Coron Day 1: Town Tour + Hotel and Bookings
- Czariina Mae E. Gaspar
- Apr 30, 2018
- 8 min read
I assumed I would never arrive at this point since April is about to end—that posting a single blog is unlikely with the audit season and all. But here I am, it’s seven minutes past twelve and I am writing about my Coron town tour memoirs.
A little intro:
Situated at the northern most part of the ever-adored Palawan, Coron is one of Philippines most gorgeous islands. Coron Island, a portion of Busuanga Island and twenty other neighboring islands form part of the municipality of Coron. These islands are collectively known as the Calamianes group of islands. If you are staying in Coron, your hotel is most likely positioned in Busuanga Island not in Coron Island because only natives are permitted to reside there.
Coron is without a doubt a paradise. A dream vacation-- and you'll never want to wake up. Its white sand pristine beaches, clear blue waters made more pleasing with its diverse marine life, caves, hotsprings, lakes, the people, restaurants, culture and nightlife. It draws both local and foreign tourists’ attention.
Several people already inquired about this trip so I guess in addition to the first day experience, I will also blog about about booking the flight and our complete hotel and tour accommodations.
Booking the Flight:
It was September 2017 when we booked a Cebu Pacific round trip flight to Coron for February 2018.It was a good decision to book for February because at that time, summer is still about to come in, it was a dry season and the island is not yet flocked by an abundant number of tourists. October to mid-June is the best time to visit the island since the rest are normally rainy seasons. The two-way flight cost us 4,245 Php each. Our friends did better with a 2K plus deal. We were set to stay in Coron for 3 nights and 4 days.
Hotel accommodations and Tours:
After booking the flight, the travel spirited girl in me went on an online canvassing spree to decide whether we do the DIY, agency or leave-everything-to-the-hotel kind of travel. I elected the last. I stumbled upon a standard hotel who fixes everything for its guests including tours and accommodation. Our Hotel was Sunvalley Tourist Inn. I gave my big YES to them because of these reasons:
Very cheap deals.
500 pesos per head deposit, which is deductible to your whole bill. You can pay your balance either upon arrival or departure.
Good reviews.
They coordinate with Calamian Travel and tours which is the largest and most trusted agency for Coron. I tried canvassing separately and the hotel tour deal is a lot cheaper and gives no hassle since you transfer every need for coordination and possible issues to their end. All you’re left to do is go down the lobby and be fetched!
Everything is accessible. You can walk from the hotel to discover the town’s restaurants, shops, bars etc.
For 6400 Pesos each we were already able to avail of the Following:
Standard <upgraded to junior deluxe> Hotel accommodation for 3 days and 4 nights
Airport-Hotel-Airport transfers
Three sets of breakfast
And a tour package inclusive of the following:
1st day: Coron Town tour with light snacks+entrances+ shared van
2nd Day: Island Hopping with buffet picnic lunch, tourist guide , free use of kayak, snorkel set and shared Boat
3rd day: Island Escapade Tour with buffet picnic lunch, Tourist guide , free use of kayak, snorkel set and shared Boat
We added a Firefly tour on the 2nd day with a romantic floating restaurant buffet dinner for 950 pesos each.
That’s 7350 per head in total and the 500 Pesos initial deposit is already deductible in the said amount. Their tour offers vary seasonally so I suggest you visit their facebook page. If you're staying longer you can avail of other tours that we didn't get to have in our itinerary :
Culion Island Historical Tour
There are actually cheaper backpacker hotels for 600php per night only but the aircon and hot showers are still the go to stuffs for me. So Basically this is the overview of expenses <in pesos> and I guess you can always opt to do better.
This is how I used my pocket money, I bought cash to spend according to my wants so everything’s optional:
Flight and Arrival:
Our flight from Manila was supposed to be at 9:35 am. We checked in and were early birds at the airport. We were asked to approach the customer service and were offered an earlier flight, which was at 6 am. We said yes of course because Cebu Pac flights are usually delayed so this was a first. lol.
Then off we went to Coron! Wooohooo! The whole flight from Manila to Coron only took an hour. The airport is minor but is wide and clean looking.
We arrived without expecting that we could be fetched immediately by the hotel but we still tried calling Miss Vangie, our hotel's head of operations and viola, it turned out we can already hop in on a van and proceed to the hotel. The trip to the hotel was already a tour I must say, the view of the outskirts was always wonderful with the wide meadows and mountains.
Sun Valley Tourist Inn
The drive from the airport to the hotel took about 30-40 minutes. Upon arrival, a friendly staff greeted us with drinks! We were then oriented about our tours and wake up calls in each day of our stay. We were encouraged to ask questions to clarify our concerns. Then lo and behold, the best news came in-- instead of a standard room, the hotel upgraded ours to Junior Deluxe Room with no extra charge! Yay! We were beyond grateful.
Please scan on the slideshow below for a mini tour of our hotel room. The reviews were very precise. If you are on a budget and would love to have very clean rooms. Sunvalley inn is the the place to go!
List of Pros:
There is hot shower
Fresh and clean rooms with well-functioning air conditioner.
a small terrace with large hangers which was so helpful because we wanted to bring home dry clothes.
Accommodating staff
You can always ask for new sheets/towels or room service--you just have to leave the clean up sign on your door.
Wifi connection situated next to our very door.
Free hot choco and coffee is always available in the hotel premises.
Downsides - <but these were no biggies>
They have no lift which was not a problem at all for us.
The restaurant is only open during 6-9:30 in the morning and they only seem to serve breakfast. Other options in the menu were not available.
There are noises from the ongoing construction/renovation
and the water tasted a bit odd when brushing.
No cabinets
Lobby is a bit cramped so i have no idea if that's okay when a good number of guests are waiting.
no swimming pool-but for us, Coron is a swimming pool. Lol
But still, the stay was great! We loved it!
We ate breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant and discovered their wonderful view. It's a bit far from the bay but at least they have one! You have to go thru a maze of hallways to reach this place though.
After eating we watched the “Baliktaran” movie which was so funny and procrastinated in our room.
Coron Town Tour
You can manage to do this tour on your own but we let the hotel handle it anyway. Coron is a quite a small town with very narrow streets therefore the main mode of transpo are huge and odd looking tricycles. You only have to pay 10 pesos per drop-off point.At 3:30 Pm, we were fetched by this huge van where we shared the tour with a retired French couple who are on their 25th country together and a young newly wedded duo. It was a triple date!
Lualhati Park:
Our first stop was Lualhati Park. This Park is a reclaimed land that the government assigned to be the wharf area of tours because the boats dock here.
The park displays an amazing mixture of the bay area and Coron island’s sleeping giant. I bought a 20L dry bag here for 420 pesos but I recommend you buy at Mt. Tapyas because I later found out it was cheaper there. At least that was my only mistake in this trip. lol From here you can also have a view of our next stop which is Mt. Tapyas.
Mt. Tapyas
Standing proudly at the peak of Mt. Tapyas is a metal cross which you can only fully appreciate if you dare climb its 700 steps-to-the-peak stairs. This mountain is at 210 meters and was bombed during world war II hence the name <tapyas=chipped/beveled>. Since we normally hike, this was a bit easy for us. We were with a retired French couple and we were genuinely pleased that they made it to the top.
Aside from the good old cardio workout, the stairs and the mountain itself gives you a bird’s eye view of all that Coron has to offer. Ahh Coron in all its splendor makes the hike truly worth it. I suggest to hike this for an ethereal view of the sunset.
Robin and I made sure to circle the whole summit. We took pictures in the viewing deck and appreciated the fire colored grass on the other side of the summit. Whether you want to have a fun jog/stair exercise or just want to have an intimate talk with friends--this place would be perfect!
Upon descent, we were able to eat ice candy and barbecue. We were then informed that the Coron souvenir shop was unfortunately not open since it was a Sunday. It was understandable and we even later discovered that the shop was just a few walks away from our hotel. We bought a few items on their mini branch in Mt. Tapyas.
Coron Cashew Factory
At L. Escarda's Coron Harvest, from 500, 200 and 100 pesos worth of cashew packs, you can bring home Coron’s well-loved cashew nuts to your families. The place obviously has gained a lot of media attention and evidences are plastered in their wall. The owner who is an old lady at her late 70s is patiently waiting for tourists to buy her goods. They have free samples so tourists get to taste its flavors from garlic, to sundried, to sweetened nuts and more.
St. Agustine Parish Church
Before proceeding to the hotspring, we had a very quick visit to the church. It is an intimate and well kept church. It was a Sunday so there was a mass being held. I said my quick prayer of thanksgiving for our well-deserved vacation.
Maquinit Hotspring
Our Last stop was my favorite. Ahh! Nothing beats a hot rejuvenating bath after a tiring day and Maquinit hotspring delivers just that.
Aside from the main pool, there are also pools that cater to children. The spring initially feels fiery hot but your body eventually adapts to the temperature. Everyone is encouraged to get out of the water every other 15 minutes for health purposes.
Balinsasayaw Restaurant
We went home that day feeling grateful that everything went beyond as expected. We rested for a bit then finished off the wonderful day by going to a romantic dinner at this restaurant called Balinsasayaw restaurant. We ordered a good for four crispy pata, Lapu-Lapu fish , mushroom soup and two shakes. Going on a solo trip to Coron would feel a bit funny because we noticed that food servings are always good for two or four. lol Robin is quite the picky eater so we did not order the resto's Balinsasayaw soup which is made up of the Balinsasayaw bird’s saliva. This dinner cost us 527 Php each. We went back to the hotel with satisfied stomachs!
It was an uber fantastic day. Everything was properly coordinated and we were very excited of the amazing island hopping ahead of us. Ahh what an adventure with Robin—and that’s just our Coron Day one. See more exciting things about Coron in my next Blog!
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