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Published: January 2nd 2010
To get to Coron we chose the ferry route which was surprisingly comfortable despite opting for the equivalent of 2nd class. We chose Superferry to sail with and it was a 15 hour crossing from Manila to Coron Town on Busuanga Island, part of the Calamianes group in Northern Palawan. We had reserved bunks and after a quick swap with another passenger so we could have adjacent top bunks, eating our disgusting included meal which was basically pork fat in salt with rice we settled down to a good nights sleep and woke up at 6.30am when we docked.
We'd pre booked our accommodation here but as our room wasn't going to be ready until midday we decided we'd hire out a bike and explore the island so we didn't waste one of our few days here. Our plan was to head up north and stop at a few beaches on the way so we could take a dip and have a fairly relaxing day. The bike shop man had provided us with a hand drawn map showing 3 beaches we should pass so off we went along the dusty road. The first beach was about 50km from Coron Town
so we'd expected a bit of a drive up there, the scenery was nice but nothing to write home about really and the road wasn't quite the scenic coastal one we'd hoped for but it was nice enough.
At the 50km mark we kept our eyes peeled for the beach but all we could see was some houses on the shoreline and no beach as such so passed on to the next one which was much the same story. Undeterred the bike shop man had said that the 3rd beach was in fact the best so on we went. This beach was a bit tricky to find but a local man pulled up on his bike & offered to show us the way across some peoples back yards to a tiny old resort that looked like it hadn't seen a customer in years. By coincidence this man ran the resort and even more of a coincidence was that he was friends with the bike shop man! No surprise then that he told us we'd have to pay 100PHP each to be allowed onto the beach. We took a quick look and decided that there was no way we were
going to pay to get on a public beach and off we went to try and find alternative access to this long stretch of golden sand. Sadly there was none and after burning our bridges with the resort man we scrapped the idea of an afternoon on the beach entirely and took the long 3 hour ride back again. Successful it wasn't!
Back in town we decided to head south this time in search of the one other beach on the map. Stupidly we thought this might actually be there but no, there was a barren patch of land with some sand at the bottom but the entire thing was fenced with barbed wire and big signs not to trespass so we left it there a little disappointed. To console ourselves we took a trip to the Makinit Hot Springs, something we hadn't really been that keen on doing as it was hot enough anyway and we didn't fancy being any warmer but at least it would be something to do and therefore not a total waste of the day. Sure enough the springs were very very hot, we gritted our teeth though it for 20 minutes or so
then had to get out as we couldn't bear it any longer!
The following day Dale didn't fancy diving to see the famous WWII wrecks yet so Sophie suggested a kayaking trip with visions of paddling around the shores and taking it a bit easy... Dale on the other hand had other ideas! He suggested a trip over to Coron Island which is a stunning island about 3km away from Busuanga Island. Having done only a little kayaking before Sophie thought this was a bit ambitious but trusts Dale to know the limits so off we went. It was pretty windy the day we did this so although the waves really weren't that big, in a small kayak they can seem bigger than they are so the first 1/2 hour was filled with Sophie constantly panicking that we were going to tip over with Dale telling her to keep steering the right way so we weren't side onto the waves. We'd planned a rest stop half way on the island opposite Coron Town but when we pulled up on the beach a pack of dogs ran towards us, Sophie panicked and we jumped straight back in the kayak and
paddled away as fast as we could before we were doggy dinner!
A long paddle straight across the water lay ahead of us and it was a bit more difficult than we'd imagined, mainly because the water wasn't very calm and we were facing straight into the wind. Sophie was typically useless and kept having to rest her arms at very regular intervals and it was only because Dale kept on going that we actually made it to the other side. The one time he did stop to have a rest and left Sophie in charge we managed to drift back about 200m so that was the one and only time he stopped!
After about 1 1/2 hours we made it to Coron Island and were immediately stuck by just how spectacular it was. From a distance it looks a bit intimidating but when you're up close you really appreciate the size of the sheer limestone cliff faces covered with trees and totally inaccessible because the rock is razor sharp. It really does look like something from a movie set (King Kong & Jurassic Park come to mind) and at times you wouldn't be at all surprised if
a dinosaur popped his head round the corner or a teredactal flew overhead because it really seems like you've crossed to another world.
There are a few places you can get onto the island though but these are restricted by the Tagbanua (local fishermen) who have lived here for centuries. We'd managed to reach the lagoon which leads to Baracuda Lake. We tied our kayak up to the little rickety pier, climbed over the even more rickety walkway and reached the lake. The entrance to it is very tiny and we were thankful that there were only 2 others there when we arrived because it's standing room only before you get in the lake. This lake is special for a few reasons, a) because it's both a fresh & salt water lake with the fresh water at the top and the salt about 8m down; b) it's centrally heated and c) because Baraccuda live in here. The clearness of the water is what struck us most though, it's crystal clear and you can see that in some of the photos is looks like we are not even in the water. Sophie did her usual of getting a bit scared
because it was so deep so kept to the sides leaving Dale to swim off and explore by trying to dive down to the heat and salt water that lay below. After a little while resting & cooling off we left as a big group approached and got back in our kayak to go and find a beach to have some lunch on.
We both agreed that kayaking around this island was the best bet to appreciate it in all it's glory, mainly because ones the banka boats have gone off it's totally silent as you glide past the cliff faces and just makes it more awesome. We'd hoped for a short paddle to the beach we'd spotted in the distance as we'd approached but of course it was quite a bit further than we'd thought so it was another hours paddle to get there but the water was a bit calmer so we were able to enjoy it a bit more as we went without the furious paddling all the time to stop us drifting back to where we'd come from. The beach was lovely and we had a nice relaxing crisp & ice lemon tea lunch and
rested our arms before the inevitable return journey that lay ahead of us.
We headed off at 4pm as we wanted to be back well before it got dark. Although it had looked a shorter distance to go back it still took over an hour and both our arms were nearly dropping off by the time we returned but we'd made it and both us and the people at the resort were quite impressed as apparently not that many people do it by kayak (for obvious distance reasons!) so we were quite proud of ourselves and after a quick shower we celebrated our achievement with a few San Miguels.
One of the main reasons to come to this area is for diving, specifically wreck diving. This is because this area is home to 14 sunken Japanese WWII Ships after an American attack on them in September 1944. Dale was keen to notch up a few more dives in his book so we booked on a day long trip to 3 wrecks with Sophie mainly going along for the boat ride to see the islands in this area.
We were accompanied on the boat by 3 Austraiians, 2
Germans, 1 Italian and 1 Israli. Dale instantly started having a laugh and a joke with Dave the Israli and with them both having a similar amount of expirence they decided to buddy up for the three dives ahead. The dive master was a German kind of Robinson Crusoe and a man of few words but a fantastic diver all the same and after talking briefly about what lay ahead he left them to get themselves together.
After an hour boat ride we reached the site of the first vessel, Akitsushima a 168m seaplane. The boat was sitting on the sea bed at 40m and they would be diving down to 35m which Thomas the divemaster seemed to think was an everyday dive but it suddenly dawned on Dale that he had never been down to these kind of depths before (nor was supposed to with an PADI open water certificate). The ship was massive and when they got down there they felt quite insignificant swimming next to it. On entering the ship it gets very dark and it takes your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the sudden change in light. It's a very eiree feeling going
from deserted room to deserted room and squeezing through small holes with all manner of different fish emerging out of the dark. At one point Dale and Dave had to wait for the others to pull themselves through a small round opening to get back on to the deck of the boat. They were left standing on opposite sides on two cross gurders that stretched from either side of the ship and with pitch black oblivion all around and the small spot light of light seeping through the hole from above highlighting just the two of them was a moment both of them will simply never forget.
After swimming around the deck and doing poses with the huge machine guns that were still in place they headed back to the surface. Dale had known that he was going down with a tank of air that was not full up but was reassured that if he ran out then Thomas the Divemaster would let him use some of his as he had a spare regulator. For anybody who has ran out of air and has not yet made any decompression stops they know it makes for a very scary moment.
Sophie in Barracuda Lake
The bottom half of these rocks are underwaterHuge thanks must go to Thomas who made the transaction of swapping regulators completely painless and stress free.
Dale still had 2 more dives ahead of him that day while Sophie relaxed on the boat enjoying the sunshine that the Philippines is so famous for supplying day in day out! The second ship was the Okikawa Maru, a 160m tanker which was a bit shallower but still a good 30m down! Again Dale swam though and explored the ship a little in the darkness even managing to retain his air this time and not run out! Everyone was quite exhausted by this point and were glad that it was time for lunch and a chance to enjoy the shallows of the coral reef for a snorkel. Sophie went in here too and we all saw heaps of beautiful corals & fish we'd not managed to see anywhere else on our travels, a little turtle even came to say hello as well as a school of bump head parrot fish who crept up on Dale giving him a bit of a scare!
It was a little ride to the final dive site, that of the Lusong Gunboat a much
smaller 35m ship. This ship is very shallow with it's deepest depth at 12m coming up to just 1m deep so Sophie got to have a look at this one too and it was incredible. Some of the corals that have made this ship their home are spectacular and in perfect condition, it was so beautiful and for Dale probably the best diving he's done to date so a really great end to the day.
After diving inside and outside of these marvelous ships, Dale can say that it has been one of the most thrilling experiences he has ever done and if anybody is heading in this direction he would highly recommend a peek into the past and dive these awesome time machines.
This area really is quite special, the islands are stunning to look at and explore and if you have the time & the money you could spend days or even weeks skipping from deserted island to deserted island with only the local fishermen for company. Despite having a bit of a bad start to out time here visiting Coron Island itself and getting to see some of the other sites around here more than
made up for it and we'd had a great time but our next stop was yet another one that's always been high up on our list after everyone raves about it so the following day it was time for us to move onto Palawan Island itself and to the beautiful area around El Nido...
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jessica
non-member comment
sounds great!!
hey guys! this adventure looks amazing! thank you for sharing. :o) xoxo jessica