Coron, Palawan, Philippines
I planned to spend 4 nights in Coron (3 days). Typhoon Samuel had other ideas and so I got stuck there. On our 3rd night we found out about the storm and so decided to cut our trip by one night and leave the next day, but the ferry to El Nido was cancelled and so we were forced to stay another 2 nights (so I was actually on Coron for 5 night and 6 days). With no boats going on the water, there was little to do but our first two days were very successful so I’ll tell you about those.
Coron is a quite dingy Town, if I’m being honest, but Coron Bay is beautiful and you can do day tours on boats here and visit some beautiful places. I did tour A and tour B - you can book all this when you arrive as there are travel shops everywhere.
Tour A:
- Kayangan Lake
- Green Lagoon
- CYC beach
- Atwayan beach
- Coral Garden
- Quin Reef
Whole day out including lunch, served on the beach. Great sites: varied and all beautiful. Price varies from shop to shop so ask around but will be between P850-950. Price can depend on the boat I.e. how many people are on it so that’s worth asking about! Sometimes it’s nice to have a big group, sometimes a small: is up to you but I always recommend asking how many people will be on your tour so you know in advance of arriving. Snorkel hire is an additional P150.
- Barracuda lake
- Twin Lagoon
- Smith Beach
- Reef garden
- Skeleton wreck
Another day out including lunch also on a beach. This one is a little more expensive, at around P1,100. I personally thought this tour was better: less stops so more time at each, and the stops were all so beautiful again! However, I think both are worthwhile.
Depending how much time you have in Coron or how many tours you want to do, you can do the Ultimate Coron Tour which has a mix of the both A&B. There are also others offered - like I said, there are travel shops everywhere so just go in and look at the options and decide what’s best for you. I think the A&B combination worked well though so I would recommend it.
Diving:
We wanted to dive: Coron is known for great wreck dives and you can also do reef dives here, but unfortunately we couldn’t due to the weather (sad face), but if you are a diver, I would dive if you can here!
- Qualified diver: 3 dives for P3000 (two wreck and one reef)
- Non-qualified diver: 2 divers for P3500 (one wreck, one reef)
Where to eat:
The food in Coron isn’t great, I won’t lie. The best restaurant we found (and then stuck to) was Levine’s. It’s a roof top restaurant and has a very extensive menu. The food is reasonably priced and delicious. My advice: eat there as much as possible. Vegan/vegetarians welcome.
Daniel’s cafe: has proper espresso coffee and was cute and pretty nice inside (also has an okay toilet for the Philippines which is a plus - you know it’s bad when you get excited by a cafe having a decent toilet). We actually spent a whole day there when we were stuck because of the typhoon with some people we met on Tour A and it was great (they also have good WiFi).
General things:
ATM: Is a BPI bank where you can withdraw more than P10,000.
Tricycles: around the town don’t pay more than P15 pp - cheap and convenient!
Final thoughts:
Coron is definitely worth going to. It’s much less touristy than other parts of Palawan, and is cheaper! The scenery is beautiful - reminded me Halong Bay in Vietnam! The water is crystal clear, the snorkelling is good, the tours are really fun! If you’re a diver, it should definitely be on your list (I’ll be jealous!) Despite the town/food not being the nicest, the people are really nice: it’s cheap and cheerful! I think a lot of people think if you’re going to El Nido, you don’t need Coron but I would disagree.
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