Coron, a second-class municipality in northern Palawan is a paradise blessed with rich marine life, endemic flora and fauna, and magnificent landscape. With its stunning limestone cliffs, pristine white sand beaches, picturesque lagoons and lakes, and wonderful underwater scenery, the place imprints an indelible beauty to everyone who fall to its distinctive charm.

It is among those few places declared as country’s marine reserve thus making the island and its surrounding a protected area. The island is also home to seven enchanting lakes which are sacred cultural sites of Tagbanuas. Of these seven lakes, only two are known and open to public - the Kayangan Lake which is named as the cleanest lake in the country for three consecutive years and the Barracuda Lake (the other five are known only to Tagbanuas).

Experience Coron - the jewel of the Calamianes group of islands, the picture perfect paradise. You will definitely keep on coming back.

How to Get There:

By Air

By Air, Busuanga is the jump off point to Coron. PAL Express, Asian Spirit, and SEA Air have direct flights to Busuanga. Travel time is around an hour. From Busuanga, catch a jeepney for a 30-minute ride to Coron Poblacion.

By Water

SuperFerry and Negros Navigation have Coron bound ferries that leave Manila once a week (Thursday for NN and Friday for SuperFerry). It is a twelve-hour ferry ride. Meanwhile, for those coming from Batangas City, Viva Shipping Lines has Batangas-Coron-Culion ferry that leaves Batangas Port regularly. (Batangas-Coron-Culion stopped its operation)

Where to Stay:

The good thing about Coron is that you can choose to stay in the main island where some hotels and lodges can be found or you may opt to stay in other neighboring islets where you can camp or stay in the cottages. I prefer the latter since it is like owning a piece of land in this archipelago for a day (or a night), there are a lot of island to choose from.

Sea Dive Resort located near the market has fan rooms for as low as P450.00 (~$10) per room good for 2 to 3 persons, aircon rooms are at P680.00 (~$15) while de-luxe rooms are at P960.00 (~$21). They also have restaurant and offers group packages and diving services.

KokosNuss Garden Resort, is near the main road. They have economy cottages good for 2 to 3 persons for P450.00 (~$10). Small Cottage (with common toilet & shower)  is at ~$14, Large Cottage(with private tiled bathroom, toilet, ceiling fan, private terrace, up to three beds) at ~$32 and De Luxe Rooms (with marble flooring, private tiled bathroom, hot & cold shower, toilet, ceiling fan, TV and air-conditioning) at ~$38. They also have restaurant and offers island tour and diving services.

Dive Link Resort room rates start at $90 for air-con rooms with balcony/deck, hot and cold shower, private toilet and bath, single bed, double twin bed, queen-sized bed and king-sized bed (upon request).

Activities:

• Trek to Mt. Tapyas where a huge cross is erected, a view from the top is fantastic, overlooking the entire town and the neighboring islands
• Island hopping, swimming and snorkeling to the following sites:Sieta Pecados (P100.00/~$2.5), Kayangan Lake and Cave (P200.00/~$5), Barracuda Lake (P75.00/~$2), Banana Island (cottages available for rent), Malcapuya, Banol Beach, CYC, Beach 69, Skeleton wreck, Sangat wreck, Lusong Coral Garden and Shipwreck, Twin Lagoon
• Snorkeling/Diving is a must in Coron with its magnificent underwater scenery where rich marine life and fantastic underwater shipwrecks are sights to behold. For diving needs you may visit the following diving groups: Coron Divers, Discovery, Sea Dive, Dive Calamianes
• Visit Calauit Island Sanctuary
• Go to Maquinit Hot Spring (P100.00/~$2.5)
• Horseback riding
• Mountain bike tours
• Jungle Treks

Images:

[1] Coron port. [2] Mt. Tapyas cross. [3] Barracuda lake.

[4] Kayangan cove. [5] Kayangan lake. [6] One of Siete Pecados.

[7] Twin lagoon. [8] Coron youth club (CYC) beach. [9] Banana island from a distance.

[10] Banana island. [11] Banana island sunset. [12] Banana island sunrise.

Lakwatsero Experience:

Lakwatsero visited Coron in June 2008. Read the narratives of his visit here.

Tips:

• If you want to experience Coron on a budget, join a DIY tour or other group tours open for joiners, you will surely find one in the net, I only spent roughly P5000.00 for the entire tour including the round-trip ferry fare by joining Do-It-Yourself Coron tour organized by Mr. Owen Ferrer .
• If you are going to Coron via ferry, reserve your tickets early. The earlier the cheaper. My round trip Mega Value ticket in SuperFerry costs only P1700.00. The price can go as high as P3000+ RT and as low as P1300.00.

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