Wanderlust: CORON - a piece of heaven.

March 12-14, 2012

A quick reference about what happened and how much we used for this trip. :)

Last December 29, I was able to buy promo tickets for the two of us thruAirPhilExpress. That’s 2,200 (1,100/pax) back and forth. Which is a very cheap since the usual price of the ticket going to Busuanga is approx 4k and another 4k for the return flight. 200 for the boarding pass in NAIA.

So before we go into details of this trip, here’s my good friend, Ma-Ann. She’s my friend since high school and we decided to have this trip since it’s our 12th year of being friends. :)

We didn’t do the usual thing of ‘travelling’. We didn’t have any reservations for the place and island hopping. Not even the van which would bring us to the town proper. We’re just pretty confident that everything will be fine. Since Pilipinas pa rin naman sya. haha! I made myself familiar with the place through blogs and articles online.

For the van transfers from Busuanga Airport to Coron Town Proper, there are several vans outside the airport. That’s 150/head. Here’s the number of Kuya Roland Lim (van driver): 09199468429

We met a local in the airport (whom I forgot the name) who brought us to a cheap lodge. Let’s call him, Manong Powerful. haha! He accompanied us from the airport to the lodge. We gave him 100pesos pang thank you. :P

Krystal Lodge is the place where we stayed. We paid 1000/night but there are cheaper rooms which is apparently, not available. Cheaper, I mean 400-500/night. :) The place is nice and people are soooo accommodating. Matter-of-fact, we had drinking session on our first night with Chris and Charlotte - lodge attendants. They are the one who told us not to purchase Island Tours which is all over the net. The cheapest Island Tour Package I got thru net is from CoronGaleri which is 1800/pax. You might like it since there’s no down payments (unlike others) if you want to avail the package. Just visit their office once you’re in Coron.

For the main event of this trip, God gave us a local named Eran Decena. haha! Instead of paying 1800 each, we just paid 1500 for the bangka. So that’s 750 each. What more kung marami kayo di ba? :) Here’s his contact information: 09499697561 / 09275172568 / eran.coron@yahoo.com

On our first night, we went to the public market to buy our lunch for the island hopping. We marinated pork chops, prepared some squids and fish for grilling.

Second Day (main event): Island hopping!

We were able to visit 6 spots in Coron:
1st: Kayangan Lake - entrance fee: 100/pax
-there are 100+ steps here. One of the signs there said: “Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Keep nothing but memories. Kill nothing but time.”

 

2nd: Banol Beach - entrance fee: 100/pax
-very VERY very beautiful. This is my favorite beach so far! It is more beautiful than Boracay and Bohol beaches. Very Clean. ah basta. ang gaaaannnnddaaaa!

Here’s where we had our lunch together with Mang Eran and the 2 -super nice bangkeros.

3rd: Shipwreck - entrance fee: 100/pax
-I didn’t stay that long in the water gawa nung shipwreck and the thoughts of shark that might be living inside that ship. Mala-National Geographic lang ang aura eh. Yung tipong may biglang lalabas na pating. haha! So I just stayed sa kubo at nakipagkwentuhan sa may-ari ng isla. Sabi nya, nakaka-10k sya per day. So even though foreigners offered him hundred dollars, he said no. Ofcourse, bet nyang may maipa-mana sa mga chikiting nya someday. Shala ng pamana right? Isla!

From 4th-6th and the rest of our stay, wala ng photos. :( Nalowbat yung camera namin then ayaw na nya magbukas. I think that’s because we used it underwater ng sobra-sobra. More sisid pa si Manong Bangkero dun sa shipwreck eh hanggang 10ft lang keri ni cam. :(

4th: CYC Beach - no entrance fee
-nothing much to do. Another snorkeling area.

5th: Twin Lagoon - entrance fee: 100/pax
-another favorite! Super lalim nung lagoon. Another thing I’m proud about myself, (not really proud but more of amazed -haha!) is to dive and swim to deep water kahit hindi ako marunong lumangoy. Thanks sa figure ko at kering-keri ko mag-floating. haha!

6th: Twin Peak - no entrance fee
-Another snorkeling area. I just slept while my friend had another swim.

To summarize the gastos, here’s the list. Again, these are just the maingastos for a Coron Trip. I didn’t include the food prices. But believe me, it’s cheap. :)
           1100 - plane ticket
             300 - van from/to Busuanga Airport to/from Coron Town Proper
           1000 -  lodge for 2 nights
             750 - bangka for the island hopping
             400 - entrance fees for the islands
           ———-
         3550 Php - TOTAL -this is per head!

—-omaygad. Ngayon ko lang na-calculate yan. hahahaha ang powerful namin! :D

much love,

♥jindra