We'll go places, You and I: Coron, Palawan

I've always wanted to go to a place in Central Philippines so we chose to visit Palawan. I often see photos in travel magazines and/or blogs and found the place stunning and breathtaking.

On November 2011, I was able to book promo flights going to Coron via Cebu Pacific. We decided to celebrate my 23rd birthday and our 1 and a half year anniversary on the said place. It was my first time to ride in a plane now that I am conscious enough. I remember riding a plane to Mindoro back then when I was still 5 years old with my grand mother.

Our flight was delayed for at least 30 mins and it wasn't a good start of a much-needed vacation. After minutes of patiently waiting we were finally called on to ride the plane for departure. Our flight took 1 hour before we arrived to the Fransisco B. Reyes airport. Luckily, the plane landed safely and I didn't experience any headache at all. The driver from our hotel was waiting for us outside the airport.

Yahoo we're on the clouds!

View from above

Arrival on Fransisco B. Reyes airport

Fransisco B. Reyes Airport

And it was me!

Our sundo was already waiting outside the airport.

Me and my better half were really ecstatic to go there and hence, planned early. I was able to book a place to stay and planned our itinerary beforehand. I discovered Apartelle de Gabrielle online. I got a room that was good for 2 people. We may not have the cheapest hotel in Coron but the staff there were surely accommodating and made sure that we were comfortable all throughout our stay.

We were warmly welcomed by the people from Apartelle de Gabrielle. While waiting for 4 p.m. call time, we took a nap and refreshed ourselves. We were called by our tour guide and after giving us an overview on our first itinerary, he led us to the tricycle which would bring us to the foot of Mt. Tapyas.

Below is our itinerary for a 4D3N stay in Coron:

DAY 1, Oct 18, Thu

1215 pm	Flight to Coron (Which was 30 minutes delayed)
0200 pm	ETA to Coron
0215 pm	Van transfer to Apartelle de Gabrielle
0300 pm	ETA to Apartelle de Gabrielle
0315 - 0400 pm	Rest / Freshen up
0400 - 0405 pm	Overview for Coron Town Trip
0405 - 0430 pm	Trip to Lualhati Park and Coron Town
0430 - 0445 pm	Arrival on foot of Mt. Tapyas
0445 - 0600 pm	Climb up 700+ steps of Mt. Tapyas / Enjoying the breathtaking scene from the top
0600 - 0630 pm	Went down the mountain
0630 - 0700 pm	Arrival on Maquinit Hotspring
0700 - 0730 pm	Night dip
0730 - 0800 pm	Back to Apartelle de Gabrielle
0800 pm onwards	Dinner / Bathe / Relax / Sleep

Tricycle which brought us around the town

Lualhati Park

In front of Coron Municipal

Knees trembling already and a there's a lot more steps to reach the cross, that thing up there must better be worth it.

Met some friendly peeps while going up

Rest muna, kapagod!

Free mineral water from our tour guide

Almost there.

What a scene

Finally reached the top!!

Exhausted but definitely worth it.

A-ok!

Before the sun sets

Towards the steep path to witness the breathtaking sunset

It was indeed a very relaxing view.

Even if we still want to stay longer it's time to go back for our next destination - to Maquinit hot spring! We had to pass through a very rough, steep and dark road to reach the place. But after a strenuous hiking and backbreaking ride, dip on a hot spring was awesome!

At Maquinit Hot spring

Well, the water temperature was really hot around 40 degrees, and we couldn't take it any longer so we decided to go back the apartelle.

DAY 2, Oct 19, Fri

0700 am        Wake up call 0700 - 0900 am     Breakfast / Preparation for Day 2 Tour 0900 - 0915 am     Tricycle ride to boat port 0930 am        Start of Day 2 - Coron Island Tour (Kayangan Lake, Twin Peak, Coral Garden, Siete Pecados, CYC Beach) 1000 - 1030      Snorkling in Coral Garden and Twin Peak 1200 - 0100 pm     Lunch at Kayangan Lake 0200 - 0330 pm     CYC Beach 0400 pm        End of Day 2 Tour 0500 pm onwards    Dinner / Bathe / Relax / Sleep

Good thing our Island Tour was included in our worry-free package courtesy of Apartelle de Gabrielle. We were much excited on the second day of the tour because we know that we are going to explore more of Coron Islands.

Since it's just the two of us, we were group together with the other tourists who were really nice and friendly. Our group were composed of Koreans, German, American and Pinoys, ofcourse. We didn't just enjoyed the trip, we also made some new acquiantances!

Our tour guide and boatmen provided life jackets and snorkels for us to use. 

Our tour buddies.

Both excited on the second day tour

Swimming with fishes. Nothing beats personally seeing the underwater creatures.

Snorkling time at Siete Pecados

Island adventure continues

Not so decent pic, parang dinikit lang kami sa background. Hahaha!

After few minutes of hiking, we arrived at the Kayangan lake.

As you can see, the water is very clear.

Oh, my favorite place.

I could really wish that I turn into a mermaid during this time.

We entered a small cave.

I totally turned carefree to the water.

Crab in Sweet and Spicy sauce

Crab with sweet and spicy sauce, Eggplant ensalada and fish served with coke for our lunch

Lunch time

I have never eaten crab like this, so yummy!

Bye, Kayangan Lake!

Splash!

Meanwhile at CYC Beach

The sea were silent and calm.

The weather was perfect and relaxing.

Then a wild cat appears! Just kidding, it was just a stray cat on the island. :)

Relaxing at CYC Beach

Ended our day with sorbetes, yumyum!

Before we came back to the apartelle, we asked our tour guide if he could bring us in the market so that we could buy food like inihaw, tusok-tusok, etc. Since we also brought some canned goods, I ask the caretaker if I could use their kitchen to cook Pancit Canton and Spam (our favorite combination). They also lend us some kitchen utensils and plates. That night, we had our dinner at the terrace of our room just to try different ambiance and we enjoyed it.

DAY 3, Oct 20, Sat

0700 am	Wake up call
0700 - 0900 am	Breakfast / Preparation for Day 3 Tour
0900 - 0915 am	Tricycle ride to boat port
0930 am	Start of Day 3 - Malcapuya Beach Tour (Whole day since we didn't opted to go in Banana Island)
1200 - 0100 pm	Lunch at Malcapuya Beach
0100 - 0300 pm	Swimming and sun bathing
0300 - 0400 pm	Back to Coron Island
0400 pm	End of Day 3 Tour
0500 - 0630 pm	Bathe / Freshen up
0630 - 0700 pm	Find good place to eat dinner
0700 - 0830 pm	Dinner at Coron Edge
0830 - 0900 pm	Walk around the town
0900 pm onwards	Drinks / Sleep

For our third and last tour in Coron, our destination was Malcapuya Beach. Our tour guide said that the owner of the Malcapuya Island is also the owner of the Boracay Island. They soon have plans on turning the paradise into a more commercialized beach like Boracay which I wish would not happen because I love the way Malcapuya is preserved now - peaceful and quiet.

We embarked at the back side of the island.

The sand is really white and powder like here in Malcapuya Beach. Though I can't compare it with Boracay since I haven't been there yet.

Old boat on the side of the island

Perfect skies

With coconut trees around the island

There's a house that you can rent for stay according to our tour guide. I think somebody's also living in there.

Going on the top of the hill to witness the view

Old cottage

I wish we could stay here forever.

There's even a basketball court in the island.

It was like touching a powder.

We felt like we were Adam and Eve in the paradise.

Inabutan na kami ng sunset sa byahe

With our tour guide

Since it was our last night in the island, we decided to have a dinner date on one of the restaurants in Coron. We asked our tour guide's help if he could take us to one of the best restaurants in their town. He accompanied us in Coron Edge Restobar.

We stayed in the second floor.

Pasta Carbonara - P195

Cucumber Salad - P130

Mango Juice

Chicken Cordon Bleu - P215

The place was nice. I find the taste of the food excellent but a bit pricey. We paid more than 500 for these including our drinks. As of now, their Carbonara is my favorite among all the Carbonaras I have tasted in my life (Yes, ganun sya kasarap for me kasi malasa like any other Carbonara na matabang). ;)

After dinner, we didn't ask our tour guide to fetch us up and we decided to just walk around the town and explore more. We bought drinks (Tanduay Ice) in the mini super market they have in town. I can say that the night was alive but it was quite peaceful, no loud sounds or heavy noises you hear on a typical night life. I think it was safe to walk around the town even at night. Finally, we reached the apartelle and call it a day.

DAY 4, Oct 21, Sun

0700 am	Wake up call
0700 - 0900 am	Breakfast
0900 - 1100 am	Coron town / Buy Souvenirs
1100 - 1200 pm	Lunch
1200 - 0200 pm	Relax
0200 - 0300 pm	To the airport
0400 - 0500 pm	ETA to Manila

It was our monthsary day and it's time go back to Manila. We still have the whole morning to go to the town and buy souvenirs and pasalubong. There were a lot of stores where you can buy unique pieces of souvenirs. As soon as we're done shopping, we went back to the apartelle to pack our things and get ready for check out. Since our flight back to Manila was around 4 p.m., the apartelle generously provided us another room where we could stay until 2 p.m., free of charge. :)

At 2 p.m. we checked out and their van service was already waiting for us outside. We traveled to the Fransisco B. Reyes airport and had our flight via Zest Air.

So that was our trip to Coron. Traveling to Coron was indeed a dream come true to me. Gaaaah! It was a paradise like I never want to go home anymore. This is a place which I will definitely visit again some time in the future.


Xoxo,
Youmi ♥