Enchanting Coron Day 2

The second day of our Coron trip was the most awaited island tour. Our tour was booked through DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Coron. The concept of DIY Coron is that you organize your tour yourself so you get to choose the islands that you want to visit.

There are lots of tours to choose from and we opted for "Coron Island Loop 1" through Mr Owen Ferrer's DIY Coron.

Since our call time for the boat was 8:30 AM, we woke up at 6AM to prepare and ate breakfast at 7AM. There was a tricycle waiting for us at our hotel to dropped us at the wharf.

Our boat

At around 9AM, we were already in Siete Picados. We went snorkeling surrounded by seven small islands.

Note: “Siete” comes from the Spanish word that means seven and denotes the number of small limestone rock formation surrounding the snorkeling site. According to the local townspeople there, the seven rocks represent seven local children that one night set out to attend a celebration. These children never came home that night. In the morning, while searching for these children, the locals saw seven new rock formations standing in the middle of the sea and believed that these were the missing children. From then on, the area has been called Siete Pecados in memory of these children.

This place is still one of the most sought-after spots in Coron. It’s because snorkeling in Siete Pecados is like swimming in a giant aquarium of various fishes accompanied by other beautiful sea creatures.

Snorkeling with KC

After more than an hour, we went to Kayangan Lake. This is the famous view of Kayangan Lake.

From the Coron Travel Brochure – “Prepare to be mesmerized bu its stately beauty and grace. The entrance itself is awe-inspiring, as this is the view from the top. It has been hailed many times over as the cleanest fresh water lake in the country.”

This statement itself captured my interest while still in search for our island tour so I made sure that we have this in our itinerary.

We trekked a little to get the full view of the lake, and what amazed us is that this lake is a combination of sea water on the other side and fresh water on the other!

We then had our lunch at 1PM in Banol Beach. "No to Diet" motto has been implemented since then. (I said. Haha.) We took a dip in the water after eating, took a litte rest and took more pictures on the limestones.

After lunch, we went to Twin Lagoon, then to Skeleton Wreck.

The Twin Lagoon is divided by limestone wall and is connected by a small and narrow opening. We went to the inner lagoon through a balsa, paddled by our boatman. The water in there is so calm, and blue. There are lots of trees which adds color to the environment. It was so relaxing to just float and look into the scene, it was indeed an awesome experience.

Skeleton Wreck is a place in the middle of the sea where a Japanese ship sunk. You can see skeletons of the ship underneath and if you are lucky enough, skeletons of the human warriors. Yay!

The most unforgettable part was when we went to Barracuda Lake. Monette, asked why it was called Barracuda and the boatman said that some barracudas were caught and seen in this place. We trekked a little to get to the lake and went down the water. The place was kinda creepy but since we want to experience it and we were already there, we jumped and did some rounds. Later, Monette panicked and said that she saw a barracuda looking at her with red eyes. We all went hell-crazy swimming to the shore.
But yeah, it was just her imaginative mind... as there was no barracuda in that lake, the barracudas are on the other side of the lake covered by another island.

This is the look of the fish that we are talking about. The source of our panic!

Great Barracuda

It was then a source of our laughter, and until now I can't still help but laugh my heart out until I can no longer produce a sound.

But seriously, Barracuda Lake is a diver's spot so if you are not a diver, you will not see more of its wonder as it is so so so deep.

Me, Donna, Liz

Acel and Donna

Me and Monei




We paid Php1,250 per person for this tour. Inclusions were the boat rental, boat crew as the guide and cook service, lifevest, snorkel gears and picnic lunch.

Picnic Lunch at Banol Beach

Sugpo

Coron's famous Suran fish

Rather than a buffet type of lunch, picnic lunch or picnic meal type is provided here. The boatman who offers this food arrangement will buy your food ahead of time, then they will cook it (grilled) for you and prepare it for you (utensils included) while you are hopping the islands! :)

We went back to the city at 5PM, we stayed at the baywalk and walked a little. There was a zipline activity for Php500 where in you will travel over the sea of 500 meters. We didn't try it though, coz it's scary and we were all too tired.

Coron Baywalk

We went back to our hotel, and as if our snorkeling sessions were not enough, we tried the hotel's swimming pool. The water from the swimming pool felt different and a little refreshing after soaking under the sea. We raced and played around and just talked while swimming. Acel talked about her married life and the different things that she is doing while staying out of the city.

 Thought: It is just so heartwarming that you still end up with the best person that you can be with and who wants to be with you for the rest of your life. Happy ending indeed.

Acel <3 Cassidy