Coron...Way back when we were one of the few who witnessed its stunning isolated beauty!

CORON, PHILIPPINES

The island is situated in the northern most part of Palawan, Philippines. If you are coming from Manila, you can travel by ship or by plane. For my first visit we decided to choose the latter. We were already at the port by 1pm but the ship left at about 4pm. Although there was news already about an incoming storm, the weather was hot that afternoon. We mostly slept through the 12-hour ride and woke up to a beautiful morning in Coron. From the port, we walked for a few meters to where our boatmen were waiting for us. 

KAYANGAN LAKE

A good 20 minutes through our boat ride, we were greeted by the numerous towering limestone cliffs that almost looked like concrete on the surface, submerged in an endless ocean of blue green crystal clear water. We started our adventure in Kayangan lake. We reached the facade of a huge limestone cliff and as the boat made a turn, we entered the cove that guards the lake. Since the tides were still low, we were able to have a quick breakfast before starting the trek to the lake. From the main boat docking area, we hiked for about 150 to 200 steps and then again approximately 500 meters downhill to the actual lake. I did some research before going to this trip and I read that this is the cleanest lake in the Philippines so I had high expectations but simply saying that it is beautiful and clean is a gross understatement. To say the least, we were in awe. The lake was wide. Before jumping in, you have to take precaution because it is very deep. The fishes were small and lacking of a variety of colors though, as in most lakes. The brackish water was clear as glass with an aquamarine and deep, deep turquoise tones. It was serene and seemingly unruffled by its visitors swimming about. As we headed back to the boat, we stopped at the highest point of the track and enjoyed the view. I felt like I was looking at a postcard, only better...breathtakingly better.  

 

TWIN LAGOON

We then headed to the Twin lagoon. It is composed of two lagoons kept apart by a limestone wall and connected only by a small, narrow passage. The first lagoon is accessible by boat but you have swim through the passage to get to the other one. If the tides are low, you can easily get to the second lagoon with a life vest on but if the tides are high and you can’t swim, getting to it is out of the question. By the time we got to the lagoon, the tides were already high. We jumped off the boat to the first lagoon. The water was cold and choppy but there was no stopping us from enjoying a good swim. We were all intrigued by what is on the other side of the wall but only a handful of us were able to go. Luckily, I knew how to swim. To get to the other side, you need to swim for about 10 seconds through a narrow opening. Be careful though because the edges are sharp and you can easily scratch and hurt yourself. Once we were inside, I instantly noticed the calmness inside. The leaves floating on the surface were seemingly unaffected by the wind and the waves outside...a striking contrast to the disturbance on the other side of the wall.

CYC BEACH

It was already starting to pour so we decided to skip the other spots and go directly to CYC (Coron Youth Club) beach where we were initially planning to pitch our tents and spend the night. There is no freshwater source in the island so if you’re planning to stay the night here, be sure to bring enough water to rinse yourselves and to use for cooking and consumption. Since it was already past noon, I did not immediately appreciate the place because I was focused on attacking the lunch prepared by our boatmen. We feasted on seaweed salad, grilled fish, pork and chicken adobo and fresh mangoes and watermelon.

After our tummies were satisfied, we decided to explore the beach and the island. The beach was white and relatively wide and there were many mangrove trees. The sand is not as fine as in Boracay and Bohol but if you want to do away with the crowd and you’re after a more relaxed and tranquil outdoor experience then this is the place for you. We did not see much under water because the current was too strong so we just did what we do best...chill! If you’re anything like me, you’ll find a lot to do to kill time. If luck is on your side and the beach is still wide, you and your friends can throw a Frisbee. I, on the other hand, savoured the moment and read quite a number of pages in my book while lying on the white sand.

One thing disturbed me in this island...trash...anything from plastic and glass bottles to small plastic containers and cigarette butts. It saddened me to witness that an island as isolated from the city as this is tampered because if the carelessness of many. If you are planning to visit the island, please spare even a little concern to take your own trash back and maybe pick up some of the others that you will come across around the area so that others in the future can still enjoy it the way we did.

By mid afternoon, there was more news about the storm. It started to rain again, and it poured hard...really hard. The seawater started to creep higher and higher up on the beach and we realized that it will be too risky to spend the night so, for everyone’s safety, we ditched our plan for more island hopping the following day and went back to town.

 
CORON TOWN PROPER

We reached the town at 5:00 in the afternoon. During that time, except for a handful of foreigners, only a few people go to Coron so we immediately got accommodations in one of the resorts there. Refreshed, we walked in town to ask around and plan an alternative activity for the following day. Ironically, it is still distinctly an “old little town” with the comforts of a modern life. There are no jeepneys and taxis and regular people generally travel by tricycle. One can easily walk throughout the town center. There is no need to carry excess amounts of cash from Manila because ATMs and banks are conveniently situated in town. There are also internet cafes and some WIFI hotspots. My impression on the Filipino locals was that they were aloof but I realized that they are just shy and maybe a bit overwhelmed by the several tourists visiting their home. We met Mark, a British architect who has been living in the Philippines for 6 months. He was thrilled to guide us on what to do and where to go on our last day. Since we were about to have dinner, he highly recommended Bistro Coron where he said they “make pizza the way they make it in Europe”. We did not think twice about trying out the place and we were definitely not disappointed. We had delicious Chicken curry, a large pizza margherita and spicy seafood Tom yum soup with a heaping serving of fresh fish fillet, crab, shrimp and squid topped with a whole lobster. It was worth every penny. After dinner we stayed in the restaurant for a late night game of billiards and a few bottles of beer.

On our last day, we had an early start. At 6:00am we had breakfast at a carinderia along the main street where we had chicken curry, sweet and sour lapu-lapu and bamboo shoots in coconut milk. It was a great hardy meal to start our day. Everything, especially the fish, was very fresh and the prices were very reasonable.

MT. TAPYAS

To save our energy for the 720+ steps to the peak of Mt. Tapyas, we rode a tricycle to the base/jump off point. The ascent is easy because there is a stairway and there are several covered stops where you can sit down and rest. As we neared the top, I could clearly see the huge towering cross peeking, as if it was motivating us and whispering...come on, just a few more steps!

We had an amazing 360 degree vision of the whole island and those that surround it. If you still can, you can hike downhill to the small huts a few meters from the top. 

We then had lunch at Kawayan grill, an al fresco restaurant that looked interestingly native. It turned out that it was their soft opening and we were one of their first customers. We ordered crispy kangkong, ginataang lobster (lobster cooked in coconut milk), grilled tuna, pork barbecue and chicken barbecue. They were excellent. This is probably a great place to hang out and drink the night away.

MAQUINIT HOT SPRING 

From the town proper, Maquinit hot spring is a 20-minute ride by tricycle. When we got there, the place was packed with people, mostly locals. Maquinit is a local dialect that means hot. And HOT it was indeed! I wouldn’t be too sure about dipping in on a hot summer day but since it was raining and the weather was cool, it was a perfect day to jump in. 

OUR LAST NIGHT IN CORON

We had our last dinner at the Seadive resort. The buffet was ordinary and uneventful.

 I left Coron that night with an assurance that I will travel back. Aside from the fact that there is still so much outdoor adventure to experience, something about the place enchanted and intrigued me. It may be the wonder of its nature, the distinct personality of its town and its people or the momentary peace that it has brought me and many other visitors. I did not bother to try to fathom it anymore but I was certain that I will be back...it was just a matter of time.

Philippines' Last North Frontier - Amazing Batanes Islands! (Part 1)

General Information
Batanes Islands is a province located at the Northernmost tip of the Philippines. It is about 190 km south of Taiwan. The smallest province in the Philippines in terms of size and population, its three largest islands are Batan, Itbayat and Sabtang. The people of Batanes are called Ivatans and the main languages spoken are Ivatan (spoken in Batan and Sabtang) and Itbayaten (spoken in Itbayat). Majority of the Ivatans are fishermen and farmers.

The climate is subtropical and it has no particular wet and dry season. Summer is from April to June and winter is from December to February.

Day 1

This is technically already day 2 of our scheduled trip to Batanes Islands but because of an unfortunate and inconvenient circumstance with SEAIR, all of us 33 passengers were held back by a day. I might write a full article on this in one of my future posts.

Finally, at 8:00 in the morning, we touched down in Batanes! Although there had been a storm signal the past few days in Luzon, the weather was surprisingly sunny and hot when we arrived. The Basco Airport Terminal Building was like no other airport in the Philippines. It is small but unique. The exterior walls are made with huge stones, which is a modern take on the traditional Ivatan house. The walls, the two-door entrances, and its red roof tiles are reminiscent of the houses in the 70's. 

In less than 5 minutes from the airport, we were at the town center and in less than 3 minutes we were in our pension house. We checked in, had a short nap, changed our clothes. The moment we stepped out of the inn, it started to pour. Just our luck! In a matter of minutes, the weather shifted from extremely hot to massive rain! Our guide told us not to worry because it is a normal thing that will pass in about 10 minutes. Sure enough, it did.

A few minutes' drive from the inn, we reached Chawa view deck. It has a small grotto along the highway. Here, we had our first glance of the very photogenic view of Batanes Island. There is a viewing deck with cement benches. To reach the sea, one has to go down a flight of stairs with approximately 103 steps down. The remaining few steps can be a bit slippery so it is best not to go all the way down. 

We then drove past the Shelter port. This is where boats are parked to protect them from huge waves during storms. I found it to be ingenious and aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

Next stop was Mahatao town. We registered first and paid a Php50.00 fee per person before entering the town.  The nearby San Carlos Borromeo Church, more popularly known as Mahatao Church, was built in 1787. It was ravaged by a storm in 1872, rebuilt in 1873 by P. Cresencion Polo, O.P and was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum in July 31, 2001.

Next was the infamous "Marlboro Country", formally know as Rakuh-A-Payaman. This is where I fist stepped foot on Batanes Island's mountainous terrain. By this time, it was already sunny again. There are small huts where people can rest. There is a restaurant at the entrance as well but it is mostly closed unless there is an advance food order from the tour guides. The hills itself is a wide field of grass where cows, carabaos, goats and other animals are brought by the farmers to graze. I have never seen grass so green in such a wide area…farther than my eyes can see, and so well maintained…no need for trimming because the animals do it for them!  

Although it was sunny, I never felt uncomfortably hot because of the strong wind coming from the deep blue Pacific Ocean.

Next was Blue Lagoon. The 10-minute easy trek down to the rocky beach is worth it for those seeking for a private swimming experience. This is where Spanish friars used to bathe because they did not want to mix with the locals in the open beaches.

A few minutes after the blue lagoon is a White beach for those who still want to swim on a white sand beach. The sand is more cream than white and is not as fine as in other beaches in the Philippines because of corals, pebbles and other shells. It is just a few meters from the side of the road. 

Both the Blue Lagoon and the White beach have no shower facilities.

Lunch was in Vatang Grill and Restaurant. Only the narrow road separates it from a beach with cream sand so the dining experience includes relaxing to the sound of the ocean waves. The interior is very basic. The inside of the roof is lined with the thin bamboo that is typical of a lot of the structures that I have seen. As we settled down on our table, the staff played a video of Batanes Islands made by the local tourism. I wanted to try some of the local dishes but all of them had to be ordered a day in advance.

For lunch we had Chopsuey, Chicken in honey sauce, sweet and sour fish and a fish hotpot (no photo of the hotpot here). All of the dishes tasted good and home cooked. The serving sizes are big. If it says in the menu that it is good for 4 persons, it really is. My favorites were the chicken with honey sauce, which was similar to lemon chicken but not as sweet, and the fish hotpot dish with a hot broth, lightly fried maya maya fish, ginger, scallions and vermicelli. Our total bill was less than Php800.00 for 4 persons. Now thinking about it, I think we ordered too much food! :)

After lunch, we dropped by the Honesty Coffee Shop where "Honesty is the best policy". The unmanned store is owned by Elena Gabilo. The store has very basic merchandise, mostly food, drinks and souvenir items. I have never heard of any other store in any other country doing the same thing.

Once you have decided on what to buy, you are to drop your payment in the wooden box and jot down what you bought. There is a message posted by the owner...

We then drove past the Songsong Ruins (Ghost town). These ruins are what is left of the traditional stone houses along the beach that was struck by the Tsunami in the 1950’s. There have been no residents in this area since.

Next stop was the Alapad Gorge which offers a view of the LORAN (Long Range Aid to Navigation). The LORAN used to be a US facility used to navigate ships and aircrafts.

After taking a quick photo of our last stop, the San Lorenzo Ruiz church, we headed back. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. Along the way I noticed several men on the beach carrying nets attached to long wooden sticks. I thought they were doing Sudsod, a way of catching shrimps in mangroves, like what I’ve tried in Donsol. Apparently, these men were trying to catch small squid. I’m very curious, I want to try this next time.

...to be continued...

Club Paradise...A Paradise Indeed!

After a very filling island breakfast of banana pancakes, lightly scrambled eggs, ham, fruit juice and coffee in El Rio y Mar, we said our goodbyes and went on a 20-minute boat ride to Club Paradise.

I could already see the fine white sand from afar. The trio and the other staff greeted us with songs and refreshing pink cherry cocktails. Everyone was equally hospitable and accommodating as in El Rio. 

YOU REALLY DO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! Club Paradise is paradise indeed! Our room is spectacularly elegantly designed, spacious and spotless. Since we went on a non-peak season, it felt like we had the island to ourselves. All meals are served buffet style. The food selections are not as diverse as the ones in manila but everything is prepared fresh and everything tasted great.

Day 1

We started our stay with a very filling lunch. Afterwards, we immediately changed into our swimwear but since it was still too hot for me to go swimming, we headed straight to the bar/clubhouse to work a bit. If I could work everyday with this view, I’d be in heaven!

At about 3:30pm we strolled around the island. The clouds were starting to get dark from afar and it was not a good time to snorkel so we just fooled around taking pictures and went swimming on the beach and the pool. The sand was so soft and fine. 

Dinner was romantically set up on the beach with the trio serenading us with English and tagalong love songs. The weather was perfect, not a drop of rain. 

Day 2

I woke up to the sound of the animals in the forest and the lagoon. There was just so much to do in so little time and we did not want to waste any time. We went snorkeling before breakfast. Their house reef is literally 5 feet away from the shore! The corals were not as colorful as the ones I’ve seen in Apo island but the fish...there were just so many of them, in so many colors as well. 

Now, since the flora and fauna in the island is well preserved, you could see big birds, bats and big monitor lizards here and there. Most of them live in the lagoon and the mountain trail. After breakfast, we went for a hike in their lagoon trail. I can deal with a lot of things but crawling animals is not one of them. As we started trekking along the lagoon, we started seeing huge heads popping out of the murky water...they were huge!!!  I wasn’t too sure about taking the hike in the first place and this made me even more anxious! A few minutes trek led us to the hidden beach. The beach is a bit rocky though so it is not the best spot to go swimming.

After the hidden beach, we reached Eagle’s point. The view was breathtaking and picturesque. Right after Eagle’s point, we started to see monitor lizards of different sizes and hear crawling sounds here and there. I was on my toes the whole time...freaking out the whole bloody time until we were back at the lagoon. R, typical of him, was laughing at me the whole time while I only calmed down when we reached the cemented pathway.

After our trek, we had apple juice and ripe mango shake and took our spot at the beach front. The view was amazing and the breeze was so cool. A few minutes into reading my book and then...snoozed until lunchtime. Talk about buhay baboy! Haha

We had a late lunch but even then, we only had a few bites to try the food because we were still full. 

The whole afternoon was spent beach bumming. At four we freshened up and rested a bit before our cruise. Already dressed for dinner, we hopped in the boat for the romantic sunset cruise. It was a 1-hour slow ride around the island. 

 

Since we were already dressed and dinner won’t be ready for another hour, we just sat on the beach chairs to chat. I love talking to R. At sundown, the fruit bats started to launch. My gosh, they were HUGE! You’d almost think they are eagles or similar-sized birds...that HUGE!

We then went to the check out the books in the library area. They have a lot, in various languages too. I think most are books that guests left. After reading and chatting, we had a couple of games of pool then headed to the dining area for some delicious buffet. I loved everything I ate, the lamb, the seafood, the fish chowder and everything else! Most of all, I loved that they remember every detail about their guests. In the orientation, I wrote my food restrictions (eggplant and watermelon). During dinner, they served beef moussaka. They were gracious enough to approach me and tell me that the dish had eggplant in it. When we got back to our room, Jessica from the reception desk ringed us up to remind us of our flight details and the exact time when our ride would bring us to the airport. 

After dinner we went dancing a bit, watched the Cirque du Soleil that R has in his Ipod and slept soundly after a full day.

Last day 

I was almost sad to leave the island. I’m never that sad to leave any destination because I know that there is always a new destination to look forward to. This time though, because I loved the place so much, I was a little bit sad to leave.

After checkout time, we had a few games of table tennis, thanked the manager, Ms. Loida and walked to the boat. Our sendoff was the trio singing a farewell song and the staff and Ms. Loida waving goodbye until our boat made its turn.

 As of this writing, this is officially my favorite island destination. I love it for the nice and spacious rooms, the very fine and sift sand, the GREAT service, good food, the accessible reef, the many other activities to choose from and the best beach bumming experience I have ever had...and believe me, I’ve had PLENTY!

We loved spending time in paradise. Next time we’ll stay 5 days at least! 

So happy, so relaxed and ready for my next meeting on Monday!!!