This year, I went to Coron and it's definitely another unforgettable summer adventure. Finally I got the chance to personally see those postcard-worth photos posted in Facebook and Instagram.
I was saddened to see these bald mountains. Good thing to know, these are manganese-rich mountains where trees can't grow.
Coron is a small town located in the northern part of Palawan. After an almost two-hour drive from the Busuanga Airport is a very little community of small sari-sari stores and very simple houses.
This picture shows a dirt-hugging road to the market and the port.
According to one of friendly tricycle drivers, Coron was hard-hit by typhoon Yolanda too in 2013.Today, this humble community is back on its feet; thanks to its beautiful islands and tourism.
After dinner, we walked around the town and found some holes in the wall. The jolly owner of Trattoria Altrov'e drove us in to eat pizza AFTER DINNER.
After everyone got inside the inn, three of us walked farther and found the street called "Makati, Palawan" where most tourists drink and eat. It's where we also found an ice cream house. Just a little chit chat with the staff and they let us enter their "pantry" to scrape the mint gelato fresh from the machine.
The Island Hopping Adventure
Most islands in Coron are concentrated and they are approximately 30 minutes away from each other. We had the whole day going to four islands. I expected to see more colorful coral reefs and fishes but the Pambato Reef in Puerto Princesa is still the best marine sanctuary I ever saw in my whole snorkeling life so far.
This is the breathtaking view from the top of the 10-minute steep hike before reaching the Kayangan Lake.
This is the Kayangan Lake which has crystal clear water and often regarded as one of the, if not the most, cleanest lakes in the Philippines. A little farther over there are amazing underwater rock formations.
Twin Lagoon. One of the postcard worth scenery. It's very surreal but they were right in front of me. The first lagoon is where the boats duck while the second one is hidden and can be accessed by small opening underneath a rock.
Squad goals in the middle of the Twin Lagoons. The water temperature in this part is warm while in the other part is cold. The water is also blurry and the underwater can't be seen. This is the result of the merging of the fresh water and sea water.
Mt. Tapyas can be reached by more than 700 concrete steps. It feels so relaxing to just sit there and watch the sunset.
Maquinit hotspring.
My Geology professor said that Palawan is the safest island in the Philippines because there are no faults and volcanoes. But hotspring comes from volcanoes. Googling my curiosity, the temperature of hotsprings also comes from the geothermal heat or the heat of the earth's mantle. So most probably, Maquinit's temperature comes from the geothermal heat. Geologic ignorance aside, Maquinit hotspring is very hot during daytime. I guess it's best during twilight or evening after a long day in the islands.
And that's Coron. Next stop: El Nido? :)
