Palawan: A Piece of Paradise

On our second day in Coron, we went island-hopping. Coron isn't like Boracay or Puerto Galera where the beach is just in front of the resorts. In Coron, you have to leave the main island in order to see the beautiful places.

We rented a boat and went to the docking area. It's just beside the public market so the waters were dirty (read: effluent). It was a little disappointing but I guess it can't be helped. In any case, there's sea grass nearby which helps in aerating (a.k.a. cleaning) the sea.

A few minutes after riding the boat, the waters became very clear and the beautiful islands can be seen. They're exactly as I see in photos. Very picturesque and breathtaking. One of the things that make me say "I love my country. Indeed, it's more fun in the Philippines."

Our first stop was Kayangan Lake. Entrance fee was PhP200. (The popular islands in Coron usually have entrance fees for maintenance by the caretakers.) I heard that the government already gave Kayangan Lake to the indigenous people. They're the ones maintaining the place. I'm pretty okay with that. I'd prefer giving my PhP200 to indigenous people than to some rich person.

Sky blue waters! My favorite color.

We climbed a man-made trail for a few minutes before we were able to find this paradise. Kayangan Lake has brackish waters (just slightly salty and you can still open your eyes underwater). It's also very clean.

I wish I rented mask, snorkel and fins. The lake was deep and I had to swim with a life vest (which was difficult due to the drag force) because I easily get tired when treading in water and I'm scared of getting cramps while swimming too. But if I had fins, I wouldn't have used a life vest.

Can you see how clear the waters are?

We swam a lot and then went back to the boat. Before we left, Dad saw this monkey. I was a little far from it and this was the best shot I could get. This is the first time I've seen a monkey in the wild! Super cool!

We proceeded to Twin Lagoons (entrance fee: PhP50). I don't have a photo of the place because we had to swim before we could get there and I couldn't bring my non-waterproof camera of course. There's a one-meter underwater "tunnel" that will lead you to the lagoon but there are also wooden platforms and ladders above the said tunnel (you still have to swim to get there though). One meter underwater is fine. However, I did not take the risk because the boatman said that the rocks are sharp and I could hit my head and bleed. I'm a buoyant person (I float easily in water; I need heavier lead weights when scuba diving) so I just took the wooden platform instead.

And then we went to have lunch in Banol Beach. It pays to look at surroundings while riding the boat because I SAW A PAWIKAN in the shallow part of the sea! I was actually just looking at the corals but I was very lucky to see a pawikan as well. It's my second time to see one. The first was during the check-out dive (scuba diving) in Anilao, Batangas and we saw the pawikan around 70 to 80 feet underwater. This time, I saw one in shallow water. Super cute!

However, our boat had no place to dock in Banol Beach so we were forced to go to this beach instead. I'm not sure if the place even has a name but I'm not complaining! It's the first beach I saw in Coron! Look at the powdery white sand and super clear waters! I think we paid PhP300 for the use of a cottage and for docking the boat.

After lunch with liempo (grilled pork), chicken, grilled lapu-lapu (fish) and crabs (!!!), we went to Malcapuya Island. However, that place deserves a separate post so I'll write about it next time!

Isn't it cool? The trip to Coron gave me a lot of awesome experiences. Those experiences used to be just stories from my dad who goes around the country a lot for fieldwork. Now, they're my stories!

And honestly, I don't think my photos do justice to the places. They're much more beautiful in actual.