We had a travel day, getting from Manila to Coron Island, at the very top of Palawan. The flight was under an hour, and the view from the plane over the islands spectacular. On arrival, we were starving and grabbed some pot noodles, as that was the only thing available in the tiny airport. We would later find out these noodles were popular everywhere in the Philippines. Lucky for us, our driver allowed us to eat, while he drove us over an hour to the beautiful Cashew grove resort.
In the evening at the resort, we were entertained by children from a nearby school who put on a lovely dance performance. In the last serious hurricane, the school was badly damaged, so the hotel partnered with them to try and help out, and they were very grateful for donations from the guests.
The next morning we were booked for island hopping, one of the most popular things to do in Coron. The transfer from Cashew grove dropped us at the Coron boat station where all the outrigger boats were making ready for island hopping trips.
Our first stop on the tour was the skeleton wreck. The boat stopped and we made our way into the water and swam over to the location of the wreck. The water was pleasantly warm and so clear. All that remained of the wreck was the prow, lying a few meters below. Diving down it was possible to reach it. Heavily covered in corals, it had evidently been here a long time. We swam around the area looking for interesting sea life before heading back to the boat.
The next stop was the twin lagoon. We approached it first from first lagoon on the south side but there were too many boats. We spent some time admiring the shear cliffs and rocks of limestone that towered over us. In spite of the the jagged rocks the island was covered with lush vegetation clinging to every nook and cranny The boat made it's way around and parked just off a shallow sandbank. We jumped in wearing our life jackets and half swam half waded over to the lagoon. The water on the very surface was cold, but under it was warm and from the surface it appeared a bit murky especially when we moved through the water. We later learned this was due to a small amount of fresh water on the surface. We swam along the side of the lagoon, looking down it went deep but the underwater cliffs were covered with corals and fish. We swam all the way over to the other lagoon, connected by a shallow tunnel.
After twin lagoon we stopped for lunch at a small beach. Shear rock cliffs rose up from the beach and there were some bamboo and palm thatched structures where we sat and had a lunch of yummy chicken adobo. There were only a few boats here and we almost had the place to ourselves. The sun was shining and we took some photos and took in the amazing views.
After lunch we visited kanyangan lake. We climbed off the boat and climbed up 300 steps through the jungle. At the viewpoint we looked back and got an amazing view of the turquoise waters in the shallow bay fringed by the jagged rock outcrops. Heading down the other side of the rise we came upon the kanyangan lake, we wasted no time and got straight in. The water was brackish and a comfortable temperature. Our guide led us over to a small cave which we swam into. It was a unique place and we lingered there enjoying the peace in the darkness. As we left the cave it started to rain and eventually it was bucketing down. We carried on swimming and exploring and eventually got out and waited for the rain to stop before hiking back and rejoining the boat. We bought some San Migs to enjoy with the French couple that were on the boat with us.
In the evening at the resort, we were entertained by children from a nearby school who put on a lovely dance performance. In the last serious hurricane, the school was badly damaged, so the hotel partnered with them to try and help out, and they were very grateful for donations from the guests.
The next morning we were booked for island hopping, one of the most popular things to do in Coron. The transfer from Cashew grove dropped us at the Coron boat station where all the outrigger boats were making ready for island hopping trips.
Our first stop on the tour was the skeleton wreck. The boat stopped and we made our way into the water and swam over to the location of the wreck. The water was pleasantly warm and so clear. All that remained of the wreck was the prow, lying a few meters below. Diving down it was possible to reach it. Heavily covered in corals, it had evidently been here a long time. We swam around the area looking for interesting sea life before heading back to the boat.
After twin lagoon we stopped for lunch at a small beach. Shear rock cliffs rose up from the beach and there were some bamboo and palm thatched structures where we sat and had a lunch of yummy chicken adobo. There were only a few boats here and we almost had the place to ourselves. The sun was shining and we took some photos and took in the amazing views.
After lunch we visited kanyangan lake. We climbed off the boat and climbed up 300 steps through the jungle. At the viewpoint we looked back and got an amazing view of the turquoise waters in the shallow bay fringed by the jagged rock outcrops. Heading down the other side of the rise we came upon the kanyangan lake, we wasted no time and got straight in. The water was brackish and a comfortable temperature. Our guide led us over to a small cave which we swam into. It was a unique place and we lingered there enjoying the peace in the darkness. As we left the cave it started to rain and eventually it was bucketing down. We carried on swimming and exploring and eventually got out and waited for the rain to stop before hiking back and rejoining the boat. We bought some San Migs to enjoy with the French couple that were on the boat with us.
The rain started coming down hard again and the boat retreated back to Coron town. The transfer was waiting to take us back to cashew grove and we spent the rest of the day chilling out at the resort.
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