Coron and around

On the day we got off the dive boat it was Marla's birthday, so we started celebrating early. We were woken by the chef and cruise director, who entered our room with cake and bloody Mary's. We had to disembark early in the day, but we continued celebratimg at the resort one of our new friends was staying on-muxh nicer than our backpacker budget accommodation! We spent the day drinking and in and out of the swimming pool, then we went back to our place where our friends from Singapore were. We all planned to travel together to Coron, which involved taking a flight at 5am. Needless to say at 3am I was not at my best, after two days of celebrations. And by the time we arrived at Coron I was pretty much at my worst, just needing some sleep.

Coron Island is part of the western region of Philippines, known to be very beautiful and on teh standard tourist route. We are spend the next 10 days exploring here and travelling down Palawan Island.

On the first day, after a long nap, we hired mopeds and went to explore come off he surroundings. The roads are in appalling condition and create pretty tricky driving conditions, but we saw some nice views and started to get a feel for the area.

Coron town is nothing special to speak of,but in the surrounding waters are beautiful lagoons,impressive rock structured islands and multiple shipwrecks. It's a great spot for island hopping,diving and snorkeling. Today we took a tour on a private boat to some of the famous locations. We went to a beautiful fresh water lagoon, some coral garden snorkeling spots,a shipwreck and a couple of beautiful inlets. The water is a stunning turquoise coulour and the islands look like something out of Jurassic Park. It has been beautiful sunny days, the colours everywhere are vibrant.

The safety regulations here have caused some amusement. We have to wear life jackets on the boat, when within eyesight of the coast guard. And we were not allowed into the fresh water lake without wearing them,because the water is less buoyant than the sea-even if we can swim! However to embark the boat it involves a sketchy jump from land onto one boat, then walking along one boat and taking another huge step to our boat. This part we didn't have to wear life jackets for, even though it was the time we felt most vulnerable and it was within eyesight of the coastguard. On the way back to disembark they held a plank of wood with their feet and a long wooden rod with their hands, so that we could walk along the wood using the wood as a hand rail-it was a very sketchy set up…..but we all made it, splash free.Read more