Filipino Holiday: Part I, Dive Vibe in Coron Town

Do you know what one of my favorite things about living in Asia is? Getting to travel in Asia! We just returned from our Spring holiday in the Philippines and truth be told I have been dreading blogging about the trip for fear of tearing up remembering our picture perfect ten days spent there. The Philippines can easily be explored for well over a month, with over 7,000 individual islands. Because we only had 10 days to spare, we packed our backpacks with a mere 5 kg of swimwear and sunscreen and headed to the Calamian group off of Palawan.

Of course it wouldn’t be a legitimate “Matt-venture” (notice how I am taking no blame) if everything went smoothly, starting with the military time mix-up when we realized that 21:40 was NOT 7:40PM and were at the airport with a good four hours to spare. Que a duty-free shopping spree and in Korea that means we are now fully stocked on kimchi chocolate and flavored soju. Transportation to and from the Philippines can be a bit of a nightmare no matter how you slice it and it is typically encouraged to avoid Manila all together, flying instead in and out of Cebu making your connections shorter and easier to other islands, OR staying in paradise and enjoying all that Cebu has to offer. This was NOT the route we opted for because we are after all on a teacher’s salary and found a great deal with www.kangsangtravel.com who operates out of Busan and Deagu offering services to foreigners on flights, hotels and tour packages. We spent a brief five-hour layover in Manila where we managed to consume a 3′ tower of San Miguel and then stumbled back to the domestic airport to board our 20 seater commuter plane that took us to Busuanga island.

By 9am Valentine’s morning we woke up in the wall-less, four post structure that is “Busuanga airport” to the sound of toothless taxi drivers eager to whisk us down the 20 miles of dirt road leading to Coron town. We piled into one of the local buses, passengers clinging to the inside of the vehicle as well as perched on the roof and dangling from the sides as we wound under low hanging palm trees and through streams covered by plywood bridges. Having been in the same country for the last six months I had almost forgotten what it feels like to “have arrived” and as we passed by young boys carrying water in leaky buckets, and vignettes displaying turquoise water, I wanted to shout out of our coach “I’m here!” This is by the way, my favorite part of any adventure.

Coron town lacks a beach while maintaining a “beach bum” atmosphere with laid back bars, cheap food and a dive shop filled with sun drenched adventure addicts, on every corner. There are plenty of places to stay in this small but bustling town, most of which cater to divers and provide a great place to overhear tales from the deep. Our first three nights we spent at http://www.kokosnuss.info/ which at first glance looked like an example of what would happen if Tom Robbins and the Swiss Family Robinson were given free range on a deserted island. The resort is tucked behind tall bamboo making it a tropical secret garden with hammocks on every tree, hidden gnomes, a large fountain and a two-year old named Ben eager to greet customers with his new squirt gun. Kokosnuss first drew me with their candid web-site translated in German and English detailing the humble charm of their nippa huts which we gleefully stayed in. The one downfall to this rustic family resort has to be its proximity to a rooster farm, something that visitors to the Philippines will soon realize is virtually un-avoidable as we witnessed a man checking his caged rooster onto the plane we flew in on.

Matt and I were more than inspired by the life blooming inside the coral reefs and have vowed to get our open water dive certificate, but if you find yourself in the Philippines without your certification there is more than enough to keep even the most restless limbs satisfied. We tried to pack as much as we could into our few days in Coron and decided the best way to see the coast with all of its views, waterfalls and people was to rent a motorcycle and take our tour into our own hands. Not only did the motorcycle save us on transportation costs at under $20 for the entire day, but it allowed us to access many places that a bus couldn’t reach. Coron’s roads really shouldn’t even be classified as such but with a very confident driver for me to cling to the ride was bearable and scenic. It took us just under two hours to reach Concepcion which has a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole and a restaurant/resort serving cold beer and jumbo prawns. School children ran out of their classrooms as we drove by chasing the motorcycle and telling us that they loved us.

About 5km from Coron town is coron island (confusing I know!) There are a few options to get out to the island by either heading out with a tour boat that usually includes a day of snorkeling and lunch or rent a sea kayak like we did. It took us about an hour each way in choppy water but not without a toll from the unforgiving sun. The mostly fresh water lake on Coron island (30%-70% salt to fresh water ratio) was welcomed with outstretched arms as we plunged off of the surrounding sharp peaks into the deep blue lagoon. We made up for six months without swimming in the great outdoors and didn’t return to the mainland until sunset.

Nightlife in Coron is subdued but not without plenty of options for a night-cap after a long day in the water. We stayed one night in http://www.seadiveresort.com/ an institution of itself taking up a massive lot right next to the market and taxi hub and with a bar/restaurant with an unbeatable view of the harbor. The place gets packed by sunset and we were among the crowd who enjoyed a few rounds of san miguel, a Hawaiian pizza and tales of exploring sunken ships from the hoards of expats and divers calling Coron home for a week or two. With a proper sunset, western flavors still roaming around my pallet and Biggie Smalls playing in the background I had a thought about why we travel at all. Had I come to the Philippines to be closer to the Western culture I had grown up in and to avoid feeling foreign for a week? Just then I caught a glimpse of a pack of kids, ages 2-10 galloping after a soccer ball through the fish market and out the pier. It was after 11pm by this point and non of them had shoes on. They yelled at one another in Filipino to pass the ball and when one of them would fall the game would pause for a moment and then resume. I thought about how private our culture in America is, how we look out for ourselves and expect others to do the same for themselves. I guess the reason I continue to be fascinated, almost obsessed with the idea of seeing the world is to better understand how culture exists and how it is maintained with so much outside influence. Eventually the children playing their game dispersed and we drug our sun-burned shoulders to our room.

The next day was to start a whole new adventure, out of Coron and two hours away by boat to Coral bay. Out of the dusty, taxi filled streets with their colorful markets selling scarves, wooden flutes and mangoes. Neither of us had any idea what to expect and we lay awake all night imagining white sand and listening to fishing boats pulling in underneath our wooden planked floor.

Stayed tuned for part two of our trip to the Philippines. **And as a side note many comments have been sent to the “spam” folder and being new to this whole blogging world I failed to read those until they were discovered just this morning! I am truly sorry for not getting back to anyone who commented and neglecting to answer questions, I will certainly respond in the future. Thanks for the support!

Best, Matt and Emily