Coron

Friday, May 13

The ferry from El Nido to Coron only runs three days per week. We didn’t know that when we planned our Philippines itinerary but by chance we got lucky and happened to plan our travel day the same day as the Friday ferry. The ferry was supposed to leave at noon and take about four hours. It ended up not leaving until after 1pm and we didn’t arrive to Coron until nearly 7pm.

On the ferry I listened to nearly my entire audio book (Down Under by Bill Bryson) and almost died of hunger toward the end but was saved by a choco pie that Carl had been carrying around for me since Cambodia.

Upon arrival we easily got a trike up to our hotel, Pirates Dive Resort. The staff welcomed us in and showed us to a hut without ever asking who we were. I asked them whether they wanted to check our IDs or anything and at first they looked at me confused and then with suspicion, as if we weren’t the right people and were calling out our own scam. A few minutes later, Paul, the owner, came down and greeted us. We talked with him for a long time about diving in the area, impacts of the typhoon, and where to eat.

We decided just to eat at the hotel restaurant (Pirates Tavern) and were pleasantly surprised. We got Bicol Express, a coconut milk stewed pork dish, and a nicely spiced adobo. As we ate we noticed another couple that we’d seen on the ferry. They were Peter, from Scotland, and Pipa, from Belgium. We talked with them for a while, sharing travel stories and future itineraries.

Saturday, May 14

Paul recommended diving in Barracuda Lake, a skeleton wreck dive, and a reef dive. Our guide (I can’t remember his name!) met us in the restaurant and drove us down to the pier in his tricycle. We boarded the boat and discovered we were the only two passengers. Also aboard were Ben, the captain, and Mark, the chef.

We set out to Barracuda Lake which is just on the other side of Coron Bay. Our boat parked with others in a boat parking lot and we swam over to a pier where we then had to walk over the hill on a wooden staircase. There were already other snorkel tours there so we had to politely push past them in our scuba gear as we climbed up and over, on crooked, rickety wooden ladder steps.

We got into the lake and descended pretty quickly (Filipino style diving). The top part of the lake is cool freshwater. About 10 meters down we encountered the thermal spring which gushed hot water at us. We didn’t wear wetsuits for this reason. It seemed as we dove deeper the water was getting hotter and hotter and I thought we were going to boil alive. I can’t imagine how the first people to dive here thought it was a good idea to keep swimming down.

However, at about 14 meters it got cooler again and we entered the salt water portion at the bottom of the lake. We descended deeper but then reached a point where the water was so murky and dark, we didn’t risk going further. I held onto Carl’s arm, afraid I’d get separated, as we skimmed the surface of this murky pool.

We ascended a bit and found the turning point of salt to fresh water. Looking horizontally, you could see a blurry line where the two waters met. We played around with this false surface, going up and down, seeming to emerge from water altogether to find ourselves in cool, fresh water, then diving back down, past the line into warmer, salty water. Apparently there’s a Planet Earth episode that shows divers doing this, and we need to watch it to relive this weird moment.

At one point we swam over an area that looked like sunken hills. As if the hills had just been covered in water. We saw tree-like objects growing from rolling green mounds. It was trippy. A little later we found ourselves skirting a wall that had red slime (algae?) oozing down the sides. The color was a deep red, like fake blood in a Halloween haunted house.

Before going back up we stopped at a rocky ledge and our guide used a rock to smash up shells. Swarms of catfish came to eat the freshly released meaty bits. The catfish were babies, each smaller than my hand. As he fed them and they swam frantically around, it seemed like he was feeding a pack of stray kittens and we decided those must be the lesser known, kitten fish.

Meanwhile, Carl was playing with a shrimp that couldn’t decide if it trusted him. The shrimp would stick out his big pincher arm to examine Carl’s hand, seem to consider climbing on, and then shyly turn away.

Back on the boat, we took a short ride to the next destination, a skeleton wreck dive. We didn’t realize it, but the crew had made lunch for us while we were out diving. They fed us grilled fish, chicken adobo, sautéed veggies, and rice. It was really good and a nice surprise!

As we prepared to get in the water, our guide implied that he wasn’t excited about this dive and we soon saw why. The visibility wasn’t great and the wreck itself was really just the skeleton of a ship. There were lots of coral and fish, but not as vibrant as elsewhere we’d seen. The best part was as we rounded the outer part of the sunken ship we came upon three batfish and it was as if we had broken up an illicit meeting they were having behind the boat. They seemed to collect themselves saying ‘nothing to see here!’ and swam away.

The next spot was a coral reef. The reef was massive. We swam out and back along it which was cool because we noticed that the fish we saw tended to hang out in the same area as we circled back to see them again. Our guide flipped over a giant sea cucumber (which I thought was a pretty rude thing to do) but then we got to see it squirm and right itself, reminding us that these creatures are active animals, not just plants.

We also saw a turtle and it had a sucker fish on its back that was nearly as big as its shell. The turtle eyed us as we swam around, but didn’t seem to mind us there. We also saw lots of beautiful coral formations, and many were very colorful. My favorites were giant, rose-like florets the size of a human that seemed to cluster together like a coral rose garden. Also the spiny bushes that were a bright blue, or sometimes yellow with different colored tips. There were some rocky coral that looked like someone had dumped green, Nickelodeon slime all over them, not that they were slimy but that they were that brightly colored.

That night we attempted to find the local food market but were disappointed to discover it was still closed from COVID. So we decided to try one of the recommended restaurants for dinner. We went to Pacifico and had ceviche and a stewed pork. They were good, but it tasted like a western restaurant trying to make Filipino food and not very authentic at all.

Sunday, May 15

The main activity in Coron and El Nido is island hopping. While we were researching ferry options we discovered a company called Big Dream Boat Man that does multi-day island tours. Their tour around Coron islands happened to just fit within our schedule so we signed up. We were told we were the only two signed up and that the tour may be canceled unless more people could join. As the trip date neared, we assumed we would need to find an alternative plan. But then, a couple days before, they emailed us and said the tour was going to happen though they didn’t say whether others would be joining us.

We showed up early to the meeting spot, disappointed that the restaurant didn’t have WiFi or a fan. As we waited, sweating, looking out the window onto the pier, another couple arrived. Jaime and Águeda (like Agatha), from Spain, introduced themselves. We were so excited to have Spanish speakers so we could continue practicing our Spanish and they were eager to practice their English. Next two girls came in, Katie and Beth, sisters from Scotland. We discovered they are about a decade younger than us, which made for some fun comparison stories like ‘what was your favorite song in high school’ etc. They both were surprisingly well traveled considering their youth, and it was so interesting to hear about all the places they’ve been.

Eventually we were put into trikes and transported to the nearby pier where we boarded our boat that we’d be on for the next four days. As we set off, the crew gave us drinks and introduced themselves. Ali (Alexis) seemed to be the most in charge. Uncle Bob (or Jojo) had amazing dreds that hung down past his knees. He was the artist, and the barkeep. He kept us so well hydrated with beer, rum, and juice that we had to use the bathroom every time we jumped into the ocean. G, short for Ghinel, had hair down to his shoulders (and was working on one dred) and was a jack-of-all-trades, seeming to pop up out of nowhere to assist with anything. He was often carrying our bags when we insisted he didn’t need to.

Also aboard was Cheffy (Ramon) who made the best meals and definitely, without a doubt, the best meals we’ve ever had that were prepared on a boat. We didn’t see too much of Captain (Cordell?) but when we did peek into the captain chamber we would see him sitting on the shelf behind the steering wheel, steering the boat with one foot, and smiling. There was also Dudz, a younger guy, and Carlito, an older guy, who assisted. We counted 6 passengers and 7 crew, all on a pretty small boat for three days, and yet it always felt spacious and never crowded.

Our first stop was a freshwater lake. We noticed the lake was located just south of Baracuda Lake, where we had dove the day before. We pulled into a lagoon, around a massive rock/island, and walked off the boat into a pier. Then it was a steep hike up, over, and down the hill to the lake. We encountered some other people but when we got to the lake we were the only ones there. We snorkeled around and took lots of photos. There were some cool caves in the sides that could be accessed from underwater, and we got the first taste of our guides humor when they ushered us into a cave promising something cool, only to scare us by hiding around a corner in the dark. Then we walked back up the hill to the viewpoint over the lagoon. It was like a scene from a movie.

At the next spot we ate lunch on the boat before jumping into the water. This was our first meal with BDBM (Big Dream Boat Man) and we were so impressed. They served chicken curry, okra (they called them lady fingers), a peppered cucumber salad, and white rice (Filipino power).

We waited a few minutes before hopping in and then swam to another lagoon. In low tide we could swim under the rock, through a wide tunnel area about 3ft high above the water and 20ft wide. We swam through and noticed the day-trippers were all in kayaks. We treaded water (most had fins but Carl and I chose not to) and appreciated the natural beauty.

Then we noticed that Ali had brought a volleyball. We ended up playing a kind of ‘keep away’ game in a little circle and it was really fun. All my water polo egg-beatering skills came back to me and I dominated the silly game, embarrassed to be showing off but also enjoying swatting the ball out of the sky and growling at my newly made friends. It was the best work out I’ve had in years.

After we had a longer boat ride to Banana Island, where we stayed for the night. We dropped out bags off in our rooms, which were in a huge, cement, apartment style building. Then we went to explore and see the sunset.

We thought the cloud cover would prevent a sunset but after the sun was already down it illuminated the sky and the clouds lit up in every hue of yellow, orange, pink, and red. It was probably the best sunset we’ve seen in our whole lives. Add to this that we were on a small, remote, tropical island with only about a dozen other people.

After the sunset we showered, Filipino style, using the bucket shower in our bathroom. In the Philippines the bucket shower consists of a huge barrel of fresh water and a little bucket with a handle. You scoop out the water from the barrel with the little bucket and pour the water over yourself, trying to not douse the adjacent toilet. This barrel/bucket system is also how you flush the toilet in many places (just throw a bunch of water in afterward) and works surprisingly well if you get the flick of the wrist right.

They served us dinner on the beach, under a string of lights, as the clouds moved and -every once in a while- revealed the stars. We did a formal introduction session, introducing ourselves and explaining our hobbies and why we like to travel. It started to sprinkle so we moved everything to under a wooden porch area. After dinner we drank and told silly jokes (ask me where fish go to work). Ali showed us a couple of card tricks and I’ve never been more pleased with myself when I figured out a trick before anyone else. Carl also showed off one of his card tricks and impressed our new friends.

Finally we all went off to our rooms to go to bed and were grateful for the little bit of electricity that allowed a fan to run because the rooms were humid and sweltering. But at some point in the middle of the night, the power went out and the fan shut off, resulting in a restless night’s sleep.

Monday, May 16

Carl and I set our alarm for 7:15 but at 7:07 the staff were yelling that breakfast was ready and we needed to get a move on. They fed us a great breakfast of pancakes, corned pork hash, rice, and pineapple. I’m not sure what happened, maybe it was just being so unbelievably hot at 7:30 am, but I ended up being sick and needing to lay in the ocean for a bit before boarding the boat.

We had a short ride over to our first stop, a sand bar. We got there early so we were the only ones there and the tide was high so the little sand bar was just a tiny island connected to the bigger island by an underwater sandbar of about 5 inches deep. We took loads of pictures and then snorkeled around the area and were impressed with the amount of fish and coral we saw.

Next we went to an island for a trash pick up. I’m not sure why this island was covered in trash, but it was as if there was more trash than sand or fallen leaves, and we quickly filled two huge rice bags full of trash. The BDBM crew said they pick up trash from this island on every trip as a way to give back. It seemed to us like a Sisyphean endeavor and I simultaneously wanted to stay there for longer to make a bigger impact while also marveling that the BDBM crew still had the motivation after seeing the island again and again fill up with trash washed ashore from other islands. As we were leaving Ali skillfully climbed a coconut tree and grabbed us some treats for later.

As we boated to the next location, it started to rain. By happy coincidence the next stop was at a town on Cuillon island where we took advantage of the light rain time to look inside a famous old church. Cuillon is known as the place where lepers were sent. From 1904 to 2006 there was a designated leper colony and they had their own isolated political systems including their own currency.

We were shown some of the historic buildings, such as where a food distribution center was, and wandered around reading poorly translated signs about the colony. These days the hospital remains and provides a valuable resource to the local community.

Unfortunately when we got back on the boat it was still raining a little bit but it wasn’t so heavy that we were able to go to a coral reef to snorkel. The reef was incredibly long and ended at a sunken ship. The boat dropped us off upstream and we swam slowly along, following Ali as he pointed out three different turtles.

We swam along the length of the reef which got shallower toward our left and plunged away into the depths on our right. We saw tons of coral and colorful fish. I saw a small squid for the first time ever and watched as it crept ‘backwards’ toward the dark blue depths.

At the sunken wreck, the Filipinos showed off their free-diving skills by swimming down and through the ships chambers. Ali took a video on Katie’s go pro where he swam through the ship and the video was over a minute long!

Because of the rain they had to change our plan from camping on a beach to staying on Pass island, the same spot for the third night too. As we approached we could see Pass Island looming in front of us and a huge storm of dark clouds and rain curtains towards our left, inching closer by the minute. We thought we would make it to the island just before the storm hit us but we didn’t make it. Cold, pelting rain came at us from every direction just minutes before we anchored on shore.

We left our stuff and ran ashore to our assigned cabin and then just stood there admiring the power of the monsoon from under a palm-covered overhang. I had to pee and didn’t know where the bathrooms were so we ran back into the ocean which felt like the nicest, most comforting, warm bath water in comparison to the chilling rain from above.

We sat in the ocean for a bit and looked around in wonder. If you’ve never sat in the ocean during a rain storm, you have to try it at least once. With every raindrop the ocean responds with its own vertical drop so that when you look around you it seems like the sea is boiling and there’s an inch layer of water chaos covering the ocean’s surface.

It didn’t seem like the rain would ever stop so we conducted a rescue mission with one rain jacket and a dry bag to pull things off the boat that we needed for the night. We sat in our warm hut until dinner when all of a sudden the rain went away.

Tuesday, May 17

Our first stop was to Black Island, the one we were supposed to have camped on the night before. It’s called Black Island because the sheer black, rocky cliffs have less vegetation than surrounding islands, making it stand out in the most ‘pirates had to have buried treasure here’ kind of way. Also, it has lots of caves which the Japanese made use of for shelter when they occupied the Philippines in WWII and which were subsequently plundered by Filipinos looking for any valuables the Japanese may have hid there.

The first cave we went into had a deep grotto area that all the boys felt the need to dive into while the girls looked up at the bats lining the high alcoves. Ali asked us all to get into the water and he gathered us around to hold hands in a circle. The water was cold, much colder than the ocean. We paid respect to the cave’s spirits with a moment of silence. Then Ali said, in a calm, soothing cave prayer voice, “ok…now everyone…I’m going to count to three…and then…we all pee” immediately after Ali and G started splashing us with the cold water and we huddled to get out of the grotto.

We went into another cave for a peek before going to the third cave which we passed through and didn’t loop back. Ali had brought beer bottles with diesel soaked napkin wicks that he lit and left along the cave path for us to find our way through the dark hallway. There was a sketchy ladder climb followed by some intense rock scrambling but then we emerged out onto a pristine, empty beach nestled between the craggy black cliffs.

Dirty from the cave climbing, we all ran into the ocean to wash off and lay on our backs looking up at the crazy beautiful scenery. It was our favorite beach of the Philippines. Somehow we got into the idea of playing chicken, where teams sit on each others shoulders and try to knock each other down. Carl and I beat Beth and Katie and then were surprised to beat the ever sporty Jaime and Águeda. Finally Ali and G came at us with apprehension (and possibly fear?) and we knocked them down in record time. Carl and I learned we are very good (so far undefeated) at chicken.

Uncle Bob had brought all our snorkel stuff to the beach via kayak so we were able to put on fins and mask and swim back to the boat, eyeing some reef and colorful fishies along the way.

The next stop was another island where we had lunch on a big wooden picnic table. Of note, they served us two huge grilled fish that Jaime had helped catch along with the crew when they went out that morning just after sunrise to go spear fishing. The fish plus the really good, authentic chicken adobo reminded us how special the trip was – swimming on remote tropical beaches one minute and then having a huge, delicious lunch on another beach the next.

Up to this point the trip had been go go go but on this beach we were given time to just chill. We played in the surf and then noticed another huge storm moving in. Traumatized from the previous day, all six of us passengers put our belongings into the captains area on the boat and then hung out in the water, near the boat, in case the impending storm came and we needed to get on quickly. However, the storm seemed to move past us on the horizon which spared us another cold afternoon and provided epic light for our photos.

Like little kids Carl and I looked for and played with found shells and coral. We each found a long, skinny piece of white coral shaped much like a middle finger that we used to make pretend we were New Yorkers in traffic again. We also found tons of intact shells and a small, still-living starfish which I carried out to deeper waters and let go, hoping it would find a new, safer foothold.

Eventually they had us get back on the boat to go to the last spot for the day. We went to a “wreck” – a small sunken ferry – that had a good amount of coral and fish but was otherwise uninteresting. We explored the reef around the wreck which was shallow on one side but there wasn’t as much life as the day before. Carl and I did find a nemo (clownfish) family living in an anemone that were very social. When we dove down to get a closer look the mom and dad (second biggest and biggest nemos) would swim up to our goggles and look us straight in the face like ‘sir ma’am, can I help you find what you’re looking for?’

On the way back to the boat we saw a creature that was like a jelly tube rolled into the shape of a mustache. We didn’t know if it was a jellyfish or something else but we didn’t think it worth it to poke it and find out.

Back at our Pass Island again, Ali told us to climb the hill to the other side to watch the sunset. There were tons of clouds and not a lick of sunset but we had a nice chat with Katie, Beth, Águeda and Jaime while enjoying the epic coastal view from atop the island.

After the sun went down and before dinner, Uncle Bob gave us a special presentation of his fire dancing skills. Like the guys in Thailand, he had two flaming balls on the end of strings that he whirled around as he danced. He was really good!! Then each of us got a turn at standing in the middle while he danced with the fire balls around us. I didn’t think I’d had enough beer to be willing to do it, but somehow Uncle Bob was very trustworthy and he didn’t burn a single one of us.

At dinnertime the whole crew was invited to join us, and they did for a little bit, before going back to the boat. Ali explained that Filipinos are naturally shy, and that the crew didn’t want to intrude. We stayed up, listening to music and talking with everyone until finally we had to go to sleep, dreading the next day because it was the end of the trip.

Wednesday, May 18

We appreciated that the BDBM crew were able to squeeze in one final destination on the last day, despite that Carl and I almost didn’t make it to our flight on time.

We said goodbye to Pass Island and set out to the hot springs. Ali explained that there are other hot springs on the mainland, but that location is overcrowded with tourists. The spot we went to was ours alone and from the outside you couldn’t even tell it was there.

The boat stopped in front of an island, next to a mangrove forest. We were told to take our masks and fins and swim through the mangroves. It was so cool to see the bottom of these trees and swim through narrow, shady tunnels to a secret spot. We all tried and failed to not think of whether there were any crocodiles or sea snakes lurking just around the bend.

Eventually we emerged into a sort of clearing in the mangrove forest and saw that someone had constructed a rock and cement wall around the base of a cliff, to keep the hot spring water in. Well, the tide was really high so the water flowed over this wall. But if anything it made the experience more interesting as we swam and moved through patches of really hot and cold again.

Myself and the Scottish sisters had sunburns that did not feel great in the hot water, but we eased ourselves in and enjoyed it anyways. Uncle Bob and G came in on kayak through a separate entrance, lugging a cooler full of beers for us. Since this was our last stop and there were no more meals to serve us, the other crew (Chef Ramon and Dudz) were able to join us and enjoy the relaxing break. Uncle Bob stayed dry on a rock overlooking the hot pool and he took pictures for us and gave us a little reggae dance show.

Then we had to leave, swim back to the boat, and take a boat ride back to Coron town. Carl and I deck changed on the boat and had all our bags ready to go for the airport when – OF COURSE – it started to rain again! We pulled out our trash bags to cover our backpacks and put on our rain coats, eyeing the time and squinting to see whether we were close to shore yet.

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 1:30pm, boarding at 12:30pm. We finally got to Coron (and found a place to park the boat!) at 11:30. Luckily, Ali helped us arrange an airport van which was waiting for us as we arrived. We said very rushed goodbyes and had a long, carsick journey to the airport, arriving just after 12. The airport was tiny, just one gate, and our flight was of course late so we had plenty of time. The plane was so tiny that my backpack didn’t even fit into the overhead and they had to give her her own seat in row 14!