Family Trip to Coron Pt. 4 – Coron Island Tour

Our 3rd full day in Coron was for the Coron Island Tour. This was also arranged by our hotel (similar to our Island Escapades Tour the previous day and the Smith Point visit on my birthday.) This was probably the most standard of tour packages in Coron– featuring Kayangan Lake.

We were picked up at our hotel at 8:30 AM by a Calamian Island Tours van. The van brought us to the boat jetty nearby (probably a 5-10 minute walk from One Averee Bay Hotel). The boat was already filled with other members of our tour group that morning.

Coron Island was just across the straits. Here were our stops in the order we visited. I took some notes while visiting:

Kayangan Lake – stunningly beautiful (but mosquito-ridden!). Bring and apply OFF! Lotion. You can opt to do some snorkelling to see what’s underneath the lake. You’ll spot some fishes and some rock formations. Suggestion is to be one of the first to arrive at the lake before other groups beat you there. This allows you to take a photo of the lake without people. Try to grab the floating balsa before everyone else. Take your time on the steps up and down as they may be slippery. Definitely one of Coron’s most picturesque.

Coron Coral Garden – A wonderful snorkelling spot. Depth was fine during our visit. No need for slippers when we went in high tide. I spotted beautiful blue fishes and a few jellyfish at the deeper side. You can work with your guides to get you around faster using those flotation circles.

Beach 91 (Lunch Venue) – This was a small beach meant that served the purpose of being a pit stop for tour groups. Pass the rice and be friendly with your group! The waves were beautiful at high tide. Some mosquitos. You can kayak if you want stronger waves. Beach 91 is cornered by towering limestone cliffs.

Japanese Shipwreck – because we couldn’t access Siete Pecados (on our original itinerary), we were brought to a location where you can spot a creepy WWII Japanese shipwreck. You could only see the bow. There were plenty of fishes! I spotted one jellyfish the size of a shopping bag.

CYC Beach – our boat driver and tour guides said that this was one of Coron’s last remaining public beaches since all the other ones were privately owned. We arrived here during low tide which meant the boat was unable to approach the island. Some of us walked to the beach in shallow water. Not much to snorkel but I spotted some shrimps and a larger fish the size of a remote control.

Twin Lagoon – a fantastic finale for our Coron Island tour. It was beautiful approaching the limestone cliffs during late afternoon. There was one lagoon for boats, and another lagoon for people to swim to while wearing life vests. There’s this strange warm and cold water sensation that changes from time to time. Felt like entering a natural IMAX amphitheatre, with voices of tourists echoing. This was probably one of my favourite spots in Coron. Nothing to snorkel at since the water was dark (and mysterious). Wear slippers because some areas are rocky (especially getting through the shallow tunnel portion that links the two lagoons).

At the end of our two days of island tours, it appeared that my family were also having a great time. Which to me means everything. 🙂

The rest in photos…

— End of Part 4 —

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All photos taken using my iPhone 6 Plus. Photos processed with the help of VSCOCam.

Family Trip to Coron Pt. 3 – Island Escapades Tour

Our 2nd full day in Coron was for the Island Escapades Tour. Arranged via our hotel, we were picked up at 7:30 AM and brought to the port area for a one and a half hour boat ride across the sea to three islands: Malpacuyo Island, Banana Island, and Bulog Dos.

Getting to these three islands was actually tiresome. With party cloudy skies, the waves were a bit rough and there was plenty of splash. Our first stop was Malpacuyo.

Malpacuyo Island – The strong waves on the beach reminded me of Pagudpod. I immediately went to the water to just take it all in. Lots of kubos and seats, an island with a basketball court and a house.

Banana Island – about 15 minutes from Malpacuyo Island, is where our tour group had lunch. Served were crabs, fish, and grilled chicken. Plenty of rice. This was a favourite because it was a great place to chill. There’s a beach with calm waves ideal for light snorkelling and kayaking. The other side was a beach with stronger waves. There were some private little houses on the island. A bathroom is available.

Bulog Dos – about 15 minutes away were these two little islets that were connected by sand bars. It was low tide so our boat could not approach the island. Some of us swam/walked through the water to access the rocky island. I went to the other side to look for the tour guide’s nemo “may mga nemo dun sa kabila” but it was too rocky. I was also scared of stepping on baby starfishes, if any. I did some snorkelling and saw a small sea urchin.

After a 1.5 hour-long boat ride back to Coron town, we refreshed and had dinner at Kawayanan Grill. It is more of an inuman place. Like a local version of Gerry’s Grill. Compared with our first night’s dinner at Santino’s Grill, Kawayanan was disappointing.

In photos:

— End of Part 3 —

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All photos taken using my iPhone 6 Plus. Photos processed with the help of VSCOCam.

Family Trip to Coron Pt. 2 – Big 3-0 at Smith Point

Smith Point lies on the westernmost tip of Coron Island. It was what the hotel recommended for a private day trip. We signed up for two tours (Island Escapades and Coron Island Tour) but I wanted to do those on different days. I wanted to have a simple birthday picnic at a beach.

Our first full day in Coron was at Smith Point. I arranged for a private boat to take my family. We paid about PHP 2,000 for the boat rental which comes with the crew (who will also grill and prepare the picnic food). PHP 100.00 each was the “island visiting fee”.

After my parents did some groceries at the public market, we reached Smith Point before 11:00 AM. It was a quick 20 minute boat ride across the Coron Passage.

At high tide, the waves were beautiful! We had the whole beach to ourselves except during lunch hour when two other tour groups had their buffet lunch at Smith Point. They left after eating and we had the beach again to ourselves.

Smith Point is a small beach cove with about four or five kubos/huts. It is surrounded by limestone cliffs. There are no bathrooms on the beach. There’s a cat, a dog, and a monitor lizard if you are lucky to catch one picking up scrap food.

In photos:

— End of Part 2 —

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All photos taken using my iPhone 6 Plus. Photos processed with the help of VSCOCam.