At long last, my dream came true! Me and my family were able to travel to Coron, Palawan. I never thought that I'll see its beauty and wonder. We went to Coron last November 26-28, 2012.
Sunday morning, November 25, 2012, got home from work, started to get my stuff, pack my bag with the things I need:
travel itinerary
ID's
mobile phones : got info from friends that Smart has the strongest signal in Coron, so I got myself a temporary Smart sim to be sure that I'll have a working network since we need to contact our tour guide, van driver and the hotel
chargers
goggles and snorkel (so that I won't have to rent one)
undies
beach shorts
sando
clothes
sunblock
sandals
digicam
long lasting batteries for my digicam
malong
toiletries
food (bread, chips, cheese, crackers, etc - got info also that food was quite expensive there, since I was saving the money he have, I though of bringing extra food so that we won't have to buy snacks)
water proof bag/pouch
book (so that I can read something while waiting for our flight)
my notebook (to keep track of important notes for my blog)
cash (coz I was told that there were few ATM there - BPI, Landbank and Allied, afraid that it will be offline at times, so I secured myself anyways)
extra towels (coz you can't bring the hotel towels with your island hopping)
meds and vitamins
home keys
After packing my stuff, I tried to sleep.....it was a challenge!
That evening I went to work with 2 huge bags.
After work I waited for dad and mom for us to go to NAIA terminal 3, that afternoon we were able to board our flight to paradise!
You can book your flight to Busuanga with airphilexpress (which we got), Zest Air or Cebu Pacific
On our way I was able to take a few shots from about 14,000 feet
In less than an hour we were able to reach our destination:Francisco B. Reyes Airport, Busuanga Island, Coron, Palawan
Before we went there I had set up a tour package with Kuya Jason (which my fellow blogger and good friend Blissfulguru, referred me to), Kuya Jason got us a van that will pick us up from the airport to our hotel. We got Kuya Danny waiting for us at the airport. However, if you just got to Coron with no contact person, not to worry there's a van terminal outside the airport waiting for you to pick you up and bring you to your destination/hotel. Some hotels even offer airport transfer so you can always ask the hotel where you are booked if they offer airport transfers. Standar fee P150/person.
From the airport you'll be travelling for about 30-45 mins to Coron Town Proper
Here's the hotel we got Apartelle de Gabrielle, cozy place, friendly staff, there's a rooftop rest which will give a great view of the town. This hotel was actually my first choice while I was doing my research for a place to stay. The place is quite new built last 2010, and they're still adding new rooms. They have cable channels, wi-fi, airconditioned rooms, they also have a store in case you forgot to buy toiletries and other basics.
That evening we decided to visit the Maquinit Hotspring, apparently my digicam is not good for night shots, below was my efforts to capture something from maquinit. Locals recommend to visit the hotspring from about 6pm so that the water will be cooler. entrance fee was P150/per person, not bad for a natural salt water spa treatment. I had a dip in the hotspring for almost an hour ..... recommended was 30 mins.....but the water felt so good! I had to get rid of the stress and muscle tension and this greatly helped to ease out body pain.
Day 2: Woke up from deep sleep, we ate our breakfast: Dasilog and Hotsilog
This was local danggit and it was crispylicious!!!
After breakfast we went to the loading area, there we've met with Kuya Jason our contact tour guide.
Before we ride our boat we went to the market to buy their freshest catch and ingredients for our lunch. Our boat men will then cook our lunch while we have our tour.
After shopping for cavalla and surgeon fish (talakitok and labahita), rice and other ingredients for sinigang, we headed for our boat...boat # 45.
We're on our way to our trip, we decided not to get the kayangan trip because my parents won't stand the long climb. I might go there on some other trip in the future instead. Itinerary included:
Siete Pecados
Twin Lagoon
Beach - and we chose the first one on sight: Smith Beach or some call it Smith's Point Beach
Skeleton Wreck
Caps Point
So lets begin the tour, Siete Pecados:
And while we were travelling I just can't help but play the DOT "it's more fun in the Philippines theme in my head:
source: DOT video from youtube.com
Here's my attempt to do my 1st ever under water shot with my digicam.....if I only have underwater camera I should have taken pictures of the underwater life......i accept donations.....kidding =)
Twin Lagoon:
Smith's Beach some call it Smith's Point Beach
Ship Wreck
Cap's Point
I wasn't able to get pictures from Cap's Point because the waves were quite strong and water was splashing all over the place, afraid that I'll drop my digicam so I just enjoyed the bumpy ride.
When we got back to Coron town proper, we visited the souvenir shop along the way, just near our hotel.
On our third day in Coron we visited Mindy's mom, tita vicky in Centro Coron Bed and Breakfast. Mindy is my barkada since college, although we rarely meet its been like ages...hope we could have a reunion and if it will be in Coron that will be great....paging my college barkadas...where na u? =)
Centro Coron Bed and Breakfast has their own resto and they serve the freshest seafood also they have cozy rooms upstairs. Another good thing is that it's along the highway so you won't have a hard time finding their place. There's a coffee shop beside the resto if you want to perk up before doing your island hopping.
Centro Coron Bed and Breakfast has their own resto and they serve the freshest seafood also they have cozy rooms upstairs. Another good thing is that it's along the highway so you won't have a hard time finding their place. There's a coffee shop beside the resto if you want to perk up before doing your island hopping.
After our short visit with Tita Vicky, we headed back to our hotel, packed our bags and got ready to our flight back to Manila. Apartelle de Gabrielle has a van for airport transfer so we just used their van to go back to the airport.
This was a semi DIY travel tour we got. I didn't get the entire bundle that other tour agencies offer because I can patch the places we can go to and the budget we have for a short span of time.
Hopefully in the future I can save up for a DSLR and an underwater camera to have better pictures of my travel.
Another travel....
Another group of Philippine Islands visited....so much more to go and explore....
Need to save up for my future travel and hopefully I will be another great experience and adventure....
I'll miss Coron...
I'll miss the fresh seafood....
I'll miss the fresh fishes cooked to perfection...
I'll miss Smith's Beach where it made me forget all my worries and simply enjoyed nature....
I will surely be back to this place....
We'll soon meet again Coron!
(Back ground music..."it's more fun in the Philippines theme..")
