Blogs from Coron, Palawan, Philippines, Asia

Well, here I am in Palawan for an inaugural visit after all these years, it truly is a dream come true. This marvelous destination is one of the most sought-after places to visit in the world, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be here. Although it is considered a remote destination in the Philippines, Palawan is only 90 minutes flight time from Cebu with most flights going direct to Puerto Princesa. The capital of the province is in the south of the main island, and after arriving safely I advised some locals I needed transport to Port Barton, my first scheduled stop on the island. A local took me to a bus shelter, where I waited with a pair of Spanish girls who were also heading out. There was some fiddling around, then driving around town a ... read more

Day 5 Another early morning, we needed to leave by 7.20am to get to the ferry, so breakfast was wolfed down before we caught a tricycle to the port. A tax of 20 pesos was paid each, something that was not on any sites I had researched and I began to understand that this was the norm in the Philippines. You would book and pay for a tour, your booking agent often didn't tell you, the websites often didn't tell that there was a surcharge, service charge or environmental fee or some strange tax or 3. Be prepared. Make sure that you have pesos. No one takes credit card so cash is the only way you are going to pay for something. If you do find a place that takes credit card they can charge a ... read more

Our trip to Coron. Will write more later.... read more

So happy to be off that ship. We stayed in a large air con room filled at least 30 bunk beds. The sea was calm. The bathrooms were horrendous. Squatters. Have you ever tried to squat and per while flying across the ocean? It's tricky. At the port we hailed a tricycle to Krystals Lodge. 50 pesos for the ride. The lodge was a cute bamboo hostel built on bamboo stilts above the water. It was open, allowing us to feel the cool ocean breeze as we hung out in our swaying hammocks. 80 pesos a night for a cute but small private room with a mosquito net hanging over the bed. In the dining area of the lodge was a bookshelf filled with all kinds of books. I was excited to pick one out, lay ... read more

Typhoon Haiyan / Typhoon Yolanda When we were initially planning for our Philippines trip in Sep 2013, we had included Coron for its beautiful beaches and awesome diving reviews. We even had our connecting flights from Busuanga to Manila booked. Unfortunately, when Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda hit Philippines in Nov 2013. Coron was one of the islands that were hit. To make matter worse, I was not able to contact any of the dive resorts in Coron for weeks. Quickly, we came up with several contingency plans, such as going to Sipadan or some other parts of Indonesia instead. However, flying to and forth Philippines is not easy and there are many stop overs, mainly in Manila. After some time, we waited and monitored the news coming from Philippines, my fear for the worst seem to ... read more