How To Experience All Of Coron, Palawan For 3 Days!
Philippines! My home country where I was born and raised until I moved to Canada at 14 years old. I was actually very excited to come back and explore the country’s thousand islands. Coron is one of the many group of islands in Palawan, the most western province of Luzon. It has many untouched scenic nature that will mesmerize you. The destinations I went to on this 3 days trip made me fall in love with my country. It captured me from seeing only a few islands of the Philippines’ 7,000 plus islands and I cannot wait to be back and go to them.
This was a family trip with three relatives. We flew out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) Terminal 4 to Francisco B. Reyes Airport (USU) in Busuanga island in a short one hour flight. Busuanga is your access point to Coron Island, the Calamian Island group (Calamianes in short) and the other gorgeous islands of northern Palawan.
This trip is part of my 29 days stay in the Philippines when I was travelling South East Area for 2 months. I debated whether to make a single post for my day 2 and day 3 trips because I want to remember and share all the magical places I went! If I did write them here, it would be too long. Therefore, I decided to make this a short post and make individual posts so stay tuned!
Some Coron Background
When people say they’re going to travel to Coron, they particularly meant the Coron Island and the other group of islands in the region of northern Palawan. The most popular and the main attraction is the twin lagoon in Coron Island. Beautiful blue lagoon hidden away deep inside the island. Other attractions include the mini islands Malcapuya Island, Banana Island and Bulog Dos Island and yes I went to all of them.
Where I Stayed
I arrived at the airport before lunch time and went straight to the accommodation. Francisco B. Reyes Airport (USU) is in the middle of Busuanga island and takes about 30 minutes to Coron town. I stayed at Bluewave Hotel located in a very convenient location. Close to many restaurants, the Coron Town Proper and the port for the island tours here in Palawan.
Day 1 – Arrival + Walk Around Coron Town Proper
A good day to tour Coron Town Proper and hike up Mt Tapyas. The perfect afternoon tour to do on your arrival day because it’s only for half a day. It includes hotel pick-up and drop-off and the tour about 4.5 long. You will see that Coron is not only famous for beaches but has a very rich history and one awesome hot spring.
Got picked up at 15:30 – 16:00 and the first destination was a souvenir shop where you can buy local goods and souvenirs. Next was Lualhati Park at the port. From here, you will see the full form of the ‘Sleeping Giant’. That’s what locals say when they refer to Coron Island and I can actually quite see the sleeping giant form from the park. Reminded me of the film Moana whe the island goddess got back her heart and she went to her sleeping island form.
The sun was setting so good timing to climb up Mt. Tapyas and I climbed the 700 stairs. There is a view deck with a big white cross and big Coron letter sign at the top. You will see the surrounding islands covered in orange sun rays in a 360 panoramic view. I love seeing the sun go down at a high point so I stayed by the rails to watch.
When you climb up, you gotta climb down and on to the next places. A Cashew Factory and St. Agustin Church. Cashew is one of the biggest export here so you know they’re good. St. Augustine Church ties back to the Philippines’ colonial Spanish era.
The last destination was the Maquinit Hot Spring. A very nice way to calm the body from all the walking and relax. Loved this place and what a great way to end the tour! Fun fact, this hot spring is very unique because they use saltwater. Dinner was at Lolo Nonoy’s Food Station cloes to Bluewave Hotel. Get the tuna sisig.
Day 2 – Swim on Coron’s Breathtaking Lagoons and See Coral Reefs
It’s time to go outside Busuanga and see Coron. See the blue waters in the lagoons and lakes, bury my feet in the white sands, and relax under the sun. Day 2 was all for Coron in this really good tour named Super Ultimate Tour. You know it’s an awesome tour because it’s super and also an ultimate one 😉 Learn more about this day tour here in this post.
To be honest, I am not a swimmer and water activity is not my first choice in the to do list when I travel but I challenged myself. I really wanted to see Coron’s famous twin lagoon so I went to the waters. Coron is also famous for diving because of the Japanese sunken shipwrecks. You can snorkel to tour the wrecks and also see amazing coral reefs.
I actually got very sick this day. Had headaches and felt nauseous on the boat. I think the exhaustion from travelling continuously and going in the water got to me. Plus, Boracay’s weather was terrible where I was at before this trip. It was raining most of the time and got caught in it. My fever was really high that night. Thankfully I rested and slept like baby so I was fine the next day.
For dinner, my family and I ate at a local restaurant Santino’s Grill. The baby back ribs is fall of the bone! I love authentic Filipino food! Growing up eating this cuisine, I definitely satisfied my palette in this vacation.
Day 3 – Island Hop And Relax at the Immaculate White Sand Beaches of Palawan
Day 3 to see the rest of the Calamian archipelago. This Coron Island Escapade Day Tour focuses on the other smaller islands where you can soak the sun and do water activities. If you’re into island hopping where you laze around then this is your tour. It was for me put in the good slot of the last day in this trip.
The water was super crystal clear it’s unbelievable. White pure fine sands and it felt so good walking on the shore. The beaches on the islands in this tour were definitely in my list of the best beaches I’ve stepped on in my entire life.
The three days I was here was enough to fall in love with the Philippines! I was definitely happy to be back and glad I was old enough to appreciate its beauty. More on Coron, Busuanga and the rest of the island group in Calamian, Palawan in the next posts!
I booked my tours using Klook. Here are the three tours for each day for your convenience!
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