Back to Coron, Palawan - Day 2

Today's the highlight of our trip to Coron.  We have loads of activities compressed to just one day.  The reason for this is to maximize the rent for the boat and crew which is pretty costly for the not such a big group of ours.  We only had the Coron Island Tour.
There's actually a lot more to explore in Coron such as the Calauit Safari Park but will take 2 hours just to get there. There's also Malcapuya Loop Tour and the Coral Garden tour.

I'm out by 6:30 AM while the others are still preparing their things. We did not need to take a bath since it will be impractical and time consuming.

The restaurant is open and preparing for breakfast.

Nothing to write home about.  The beef is stiff and has little taste.  The fish is also the same.  The meal is enough to fill you though, if you are moderately sized.

We had to wait for our boat to get ready due to problems with the boat parking spaces.

We had to use another boat to get to our boat.  By 9AM, the boat left which meant we lost about an hour for today's activities.

Look at that water, so clear!  I loved the weather with the bright sun and little clouds.  

Our first stop is CYC island which is far different from our itinerary last year and has only one group when we got there.  I think Coron has finally managed the itineraries so that not all groups has the same, minimizing crowding.

I had to leave my camera behind since we need to cross the waters to get to the beach.  Here, a group of foreigners found this sea urchin under waters which can be easily stepped on. Dangerous.

The camera is a Sony which we hid under an underwater camera plastic bag.

There's not much else to do here but to appreciate the sand, take some pics, and swim the clear waters.

We're back to the boat and my little camera.

Our second stop is the Skeleton Shipwreck.  If you're going to appreciate this, you will need diving skills and equipment, otherwise, you will a lot of fish which leaves here.
The shipwrecks serve as homes for the little fish to avoid predators.

Even with the this bright sunny day, you will only be able to distinguish the shipwreck through its shadows.

Our great tour guide feeding the fish from the boat.

Hmm.. this fish looks familiar......

he's the same fish above, posing for the camera! :)

You're literally going to swim them, sometimes, they do bite. :p

That was great fun. I think that was the most fish I've seen in my life.

Handsome guy, smiling for me for this shot.  He's grilling fish on the boat. Time, 11AM.

Next stop, Banol Beach.  This is the stop for having lunch which your guide has prepared for you.  It's a pretty place to have lunch, rest, taking pictures, and also swimming.

The place looks very nice from the boat which I can't help to take photos. I was so busy shooting which captured the moment the anchor was thrown away.

While our guide was busy preparing food, we allowed ourselves to take photos of the beautiful place.

Depending on your arrangement, here is the typical lunch you can have.

The round pastry on the right, has been prepared by our guide's wife and it's quite good.

We're on the move again.  Our lunch is so plenty and heavy that I didn't touched the rice.  Anyways, our next stop is twin lagoon.

One common tip I could give you when going to Coron or Boracay is make sure it is low tide during day time.  The experience is substantially different between tides.
If the tide is lowest, a balsa will allow you to pass through underneath the rocks.  In this pic, you could only seem through it.
If the tide is higher, you can only pass by diving underwater which is quite dangerous due to the sharp rocks.  Or, if you can't swim, you will have to take the ladders in very cramp spaces between the rocks.

The lagoon is actually hidden between the large rocks making the location quiet and easy for sound echoes.

The waters are deep to which you can't see anything under the water but it has one interesting bit. The water is both cool and warm, depending on location.  I'm not quite sure what causes it but underwater you could actually see the warm water emanating from somewhere.

The experience is just fine but would be better if you have a nice underwater camera which can make the experience more worthwhile.
Now, we're back to our my boat and my trusty little camera.

Our next stop, Barracuda lake.  There's nothing different about this lake except that a good swimmer can take a high rock and jump to the waters.  The wood platform looks new and is inspires confidence to walk through it.
Other than those, there's nothing else about Barracuda lake.

Here is the rock wherein they can jump from.

My friend, doing the same thing. Only to fail. hehe.

That's awesomeness right there, diving position wherein the body parallel to the water. :p

Our next stop, Kayangan Lake! Yes, with the exclamation point! :)  Compared last year, the lake now has less people and spacious.  But, the lighting from the sun is very unfavorable for taking very nice pictures.  There's a lot of shadows and less of colors.

In my opinion, the Kayangan lake is the best Coron has to offer in terms of beauty.  I suggest taking the Kayangan lake in the morning till noon.

Though nice, it is far nicer in the morning, lighting the water and the wood platforms.

This is the best it can look during the afternoon.  

Last stop, Siete Picados.  This is also good snorkeling site where you can be close to the corals, almost touching with your feet, depending on the tides.

Our guide has thrown the left over rice in our lunch into the waters causing frenzy to the fishes nearby.

My camera just lost its power and had to use the Sony for a couple of more shots.
At this time, I wished my camera could do more in times like this.  I actually conserved battery life by setting the LCD to lowest brightness and didn't review images on the camera.

Here, we are headed back to the city.

Here's my group, pretty dry and I shot this using my camera.  It has some juice left, after all.

I wonder what they're trying to build here.  I'm quite unsure when will I be back to this place.

They went around in search for souvenirs.  Don't buy cashew nuts or dried fish in the wet market, it's more expensive there.

They went shopping so much that we lost daylight.

I was so amazed with the natural, light phenomena wherein in this end we have a full moon rising and the other end is the setting sun, I extracted all the juice my camera has left in order take this amazing photos.

This is the opposite side where the sun has set, producing this wild colors.

This shot is after I had taken a bath and partially charged the camera.  We're waiting for each other to finish fixing ourselves before looking for something to eat.
Finishing early and got bored in the room, I went to the restaurant and took some interesting pics.

There's not much interesting here at all.

We went to Kawayanan Grill for dinner.

It's expensive here, in my opinion, higher prices than Sea Dive Resort.

It is indeed expensive here since the food is not on par with the price.  The food is simple and doesn't taste better than cheaper restaurants found in the city proper.

The pizza is pretty bad using cheap cheese which is rough and tastes like cheap cheese, considering, the price is similar to Yellow Cab or Pizza hut.

Fortunately, I didn't really bought something here except beer since I'm quite full from the lunch we had.  I only got to ate their leftovers.

That is all for long, tiring, but beautiful and enjoyable day.  I felt bad for my camera at first but when we got back to our rooms, I realized I had shot more than 500+ pictures in just one day and in two batteries.  This is the most pictures I did in my entire life and that excludes the iPhones and the Sony camera I used to shoot some.
Tomorrow, our last day doesn't leave much to do but only to prepare leaving for going back to Manila. Please click on the link below for next day.

NEXT DAY >>>

Fly to Coron, Palawan with the help of CNM Travel and Tours. They're the only agency that allow you to travel now and pay in a 6 month term at "zero" interest.

Go here at CNM's website to get their numbers and look for Khrizia regarding your inquiries.  She will also help you get your contacts in Coron for hotel, transportation, and boat arrangements.