Coron Day 2: Ultimate Island Hopping + Town Stroll
- Czariina Mae E. Gaspar
- May 27, 2018
- 6 min read
Hi Nookfinders!
I’ve been so busy and lazy lately I couldn’t write a thing but I’ve been to a few places and didn’t want my stories to pile up. This is why I am currently so enthused to share with you our official all-day swimming and snorkeling in the beautiful Island of Coron!
Want to know how we booked this trip and how much it cost us? And If you’re also interested about our town tour the day before, please click on the link below.
CORON ULTIMATE ISLAND HOPPING
The point of going to Coron is to obviously swim! I mean there are a lot of other activities but being a mermaid is number one on the list. From lakes to lagoons, shipwrecks to white sand beaches, coral gardens to undaunted dive sites, you’ll never run out of options so do not overlook your aqua shoes and snorkeling gear as you uncover this marvelous island.
TIPID TIP:
The night prior to the day of the Island hopping, Robin and I strolled for a bit around town so I could buy myself an aqua shoes. I bought a black pair in a stall which was supposed to be for 250 Php but I bargained for 200 Php instead. You can actually ask your hotel but renting can cost you 120 pesos per day which is why I recommend you to just purchase/bring your own.
Finally, Robin-the-swimmer’s favorite day has arrived. It was now time to hit the waters and bite those snorkeling apparatuses. Everything needed was provided by our hotel, Sun Valley Tourist Inn. We had to be at the lobby at 8 am but since we knew it will be a quite tiring day, we ate our free heavy breakfast.
TRANSFERRED BOATS
We were fetched and arrived quite early in Lualhati Park where our tour boat was waiting for us. We noticed that we were the only Pinoys in the group and It was not a problem for us but the tour guide asked us to transfer boats and so we did. We bid our kind farewell to our supposed group.
TOUR BOAT AND INTRODUCTIONS:
The boat was at a right size given that it was a joiner’s group. It also had it’s own captain and restroom where you could basically do anything needed. LOL. A tour gets to have a boat captain, a tour guid who handles all the talking, and another who does most of the active work.
The guide from Calamianes travel and tours normally starts the tour with an introduction and a few travel trivia, funny lines and advisories. You can choose to either wear a life vest or not but keep in mind that for most of the activities, you have to be an impressive swimmer to remain safe and alive. Besides, snorkeling the whole day can get strenuous.
KAYANGAN LAKE
Kayangan lake is an hour boat ride from the wharf area. This one is every Pinoy’s dream, seriously--to be able to climb that 150 steps to the viewing deck where you could boast about your own photo of the Department of Tourism’s favorite view.
The waters of the this seemingly luminescent lake is 70% fresh and 30% salty. The whole of Coron island is holy to it’s natives that some of it’s waters are not even open to public yet. This lake most importantly is also sacred that is why tourists are required to use life-jackets if they want to swim.
One peek of It’s turquoise waters surrounded by dramatic towers of lime stones and you’ll be awed by the gem that is Coron. We also got to experience a little cave adventure.The water is crystal clear that you won’t need to dive deep to see it’s under water limestone formations. One of the tourist almost lost her action camera but it was clear where it landed underwater--good thing tour guides from the Calamianes team are excellent free divers and got it back for her.
BEACH 91
After spending some quality time in Kayangan lake, we proceeded to Beach 91 to eat lunch with a rockin’ view. The lunch was part of our paid trip and is buffet style. You can choose to swim or just memorize the winning view in your head while sitting on it’s coastal wooden huts connected by wooden bridges. The funny thing about Robin in this trip is I kept losing sight of him and every time he came back, he has this fresh coconut drink for the two of us. We spent our remaining time talking about how lucky we are to be young and free to roam!
SKELETON WRECK
First of all, I am in no way sure if what we saw in this location was a sunken “Japanese” ship wreck from World War II or just a long sunken fishing boat. But it’s still a 25 meter wreck which is just as exciting and makes it a perfect spot for scuba diving beginners. Teeming with reef life, this spot is not one to miss.
CORAL GARDEN
After some wrecks, it was about time to see some colorful reefs and corals. As a group, we circled the reef vicinity. There isn’t much sea life but corals are abundant in the area. Robin and I also took the opportunity to use the kayak. It was pretty wavy and it was my first time. I did not realize that it takes a lot of team coordination and hardwork to go far and even go back. But we did it! Sadly, no one took our photos but i have one of other tourists doing the same!
We went back to the boat to do some major photo ops. LOL just because why not? We had this view and there was no excuse from taking this picturesque scene infront of us. I am super glad i had a cool shot because Robin is not quite the instagram boyfriend. I got a lot of head scratches from him during this shoot.LOL
TWIN LAGOON
Our last stop for the day was Twin Lagoon. I was quite sad at this point that I couldn’t bring my mirroless camera and Robin even forgot his Go Pro. I was only able to pose outside of the lagoon.Well I atleast save it all in my memory. The Boat docked near the entrance and we had to do this human worm position so the tour guide can pull us and direct us to the small hole entrance. If the tide is high, tourists have the option to go to a wooden stair which is a lot less exciting. We did the worm/centipede thing going in and the stairs going out.
AHHH.. how do I even begin to describe it. It was enchanting in a way that I was so teary eyed when I saw the place. I was like, ‘OMG, boo , is this place even real?”. Robin was kind enough to pull me and push me to everywhere I wanted to go because I was such a slow swimmer. Haha at the near end, there was this foreign kid who was happily saying, “Mom, I just saw this on tv and now it’s like, we’re here!”
The kid’s reaction made my day because I just highly identify to the feeling!
We went back jawdropped with the amazing day that was behind us. I just realized how amazing my country is to the point that it makes me teary eyed. I mean, i saw a few trash here and there while snorkeling so let me just remind everyone to just leave nothing but your footprints behind! We then went home did a quick shower and headed out to see what we could find.
TOWN STROLL + SPA
CORON SOUVENIR SHOP
Remember the town tour blog when this spot was not open because it was a Sunday? After walking just a few steps away from the inn, we saw the souvenir shop. We were quite hungry so we searched for a barbeque stand and found one the came back to this shop to check it out.
SPA
The day’s activity was a blast and indeed a physically draining one. We decided to relax our muscles and avail of the 600 Pesos one-hour swedish massage just below the Balinsasayaw restaurant( we ate dinner here in our fist day-see blog!) which is literally just a couple of walks our hotel. I don’t know the spa’s name so that’s all the info I can provide.
FOOD STOPS
We did a couple of stops in search for food to munch on because the day got the best of our muscles including our stomachs. Coron is like a one stop shop of everything food and you'll never get hungry here. After the wonderful spa treatment, took a 10 pesos tricycle to a resto to cap the day off with a dinner.
NIGHTLIFE
By 9 pm, all you could see around town are foreigners and local tourist and those serving them with anything from food, drinks, and entertainment. I honestly felt like I was out of the country. I hear various tongues and enjoyed the nightlife. We didn’t stay up too late because I was already exhausted and we still had to rest for another set of snorkeling activities the next day.
It's 2:40 AM and i just finished this post for you guys. Hooraay! That's it-- Our Coron Day 2. Hope you had fun reading as much as I had fun experiencing it! Tag along some family and friends and experience it yourself in the nearby future. Join me again on a more laid back beach snorkeling tour in Coron in my next blog :) See you soon Nookfinders!
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