The Sparkling Emerald Shores Of Coron, Palawan

Most Manilenos prefer to chill in Boracay for it's " party on the beach " appeal but as I like to relax in peace and quiet, I had always preferred Coron. The town is unperturbed as it shores. The locals are relaxed and are not compelled to hustle the tourist to sell their products. Unlike other tourism destination in the country the locals don't make their living out of selling to the tourist only. Fishery is the main industry in this town.

Variety of marine life thrives in Philippines ocean making it a haven for divers and marine life enthusiasts. Because the oceans around the Philippines had been left undisturbed for a very long time, its reefs had breed three to five times more variety of invertebrate, and fish life than reefs in the Red Sea or Caribbean.

Coron has become a favorite destination for divers all over the world not only for its rich marine life but more so because of several ship wreck lying beneath its shores. A lot of European divers have settled here and put up their own Island resorts.

Both air and sea travel are available. Although flying by air is convenient, traveling to Coron by ferry is not only much cheaper but more enjoyable too.

Seaair and Asian Spirit are the two airlines flying to Coron. Seaair cost about 8500 thousand pesos per person round trip and will take about one hour to reach Busuanga Airport. Asian Spirit is much cheaper at 2,666 pesos.

There are two ferries that sail to Coron on alternative days. For Negros Navigation. the ship, the San Paolo, departs on Thursday at 4.00pm from Manila's North Harbour at pier 2, and arrives in Coron at 4.00am Friday.

From Coron it sails to Puerto Princesa departing Fridays at 5.00am, arriving Fridays at 5.30pm. The return itinerary departs Puerto Princesa on Saturdays at 9.00am, arriving Coron Saturdays at 9.30pm; departing Coron Saturdays at 10.30pm arriving Manila Sundays at 10.30am.

Prices per person Manila to Coron one way , which are subject to change and offers are as follows
*Economy Pesos 1,702.21
*Tourist Pesos 2,193.41
*Admiral Pesos 2,744.68

For this trip I have chosen the WG&A Superferry. Reliable and clean, I had always been satisfied with their service. The current ship is the "Our Lady of Good Voyage" and there is only one sailing per week. The ship always departs on a Friday from Manila's South Harbour at the new SuperFerry pier situated behind the Manila Hotel.

Official address is Pier 15, Eva Macapagal Super Terminal-Harbour Centre 25th St. corner Railroad St. Port Area, Manila.Tickets for Superferry can be purchased at the pier just prior to departure or you could use any of the WG&A ticket outlets around Manila, or most Travel Agents in Manila. Alternatively you could try booking online via Superferry.

Accomodation fares are as follows:
*Economy Php 1,717.07 per person, one-way
* Tourist Php 2,208.42 per person, one-way
* Cabin Php 2,759.68 per person, one-way Note: Cabins for 4 and for 6 persons are available.
* Stateroom Php 6,681.81 per two persons, one-way

But if you book your ticket early you can avail promos of suite room for 3,000 pesos for two persons one way. It is best to look out for promos or visit Coron on the off season as everything, accommodation, meals and other sea equipment rentals would be half the regular price.

One more option is to take the ferry going to Coron and then fly back to Manila. This way you can experience Coron's landscape in two unforgettable ways!

The ferry is not a luxury cruise ship but it's comfortable and enjoyable enough with the waves rocking you to sleep all through the night. Plus you got to hang out on the deck to enjoy the breeze, the magnificent sunset and the sea.

You wake up the next morning and viola! You are in paradise!

There numerous accomodations available in Coron ranging from the very expensive to backpacker's budget.

If you wanna stay on island resorts, rates would not be less than four thousand pesos per day for board and lodging and other ammenities. Most resort offers attractive packages including day tour of the islands and airport transfer service. Among the popuar luxury island resorts are El Nido and Club Paradise.

Accomodation rates in the town area are cheaper and ranges from 500 to 3,000 pesos only. But you have to rent a boat to visit any of the islands. Popular lodging places for backpackers are Kokusnuss, Sea Dive Resort and Darayonan. Meals are also available in their restaurants at moderate prices.

After disembarking from the ferry, tricycles ( a 125 cc motorcycle with a cycle) at the pier will take you to your destination for 5 pesos. If you will come by flight, there are jeepneys available at the airport for 150 pesos.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain

The Calamanian group of Island which include Coron island used to be the home of giant squids.

If you had opted to stay in an island resort your hotel will provide a day tour for you around the islands complete with sumptuos lunch and snacks.

But if you are lodging at a hotel in the town you need to rent a boat to go for a tour around the islands. You can either ask your receptionist to refer a boatman to you or you can take tricycle to go to the market near the pier. Several boatman will be willing to take you on a tour for the entire day, where ever you wish to go for 1,500 pesos. This will include a rental of one kayak boat and snorklers.

The day tour will include a visit to Cayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake, Twin Lagoon, Marine Sanctuary, Skeleton wreck and Makinit Hot spring. You can also ask the boatman to anchor you to any white beaches around the area just to chill or to take a dip. There are several islet that have powdery white sandy shores.

The first stop is at Cayangan lake. Be prepare for a steep climb. The huge clear lake is located on top of the mountain. Cocooned in the heart of Coron Island. When you reached the top of the stair take a pause near the small cave before you descend towards the lake to breathe in the incredible top view of the island. Famous photographs of Coron have been taken from up there.

Cayangan Lake is a hot geothermal lake full of ocean water. There is no current in the lakes and the visibility is over 20 meters. Taking a dip there is an amazing experience, communing with nature in its finest. A big olympic size swimming pool in the middle of a dense forest! The water is so clear you can see the bottom of the lake. The lush foliage around it gives a wild jungle appeal.

Tourists are refrain from visiting this lake after four in the afternoon as not to disturb the swifts who frequent the lake to drink water.The people of Coron had made a big effort to preserve the beauty and purity of this watery retreat.

Among the 7,000 island in the Philippines, Coron cradles in its shores a huge concentration of ship wrecks, making it one of the finest wreck diving locations in the world.

Japanese ships attacked by US Navy aircraft carrier, back on September 24th 1944 have been nestling underneath these waters for more than sixty years. Most of the wrecks are huge, almost 160 metres in length. Big wrecks are either upright or on their sides, none are upside down. Huge blast holes that are common among some wrecks allow masses of natural light to penetrate deep into the wrecks for an eerie albeit magical experience for first time divers! The outside of the wrecks have become some of the finest artificial reefs to be found and are laden with both hard and soft corals and an abundance of fish life.

Some of the most popular diving destinations are Cathederal Cave, Kyokuzan Maru, the Black Island Wreck, The Seven Picados, Pinnacle, Twin Peaks Reef and the Skeleton Wreck.

Although Coron is justly famous for its wreck diving it is now fostering some excellent reef diving too. The implementation of fish sanctuaries, together with education programmes aimed at curtailing the use of dynamite and cyanide when fishing, is having a marked effect and the coral is re-establishing itself at a remarkable rate. In fact, much faster than the scientists would have us believe possible! With this in mind Seven Islands, near to Coron town, and Calambuyan Island, on the way up to Concepcion, are a couple of great sites that are well worth a visit.

Another great stop and real enjoyable place for kayaking is the Twin Lagoon. Hidden behind giant walls are connecting lakes with an underground passage to access both lakes.

The water is so clear in this lakes you can see fishes from the surface. You can also see interesting pattern in the water as lake and sea water mix.

For diving or snorkling, Marine Sanctuary is a delightful place abounding with giant colorful corals in shallow water. It's a fairytale forest of anemone, fishes and other variety of marine life. Do watch out for sea urchin though.

If it's high tide you can finish off the day with a soak in Makinit hot springs about 15 minutes away from Coron. If you don't visit by boat Makinit Hot Springs is about ten minutes from Coron Town by trike. This is a salt water hot spring with very hot 40 degree Celsius water and is extremely relaxing and therapeutic at a hard day diving.

The energetic can climb to the top of Mt. Malapas behind Coron town and photograph the sunrise or sunset over Busuanga and Uson Islands.

You can take the day boat over to Culion Island and tour the former leper colony and visit the hospital, old church and Spanish Fort.

You can rent mountain bicycles and motorcycles and tour the dirt roads around Coron Island. Please have a motorcycle endorsement on your driver's license and make sure your health insurance is paid up.

"Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel's immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way." -Ralph Crawshaw

Filipinos are a happy lot. They are known for their hospitality and beautiful smile. And the people in small town like Coron have retained these charms amidst modernization in big cities. The locals live in simple but satisfied lifestyle that rubs off on anyone who are previleged enough to visit these shores.