Coron

I arrived in the Philippines after a stupid journey of 2 flights, the first was 4 hours from Kuala Lumpur to Manila, the second was Manila to Coron which was only 30 minutes but there was a 6 hour wait over night in between each flight and I got no sleep! If any of you have ever been to Manila domestic airport, you’ll feel my pain! Anyway the flight to Coron was beautiful - I wish I’d taken photos but I was so busy staring out the window at all the beautiful islands and lush blue waters below me. I am very excited to be spending just under 4 weeks exploring the Philippines! 

I spent 4 nights in Coron which was just the right amount of time. It’s a really popular island for scuba diving but as I don’t dive I just snorkelled. I do one day hopefully want to do my Padi open water diving course but right now it’s not quite in the budget! 

The only slightly annoying thing is that there isn’t any beaches near the town in Coron. The nearest beach is about 30 minutes drive away and it’s apparently not all that nice. So many people choose to do island hopping tours to see the best spots. 

On my first night I went to the highly recommended hop hostel for happy hour and views of the sunset over the bay. I then went out for dinner with friends from my hostel. I have to say I’d read online that Philippino food was a bit of a let down compared to the rest of Asia... I was hoping to be proved otherwise but sadly not! 

I did in total 2 tours in Coron; the first was called Coron Island Ultimate Tour and it went to all the following places - Kayangan Lake, Siete Picados, Twin Lagoon, Skeleton Wreck, Coral Garden, CYC Beach and Banol Beach. They are all some of the main stops in Coron for Island hopping where you can snorkel, swim and enjoy the beautiful beaches. I definitely was trigger happy with my camera on my first tour - the water was sooo beautiful I just couldn’t resist taking loads of photos!! 

The other tour I did was called Calauit Safari Tour and it went to the Calauit Safari Park and Black Island. I’d heard there was a Safari Park in Coron which to me seemed really out of place but it was really nice to visit. Seeing the Zebras and feeding the giraffes was amazing! We stopped for lunch at this beautiful spot on the lake before heading to the black beach, which was a very choppy 40 minute boat ride away. 

One evening I went to the Maquinit Hot Springs which was really nice. It was about a 20 minute tuktuk drive from town. The evening was the best time to visit - during the day it would be way too hot!

I have booked a 3 day 2 night island hopping excursion from Coron to El Nido so my next post will be all about that!