Coron Itinerary

Important Note!! - As of Oct, 2010, the superferry service between Manila and Palawan is still not operational. Travellers usually have no choice but to fly from Manila to Coron and/or Puerto Princesa. Will update this blog the soonest the ferry service resumes.

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This particular destination is actually very far from Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan. In fact a lot of travelers get confused when they start planning a trip to Palawan. Many would already include Coron and Puerto Princesa in a three-day itinerary only to find out later on that in order to visit one on a three-day free time would mean dropping the other one.

For the uninitiated, the place called Coron is actually located in the northern part of the very long island of Palawan. To further complicate things, Coron is actually located in a group of islands called the Calamianes. There are also two Corons here: the town proper of Coron is located in a big island called Busuanga (there is also a municipality here called Busuanga). Now, there is also the tiny island of Coron which is located just a few minutes from Busuanga Island and/or the poblacion of Coron. Most of the premier terrestrial attractions in the area are located in Coron Island.

There is also some confusion in getting to the area. If you’re taking a plane, chances are the airlines would say that they will be landing in Busuanga. If you’re taking a ship, its port of call would be Coron. To meekly simplify this situation, the airstrip is about 45 minutes away from the Coron town proper.

Coron became famous because of the number of warships that went down during the Second World War. It was the time when the American forces came back to beat the Japanese forces and hundreds of U.S. planes were strafing and dropping bombs on the hapless fleets of Japanese ships. One huge fleet got caught in the area and sunk the clear waters. Now, those ships are the favored vacation objects of scuba divers with a fetish for shipwrecks.

But beyond (actually, above) the wrecks and excellent coral reefs, Coron holds much promise for people in search of great vacation spots. One can do island hopping and spend hours on end in white sand beaches or snorkeling in the clear waters of this tiny piece of paradise. The island also hosts some of the most impressive limestone cliffs and highly impressive lakes.

This itinerary is most appropriate for people who can spend two whole days in the area. The Superferry ship usually leaves Manila on Friday evenings and arrives in Coron early morning the following day. Then the next day, the same ship returns to Coron to pick up the passengers and bring them to Manila after a 12-hour nocturnal trip.

By Ship

Day 1

5 – 10 P.M. Depart Manila by Superferry

The superferry schedule is one of the best things in traveling to Coron. It usually leaves Manila at round 5:00 of every Friday (but the exact time of departure is notoriously changing, depending on what ship is used), then after a 12 hour cruising, it arrives at around 7:00 A.M. in the town of Coron. On the trip back to Manila, the same ship makes a port of call in Coron on Sunday evening then arrives in Manila at around 7:00 or 12 noon on Monday. Some seasoned travelers would already be wearing working clothes and be ready to get to their offices afer disembarking from the ship.

Day 2

7:00 A.M. Arrive Coron

Take tricycle to an inn (like Darayonan Inn)

Breakfast

9:00 A.M. Start discovery of Coron

Ride a hired boat in the town port and visit the following:

Bangol Beach

This is short stretch of white sand beach with a huge rock tower on the side. Definitely ideal for swimming and snorkeling. This is also used for picnic lunch while island-hopping.

Skeleton Wreck

You don’t need to learn scuba diving to see a sunken shipwreck! Located in a relatively shallow parts of one section of Coron Island, you can see the ghostly appearance of the wreck plus colorful sea life while snorkeling in the area.

Must have packed lunch

3:00 P.M. End of island hopping

Back to town

Snacks (say a pizza snack in Sea Dive Resort)

4:00 P.M. Trek to Tapyas Hill and wait for sunset.

With seemingly unending concrete staircases, you can have a combination of unscheduled penitence and exhilarating vista of the landscape and seascape of the area. Definitely worth the effort.

6:00 P.M. Back to town

Hire a tricycle to Maquinit Hot Spring

It’s a 15-minute ride to the (very) hot spring. Just right for your tired muscles.

8:00 P.M. Back to inn

Dinner

Day 3

9:00 A.M. Another island-hopping day. Take hired boat to visit the following:

Kayangan Lake

This is one of the main treasures of Coron. A brackish lake surrounded by limestone walls, and reputedly one of the cleanest lakes in the country.

Twin Lagoon

This is a very interesting site to visit. The boat will navigate through quiet waters bordered by sheer limestone mountains then you will stop right in front of a small hole where you have to swim in. On the other side of the hole is another lagoon. The experience can be very surreal and very fun. Even of you know how to swim, bring your life vest to save on energy and have more fun staying in the place.

CYC Island
This is a small island ringed by white sand beaches and growing army of mangrove forest.

Highly ideal for swimming, sunbathing and a bit of snorkeling.

3:00 P.M. Back to town

Souvenir shopping and explore the small town

Arnd 8:00 P.M. Back to Manila

Day 4

7:00 A.M. or 12:00 noon - ETA Manila