Coron Day 3 - Kayaking at Kingfisher Park

Continued from Coron Day 2

We woke up late and thus left the lodge at almost the same time that we did the previous day. Although some of our snorkel stuff were left in the boat, we had much luggage to bring as we had checked out of the lodge already. We were going to stay with my dad on another island because he had arranged for our diving lessons.

Like the previous day, Boyet and I had gone to the market to buy our stuff while Ria and Ikee were left at La Sirenneta to order our breakfast. I was so confused as to the fact that even on our 2nd day I couldn't find any other seafood at the market save for fish and squid. I was already craving for some shrimp or crabs but didn't get the opportunity to get any of those. I didn't want to get them from the resto because the prices were expensive. To me, it was silly to buy something priced as high as in Manila when I'm already at the source.

Our boat was still docked there as it really is convenient for us. After breakfast, we headed for our first stop - the Kubo sa Dagat.

Kubo sa Dagat.



I had read about Kubo sa Dagat during my research but had confused it with Kingfisher Park. Apparently, these are two different locations owned and operated by the same people - the Reyes'. Kubo sa Dagat is a lodging place in the waters of Malbato Bay while Kingfisher Park is on the island across it where the mangroves are. Most of the activities being offered at the Kubo sa Dagat are actually done at the King fisher park - kayaking, birdwatching, trekking, firefly tour, etc.

When we got there, I crossed one boat to get to the front desk and asked about the rates. It was 500 pesos per person to kayak to the mangroves where will also do the birdwatching. But Borge and Nikko, the admin officers, gave us one person free and even gave us coffee. So, we took the chance.



To get to the park, we had to bring our boat close to the island. But we were still about 500 meters from the boat to the entrance of the mangrove area and our boat couldn't get any closer because the water level was too shallow for it. Thus, we donned our life vests and paddled our way to the mangroves. The sea had started to get a little rough but we paddled along with the direction of the waves so it was not difficult to cross over to the other side. I and Boyet were together, Ikee was with Mang Godie (our guide) while Rhia chose to go alone. If I hadn't known that she was in the rowing team previously, I wouldn't have agreed for her to go solo. But then that would have entailed a debate. LOL

Inside the mangrove plantation was a stream. We were asked to paddle gently and to stay quiet so that we didn't scare the birds. I brought my camera inside the Lock and Lock container which I bought to keep it waterproof. It is cheap but it served its purpose so well, I tell you. It was a great shock protector too. My "photographers" were to scared to bring their expensive equipment so I was the only one who had pictures. LOL



There were huge trees in the area. Birds seemed to be everywhere but we couldn't see them because they were hiding somewhere. I deduced that we needed more time there so we could see the creatures. I was able to spot one but Boyet had asked me to take some pics and the bird flew. It was kinda big and blue with a long bill. Later on, Borge told me that it was one of the Kingfishers. I regretted not being able to see it for a long time although I was slightly elated having spotted it there. There were 6 other species but of course we told we had to be there as early as 5 am to spot more. I guess this would be one of those things we need to do next time. LOL



After more than an hour, Mang Godie told us that we should leave already because the current was getting stronger. We were on our way out of the path when we saw some women harvesting some shells. Turned out to be capiz shells - the ones that you see in old spanish houses. Rhia took one and ate it when she learned they were edible. You see, adventure IS our middle name. hahaha

From across the entrance I had seen the waves devouring the water underneath them. It got me a little scared because I thought about Ikee and that Rhia was alone. Also, that Boyet and I were no expert "kayakers". Could we make it? I was more sure of Ikee's safety than our own. She was with an expert. Boyet and I had each other but neither of us could be of more help to each other than we are to our own selves. Nonetheless, we had to try... and well, I'm writing this to you now so I guess I could say that we did a pretty good job back there. Thank God.

Another nice thing that the Kubo sa Dagat guys did for us was they allowed us to cook our meal there. We didn't have time to go to a beach to have our meal cooked as originally planned. After we cooked, we paid our fees and were on our way to the Lusong Wreck.

Lusong Ship Wreck.

We spent 1 hour sailing from Kubo to the Lusong wreck. There was no beach there. It was above the wreck that we stopped at. Lunch was at our boat but we hadn't eaten much because everyone was too curious about the ship below. That, according to our boatman and guide, was a ship from the japanese time. It was there perhaps because there was a really strong current that time. We had noticed this and I suggested we do not go into the water anymore. But then curiousity still ruled that a few minutes later we were splashing our way to feed the fish with our bare hands. These little guys were so naive that you can actually kiss and hold them. That's me with a little fishy.



We were going to the Coral garden which was just a few minutes from us but decided not to go. Instead, we headed for Cullion Island.

Cullion Island

The last stop before we went to see dad was at Cullion Island. This was the former Leper Colony. I say former because you can hardly find any leper there now. As my uncle who is also a dermatologist would say, there is about less than 1 percent of the population who can get afflicted. Most likely, we weren't one of those. LOL

First stop there was at the Museum. It was huge as the ones I had seen. But it surely was interesting. There was this video that told about the 100-year plight of the lepers and the colony - how it was a sin to be a leper in the olden days, how the lepers were shot or burned and how they had settled in this once-upon-a-time-God-Forlorned piece of land in the middle of nowhere. Yup, it was interesting and melodramatic at the same time.



From the musueum, we went to take a few shots of the old church and we were off to see dad for our first scuba lesson with Chuck. We stayed with daddy for the remainder of our stay at Coron. For our the first night we went out to sea to fish and stargaze. As in Port Barton, I had seen 4 meteors while waiting for my fish to take the bait. Amazing!

Coron Day 2 - Island Hopping Coron Loop

continued from Coron Day 1...

We were up at 5:30 am because I had planned to leave to go island hopping by 6. But our boatmen who were coming from Cullion Island were not there yet. I was a little pissed off of course because the boat owner, who happens to be my dad's kumpare, and I had agreed that we should start at 6 and not at 5 as I had originally suggested. The poor guys had to sail for over an hour because the sea was a little rough and it was still dark.

At 7 am I decided we should just go to the marketplace where we would buy the food stuff we needed for our trip that day. Part of Coron's allure is being laid back. However, it's too laid back you can't find any food in most of the islands. There are some resorts that do offer food but then you'd have to pay and exorbitant entrance fee and pay for the food too. Now, that wasn't practical because we had intended to go around and not stay in just 1 island. This I think is one great opportunity for those who would like to do business there. hint* hint*

Ted, the boat owner, told me to meet the guys at La Sirennetta, a resto by the sea very close to the market. They have their own dock which our boat can stay at. So, I and Ria went o buy our food while Boyet and Ikee ordered our breakfast. It's a good thing that La Sirenneta had a set meal for 100 pesos each which included dried danggit, tocino, some fried rice, and coffee or juice. Cheap eh? When we got there, the food was served.

Siete Pecados.
Our boat was docked by the pier owned by the resto. It was convenient because the boat was just a few steps from where we were. After we ate, we boarded and were off to our first stop - Siete Pecados. Today's itinerary is the usual Coron Loop. If you are looking for a place on Google Earth, I don't think you'd find it. It's a small island that doesn't even have a beach. Nope, not at patch of land to step on. The great thing about it though is that the people had put some ropes in to the sea so we didn't get scared about drifting off. We had to stay in our boat and jump into the water if we wanted to snorkel. There is a 100 peso fee per person just to snorkel there. We all did but decided to leave just after 30 minutes because the water wasn't clear enough for us.

Kayangan Lake.



Our next stop was the world-famous Kayangan Lake. I guess most of us would be familiar with it as it is always featured as the mountain lake with some people snorkeling in it. I always see in in the Mabuhay magazine of Philippine airlines and the magazine of Cebu Pacific. We docked near the entrance of the trail. There were some limestones at the side that I wasn't able to resist having our picture taken. The water was clear and had different shades of green and blue. There were islets at the background and the sky was blue too with the sun golden up high. It was perfect. Besides, the trail looked difficult and looked unstable. But, there was railing made of wood that it could just be possible for my knees to take the trek up.

We started our hike up. It's so amazing that Dong, our boatman's assistant, was behind us yet had waited for us up at the highest point of the trail. There were some unstable rocks alright but then the trek was not as steep as I had imagined. As we got to the peak, we were directed by Dong to go a side trip before we descended to the lake. Lo and behold, what seemed to be the most wondrous sight was right before my eyes. The view of the greenish bluish water and its islets where some flora had grown and which I had lusted for and tried for my "photographers" to capture. Now, it is a better view and all the more alluring. the islets had the bluish-golden horizon for a backdrop. I wanted to jump for joy as I had looked at the view by the cliff. Yes, it was treacherous. But then again, what beauty does not lie beyond a dreadful trail?


As we went our way down to the lake, what was once a dream for Boyet had now become a reality. It was as beautiful as we had seen in the pictures. Deep, still yet cool and clear water, with towering limestone walls, some tiny fish in the shallow and a wooden bridge that served as both a path and a bench to its visitor. We just loved it. We stayed for about an hour but had to leave as it was nearly 12 noon and we still had to cook lunch. Too bad.



Banol Beach



There was nothing much that we did at the beach but to laze, swim a little and cook our meal. But this stop was really restful. There were some huts a few meters from the coast. Our hut was situated next to a huge kalachuchi tree which gave a wonderful shade. I spread out the mat I brought from manila so Ikee and Ria could lay down. We had broiled pork and fish and a seaweed salad that i had prepared. For dessert, we had brought some local mangoes that were so sweet even while they were not so ripe yet. I kept them cool in the small cooler that we bought. it was quite a meal.

By 2 pm, we were on our way to our next stop - the CYC beach. However, we didn't quite like the place from afar and thought that we would wasted time staying there. So we headed for the Twin lagoon.

Twin Lagoon.

The lagoon is enclosed by some limestones. There used to be only 1 way to get there: you'd have to dive deep through a subterranean hole. However, now, they've placed a platform with a wooden makeshift stairway of about 15 steps up. But, to get to the platform, I had to go through a bridge and ride a raft. The rest of my crew did not want to go there so I was the only who braved it. I saw the hole beneath the platform. It didn't seem to be a difficult swim. But I was told that if you raise your head while still there at the hole, you run the risk of hitting your cranium on to the pointed ceiling. Now, that's a risk I didn't want to take.



Barracuda Lake

After the Twin Lagoon, we proceeded to the Barracuda Lake. It was our last stop for the day because everyone we talked to, even our boatman, didn't want to take the risk of being at sea in the late afternoon. It was a wise decision as the water had become a little rough already. But, we still had time to see one more spot so off we went to the nearby lake which was also on the way back to Coron. Like the other stops, there was an entrance with a platform. I guess the Tagbanuas got used to having visitors around that they constructed several of those platforms for their guests to use. There was a short but winding path leading to the lake. however, unlike Kayangan, this lake had a small mouth which we deduced was the only take off point. It was a little dark and really tight there that none of us wanted to go for a swim. So, we just took some crazy pictures and were on our way home.

As we had sailed back, I notice a white tower northeast. The boatman told me it was a lighthouse. Thus, I asked him to go a little close to it and stopped there for a little while to take some pictures. After that we were homeward bound.

Dinner was at the Kawayanan Grill. I was told this was one of the top restos on the island. It was good but not very good.

Coron Day 1 - Coron Town Tour

Hey guys! I'm back from Coron. Here's my story:

Our semi-annual family vacation trip this year was in Coron. As always, I am the trip director and organizer thus I made some research. 1 month prior we had decided on going to the town. It had been for several years that Boyet wanted to visit Kayangan Lake and we had chosen between going to Batanes and Busuanga. The Batanes trip had been too expensive for us. So, we opted for Busuanga instead.

After the decision had been made, I did further research and we booked our flight. We flew via Cebu Pacific because at that time they offered the lowest fare. However, 2 weeks after, my cousin Ria decided to join us in that trip and booked with PAL whose price was way lower than ours. It turned out that both airlines would be delayed at some point. Our flight was delayed for 2 hours going to Coron while Ria's flight was delayed for about 3 hours going back to manila.


Day 1.


Our flight left NAIA 3 at almost 12 noon and an hour after we landed on the tiny airstrip of Busuanga. Like all the other times, Cebu Pacific was late for a little over 2 hours. When it finally landed, the plane bounced off the ground once before it did finally touchdown. Scary eh? It wasn't my first time to experience that with them so I wasn't scared anymore. The worst I gave was a shrug and a squirk. I left out on the arrangement for the airport transfers for this trip. Apparently, though, the lodge we were booked with arranged it for us. We had to pay 150 pesos per person. Quite expensive for approximately a 20 kilometer trip from the airport to Coron town but we didn't have a choice. There was no other means of transportation. I was just happy that the van was there.






We got to the Coron Village Lodge at almost 2 pm. Our first lunch was right there at the lodge since it was late and we were all starved from that dreadful trip. Sadly, there's very little vegetable choices at the resto. Lunch consisted of just tuna with lemon butter sauce and sinigang na baboy for soup and veggies. I can't say food was good but it wasn't really bad either.

We decided to stay at the lodge till Ria arrived. Anyway, we wanted to take some nap after lunch. When finally my cousin came at about 4 pm, we took a tricyle to a local resto to reserve for some barbecued pork and rice so they can cook for us while we were at Mt. Tapyas. after that, we grabbed some mineral water and took off the the Mountain.

The fee for going up Mt. Tapyas was 100 pesos per guest. Nearly all places in Coron had fees. Some say it is really to help maintain the place. There were 724 steps going up to the top of Mount Tapyas. At the 500th plus step, I stopped and told my family to go ahead. I didn't want to risk having any pain on my knee because I was afraid that if it ever happens, it might not go away until after our trip. At first, they didn't want to leave me behind probably thinking that I was just too scared or too tired to walk up any further. But then, I was determined not to leave the spot where I was. They said there was a huge cross at the top. This was supposedly the mark of Coron from afar. All that 724 steps were quite steep. Fortunately for the visitors there were landings after every 10 or 15 and there were shades spread out through the stretch. From where I was a panoramic view of the Coron Bay could be seen. I was told it was quite beautiful up there.



It was almost 5:30 when we got down from Mt. Tapyas. From there, we just picked up the food that we had ordered and went our way to Maquinit Hot Spring. The road was half good and half really, really dusty and rough.

There are 4 pools at Maquinit. Despite the 50 pesos entrance fee, there were more visitors than I had expected but there was enough space for everyone. The water was hot at 40 degrees centigrade and stung at first. But as soon as we were immersed in the pool, it became pleasantly cooler and relaxing. The trick is not to get intimated by the warmth at the start because the body does acclimatize.

Although the water was really pleasant, I didn't really like the feel of the slimy moss on the stones and walls. These guys are thermophilic and could withstand the heat. Also, I didn't like how the pool was under illuminated. on the topmost pool, it was a bit eerie because it was underlit and the pool appeared dark in that area probably because of the growth on the walls and ground.


We stayed there for an hour. There were some huts that lined the side of the park all the way to the entrance. The great thing is that there was a sari-sari store inside that sold a lot of things including soft drinks, chips and noodles - enough to feed the hungry guests after a dip at the warm pool. It did make some back and leg aches go away. After all it was like a hot compress.

On the way back to the lodge, we stopped by Manang Lita's Cashew Store. I figured there wouldn't be any time to do that in the next few days so it was an opportunity to do it then. After that we went back to the lodge, and retired early. It was going to be an early start for us the following day.



To be continued...

Eco-Tourism in the Philippines

The Philippines is a beautiful country. or at least that's how I wish it would be. We still have undiscovered beaches, and virgin forests, and spectacular marine life in some uninhabited area. But, maybe due to development and the need to address poverty, our natural resources suffer as a consequence. Yes, we do attract tourists and our economy grows simultaneously with it. But we should be able to realize that these tourists are attracted more to the natural set up of the place rather than the presence of commercial spaces that sprout because of the influx of visitors. If we continue to permit the alteration of the environment, will we still attract those who originally wish to come?

By being advocates of ecotourism, the Philippines may be able to sustain its economic growth and protect its natural resources. This way we are able to encourage people to come back because what we have now will still be here in the future. We Filipinos should remember that eco-tourism generates gainful work which acts like a catalyst. Let me explain this. Take for instance the case of Coron in Palawan. The famed Kayangan mountain-lake is visited because it showcases a beautiful body of water that is set atop a hill. It is well maintained by the indigenous tribe that inhabit the area. Even they themselves are part of the attraction. To get to the Lake, one has to take a boat. To enjoy the lake is to stay there and pay the entrance fee. Not just that, one has to stay at the coron town in one of the inns around. You have to eat there, sleep there, and buy from the market area.

Coron is made up mostly of soil that is hardly tillable. Thus, farm crops are limited to mostly the cashew trees that can withstand the stony earth. The town relies mostly on the influx of tourists. Without them, Coron would hardly thrive. Imagine if the natural resources of this Island and town are depleted. I can only picture the worst scenario.