Our second day in Coron, Palawan started with meeting the rest of our group who finally arrived just in time for us to explore the bests of Coron Island.
Coron Island is a wedge-shaped island generally made up of limestone and possibly granite rocks which make its unique form.
It is the third largest island in the Calamian group of islands in the northern part of Palawan. It is part of the municipality of the same name, Coron.
The island looked inhabitable, but it stayed to be the home for many indigenous Tagbanua people who were given the title for the whole area of Coron Island and its surrounding waters.
When you look closely, you’ll see their small huts in some shore areas and at the bottom of some cliffs.
The Tagbanua tribe were also given the rights to implement policies over the use and preservation of the natural resources in Coron Island. Because of this, out of the seven lakes in the island, only two were open to public. One was the Kayangan Lake which boasts to be the cleanest lake in the Philippines for several years.
It took about 20 minutes of small boat ride from Coron town proper to the starting point of a short hike to the Kayangan Lake.
Before we started the hike, we were led to listen first to a Tagbanua who was describing the topography of the island, the seven sacred lakes, and the hike to the Kayangan Lake.
We were all too curious and excited to see how clean that lake can be. We were already mesmerized with the clear turquoise waters around the island, so that must be really, really one-of-a kind!
So up we climbed, just like in Mt. Tapyas, one step at a time. This time, it was a bit more difficult, since the steps were steep, and the boulders were slippery.
Good thing, there were wooden handrails to keep us in balance.
After about 15 minutes (depending on how fast you can climb up, and the number of people in front of you :P), at some turn to the left we reached the Kayangan Cave.
This cave was facing the most famous and probably the most pictured part of the island: the Kayangan lagoon.
It was where we actually disembarked.
This scenery, was just perfect both in landscape and in portrait. B-)
It was also too perfect to be my backdrop, it looked like a digital wallpaper (too bright!)
After taking several photos both with the Kayangan lagoon and the Kayangan cave, we headed to see what we were really after…
W-O-W…
There were parts of the lake with wooden platforms for people to place their things while swimming.
As we walked on the platform to find our spot, we immediately noticed its clear water! The water was so clear you can see through its 10-meter depth!
We saw several small pointy fishes swimming near the platform. :D
As we swam and snorkeled, we saw some beautiful rock formations.
These rock formations were those at the entrance of some cave at the lake.
The cave looked pretty interesting too!
That archway/ hole was the way to the lake when inside the cave…
and this was the “end” side of the cave.
Probably, the cave could go a bit more farther, but we were a bit scared to explore since we were not equipped with flashlights.
So we just enjoyed the lake’s mixture of fresh and salty water and practiced our snorkeling and posing skills.
We were already very satisfied just visiting the Kayangan Lake. The water in it was pristine! The view, picturesque! The Tagbanua really did a great job in maintaining this natural wonder’s beauty despite its utter popularity.
Another very popular site in Coron Island was the Twin Lagoon! After another 15 minutes or so down from the Kayangan Lake, we road our bangka again to see this next spot.
It felt like we were entering into an out of this world, enchanting kingdom as we went in the first lagoon. Tall limestone rock formations that make up this part of the island were really fascinating!
The first lagoon was actually where the boats dock. In between those limestone crevices was a wooden ladder where people may choose to climb to see the second (twin) lagoon…
…or swim below where a small fissure may be passable (especially during low tide).
One of us (the bravest swimmer among us :P) chose to swim underneath the limestone wall and into that fissure. For most of us, we chose to climb up the ladder and jumped right in the second lagoon.
The second “secret” lagoon (as it seemed to be hidden away) was just as beautiful as its twin.
The place was so peaceful we could hear the sounds of the birds, and the flaps of the leaves as the wind rushes in between.
Heavenly!
It was time for lunch and we couldn’t stop our stomachs from growling any longer. So we went back to the first lagoon and rode our small boat to the Atwayan Beach.
Atwayan (Atuayan) Beach was a small beach area of fine white sand with few corals and shells. It was actually named from the Tagbanua word “tuay” meaning shells. Huts were placed to accommodate tourists who would want to take a rest and have lunch.
Our guide brought us our lunch for the day:
Pork adobo
Some seaweed salad
And grilled fish
Of course, the meal wouldn’t be complete without plain rice! I believe we also had some pancit bihon (?)
We ate like as if we were not wearing bikinis! Tuck in those stomachs girls!
We took our time to rest and play at the Atwayan Beach before we headed to the next place in our itinerary: the Skeleton Shipwreck.
Coron Island is also popular for many Japanese shipwrecks which attract both scuba and non-scuba divers. Unfortunately, we were included to those non-scuba divers, or those who knew zero in diving.
Well, we didn’t mind, since we were greeted immediately with swarms of fishes at one shipwreck site. B-)
They were all too adorable and people-friendly, we hardly even noticed parts of the shipwreck.
There it was!
Oh, that was Kuya Em, our tour guide.
The waters right then were a bit wobbly, so didn’t linger to the shipwreck site for too long. Off we went to see another popular site in the area, the Siete Pecados.
Siete Pecados which literally means “Seven Sins” was said to be one, if not the most famous, snorkeling site around Coron. Legend or urban myth has it that there were seven siblings before who disobeyed their parents from swimming in that area. After those girls drowned, the seven islets appeared.
Unlike in the shipwreck area, the water here was calmer though a bit more cloudy due to rains. Nevertheless, we truly enjoyed the site of possibly hundreds of fishes that stormed around us immediately!
Seemed like the fishes in the area were not even apprehensive of coming up near the surface of the water just to get a piece of our bread.
The sea bed was just as fascinating to see as well.
We enjoyed our experience at Siete Pecados really well! It was our first time to see so much quantity and variety of fishes and corals up close. I mean, REALLY CLOSE! Hahaha! Some of the fishes were literally flapping their tails to our goggles! It was so much fun!
This day was all about swimming that even after we went back to our lodge, we felt like our legs were still afloat the waters.
This experience in Coron Island was undeniably unforgettable. I could still feel every bit of happiness I felt right then while writing this. I think it goes the same with the rest of my friends.
Thanks to Myca, Gia, Chai, Lyn, and Agnes for sharing your photos. These things should always be remembered!
There were still lots of things to enjoy in Coron! See our next adventure in
Coron, Palawan – Philippines (Day 3 and 4)!
No comments:
Post a Comment