just placed it in her seat. When it was already time to return the goggles, it wasn't there anymore. And since we didn't have any accounting as to how many goggles were distributed before we left, we don't have any reference if the number they gave was correct. It might be a modus or not but always be careful.