Coron, The Third Time Around…

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Some folks are more prone to motion sickness than others. Daniel Craig (the current James Bond) is said to dislike boats, and that may be one of the few unlikely things we have in common. So while it might look appealing to sail the seas in a yacht, the spectre of seasickness is enough to bring folks back down to reality. :) This great looking boat was anchored in a very calm cove right near Kayangan Lake on Coron Island last week. A few months ago, I was checking out airfares online and spotted round trip tickets to Busuanga for roughly PHP2,000 ($40) per person so we immediately booked several seats and decided to go on an early summer outing with several of the crew… The trip got off to a rocky start with a 2.5 hour delay on Air Philippines and ended with another 2.5 hour rescheduled flight home, but almost everything in between was brilliant. There are several posts in the archives covering two earlier trips to Coron, but stay tuned for some new ones in the days ahead.

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Our primary mode of transport in Coron was a very comfortable banca, perfect for beach and island hopping. During our brief trip, we ran into several groups of people who had decided to head to Coron on holiday as a result of reading earlier posts on the area in marketmanila.com and other travel blogs! I am of two minds on this, one happy that Coron is now getting rather busy from a tourism point of view, but the other mind worried that what made it so appealing to begin with may be spoiled by all of the new traffic…

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But with views like these and some of the clearest waters I have ever seen, it isn’t a surprise that I have been back three times in the last three years.

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33 Responses

  1. looking forward to your posts on this recent vacation!! was it ‘bath temperature’ when you waded into that beautiful clear water??

  2. The water looks so inviting. Expect to see me among the next group of visitors to Coron, Marketman.

  3. Note the view had to be from behind me, to block the gut that is bigger than desired. If you choose carefully, photos can be deceiving. :)

  4. Hi, MM!

    Your pics got me so excited. My family and I and a couple of friends are Palawan-bound this April. We’ll be staying in Club Paradise. Would you know of any island tour service that could help us do some island hopping? The one of Club Paradise is pretty steep…P3K pax! argh!

  5. imagine running into MarketManila fans in far-away Coron! and in they first place, they “discovered” it because of you! how cool is that!

  6. tamale8888, Club Paradise is at the opposite end of Busuanga Island from Coron town proper, and Coron island where several of the sites are. You may need to travel by jeep to Coron town, then arrange for a banca for a day of sightseeing. We always use Mang Fredo, our bangkero whose boat can take say 8-12 people comfortably. His contact number is 0919.646.5685. He charges between PHP3,500-4000++ for the boat for the day, more if you do a LOT of island or beach hopping. But if there are 8 or you, that works out to only PHP500 per person. Millet, the hotel we stayed in was PACKED, and the front desk said that several of the guests had found it on marketmanila.com. One of the groups on a beach had found their bangkero using the blog as well. And several of the readers who leave comments have also taken recent trips to Coron based on some posts they may have read here… :)

  7. You look good Mr. MM. Wish ko din makapunta ng Palawan , hopefully on my next vacation there in the Phils.

  8. JB…the aspiring James Bond…LMAO…really I cannot believe its the same person from behind…because from the front you look so different…..I know one day I will meet you face to face and then all mysteries will be solved….Wish I was there….

  9. One of my most favorite places…have been there last November and I think I left half my heart there.

  10. Thank you so much for the tip, MM! I also just read your past Coron posts and have found them quite helpful.

    Let me also thank you for all the recipes (I’ve tried the Akegai Clams, Fish in Parchment Paper, Pinakbet and Spaghetti ala Vongole, etc.) you’ve shared, some of which I’ve successfully tried.

    If not for you, I along with my boss and officemates (who sneek a daily peek at your site) also wouldn’t have discovered Mamou and Stevie’s Hainanese Chicken.

    Maraming Salamat! You rock!

  11. hi MM! thank you for your wonderful posts about coron, sobrang helpful :) also booked at Village Lodge, while our bangkero is Mang Fredo’s son naman. sana you can write also kung saan ok kumuha food that we can bring during the island hopping, any tip where to eat (for lunch and dinner) would be very helpful

  12. QueerSilver, the last photo was taken fro Banol Beach, still on Coron Island, looking outwards… J, we just go to the market, buy fresh seafood, and enjoy it at the hotel, or if heading out for the day, grilled on the beach.

  13. J, would you please share the phone # of Mang Fredo’s son (your bangkero). He must be the one who lives in Coron; it would be nice to have another alternative bangkero just in case Mang Fredo is not available. Thanks.

  14. Brazil has had a deservedly bad rap with the destruction of its natural resources (specially the Amazon basin) and has learned a lesson in avoiding further destruction by controlling access to its national parks, you can only get in accompanied with an accredited guide. In Fernando de Noronha, a Unesco worthy marine preserve, which your fondness for Coron brought to mind, access is intelligently controlled by only allowing certain spots to be open while others “recover” from human visits.

    For Filipinos impressed by sheer scale, Brazil is an attractive option (holders of Philippine passport need no visa). A visit to Foz de Iguaçu spoils you. It thereafter makes Niagara Falls appear as just a trickle. Now if only they can successfully pacify the violent favelas overlooking Rio.

  15. MM – this is unrelated, but have you heardfrom Apicio lately? I wonder how he’s doing.

  16. now my D is over all legal proceedings done, it wont be long i will go for a real holiday and will be using yr archives to guide me…

  17. Thanks, J. When we were in Coron, we also stayed at Coron Village Lodge and the package that we took included meals. It was very convenient, I did not have to worry about prep and marketing. We ate breakfast at the lodge, then took our packed lunch for island hopping and ate dinner at the lodge again. The food was good and reasonable. There was a time I went to the market and bought some crabs and had the lodge cooked it for me (for a charge of about P150) and made it part of our dinner that night (way too much). Anyway, what’s the name of Mang Fred’s son? How big is his banca, how many assistants does he have? Is he a skilled bangkero? I plan to come back to Coron again…..it’s a slice of paradise, thanks to MM for sharing this wonderful place.

  18. Thank you MM for appreciating the Enchanting Coron in my province Palawan. I myself has visited Coron for the 4th time. The last time was last week with the whole family, a big group of 42, a treat of my sister donna who owns a travel agency there (Calamian Islands Travel and Tours) I will be going back to Coron, till the nth time! Hope to see you there in your next Coron trip!

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