We arrived in Coron in the late afternoon, just enough time to find a place to hang our hats and enjoy our first sunset on this island. We were taken on a tricycle to a small hotel on the closest thing to a beach in town. Wasn't much of a beach at all. But beachin' isn't what Coron is about (although there are plenty on the neighbouring islands).
We were feeling ambitious on day #2 and tackled our second mountain of the trip - Mount Tapyas. Harder than the last but still a fairly easy 724 steps to the top, where there are amazing views of all the surrounding mountains and bays.
The heat was the hardest part of this mountain - so hot that not many trees grow up there.
We found a small hut around the back of the peak to hang out for a while.
Here are only some of the views from the top:
After conquering Mount Tapyas by early afternoon we decided to look around at a few
tours/shops for our next adventure. It was very soon to be obvious that a few days worth of diving would be the best bang for our buck; this would
include some island hopping, snorkelling and of course enjoy the world renowned Japanese shipwrecks from WWII. We both decided to take our PADI open water course - getting us 6 different dive sites, 3 days worth of lunches, and several different island experiences.
Coron Island (different from Coron town which is on Busuanga island) is owned by indigenous people and anyone intending on visiting/exploring must have permission from the tribe elders (and pay a small fee, which was included in our course fee)
On the island we got to dive in one of the only 2 lakes of this kind (the other being in Hawaii) - Barracuda Lake. It is a mildly salted lake with hot springs of fresh water flowing in from the bottom making it a perfect
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| Steps into Barracuda Lake |
This lake was amazingly private with mountainous sharp cliffs all the way around it. Near the surface the water was 28°C and nearing the bottom there were sections of 37°C, a huge shock to your body swimming between the two. You could swim with half of your body divided by the different tempertures. Something we will surely never forget.
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| Ocean entry point to Barracuda Lake - Very sharp jagged rock |
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| Barracuda Lake swim |
CYC Island we mainly focused on our dive skills but found some very interesting marine life including a perfectly sandy camouflaged flounder which we are told are very delicious.
Twin Peaks Marine Park - An amazing reef home to a ton of marine life diversity. (Unfortunately we could not get any shots of the life here as the gopro case had a slight mishap).
And of course the wrecks.
All of which were Japanese ships that were sunk by the US Air Raid on September 24, 1944 in WWII. We got to dive 2 of the 10 wrecks around Coron which was eerie and very exhilarating. These have been here for over 70 years and have been claimed by the sea, now being home to some very interesting marine life.
Olympia Maru - Cargo Ship 122m long
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| Hole blown in the ship by treasure hunters (this is one theory) |
East Tangat Gunboat - Submarine Chaser 40m long
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| Starfish on the mast |
Skeleton Wreck - 25m long
We are now both Licensed Open Water Divers
and prepared to enjoy the ocean in many other parts of South East Asia and the world.
We should definitely mention that none of this would be possible without our amazing Dive instructor, Jeremiah Capule. We had a blast with Jay in our 3 days of diving and he was truly a great teacher. Very patient, great sense of humour, and had a wealth of knowledge to share throughout this journey. We won't forget him!
Our favourite accommodation in Coron was Krystal Lodge,
a very unique spot built out of bamboo on stilts out into the bay, far away from all of the motorbike and town noise. It had a great view of the bay
and sunsets over the mountains.
We met a group of people who arranged their own boat tour through a tuk tuk driver and invited us to tag along. 5 English folks, 1 French, 1 American, 2 Canadians and some Filippinos - which is a pretty awesome mix of people. We all stopped at a market before hopping on the boat and grabbed some food to cook our own lunch and a ton of beers. Our boat captain cooked us up a traditional Filippino lunch which was delicious. Then we spent the rest of the day island hopping,
eating, drinking, beaching
and swimming at another hidden gem - Kayangan Lake (also brackish water) with excellent cliffs and caves.
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| Sea View from the top of the climb into Kayangan Lake |
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| Entrance to Kayngan Lake |
At the end of the day, we all went out for dinner together and partied at our hostel. it was an awesome day and a great party to end our stay in Coron!
Coron was an amazing experience, many friends made, lessons learned and good times had.
But onto the next journey. Boat ride headed for mainland Palawan,
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| always good meals on these boats |
next stop El Nido...
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