February 10, 2013
Today is our second day and we were booked for a tour to the following:
== CYC Beach
== Coral Garden
== Twin Peak Reef
== Isla Bulungan
== Hidden Lagoon
== Kayangan Lake
The tour is offered by Corongaleri at 650php. The office of Corongaleri is near the path going up to Mt. Tapyas. The second day is filled with visuals so it's better if I just attached pictures while working on the text.
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| @Corongaleri - aside from tours, they also sell souvenir items. If you don't have your own snorkeling gear, they rent it out for 100php |
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| Above: This is the park at the port area |
We were still waiting for the tour group to be completed so I took a picture of the map.
When we were completed, we were introduced to our boatman, Mr. M(hahaha! I forgot his name).
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| Above: Mt. Tapyas Below: Port Area |
Our first destination was CYC Beach.
CYC Beach is an island with a small strip of white sand. The water level approximately 5-8 meters from the beach was almost chest high. You may snorkel here; you could see fish but you would see more if you give them bread.
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| Upper Left and Lower Right: CYC beach(view from the boat) Upper Right: If facing the sea, this will be on your right Lower Left: If facing the sea, this will be on your left |
We stayed for about 45 minutes at CYC Beach and proceeded to the Coral Garden. Unfortunately, we don't have an underwater camera so I couldn't post any pictures relating to this area. But trust me when I say that what we saw underwater was breathtaking. It's like an underwater kingdom. Since you're snorkeling in the middle of the sea, expect waves. If you're planning to visit Coron anytime soon, please listen to your boatman---DO NOT STEP ON THE CORALS!!
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| Twin Peaks |
Next stop is the Twin Peaks Reef. Now, don't be mistaken--Twin Peaks Reef and Twin Lagoon are two different locations. So if you've been hearing something amazing referring to Twin Lagoon and you're going to Twin Peaks Reef, remember, they are different sites. Twin Peaks Reef is also a snorkeling site and the area of corals is a bit smaller compared to that of the Coral Garden. But rest assured that this spot will be just as colorful. But be careful! Some areas from this spot are shallow, you might hurt yourself. Watch out for the sea urchins!
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| Isla Bulungan |
After all the snorkeling, we proceeded to Isla Bulungan to take our lunch.
Our lunch was composed of the ff. rice, grilled porkchop (a bit on the tough side), grilled Fish, lato(seaweed), banana. The boatman will also give you vinegar and soy sauce ( I suggest you use them...it's good with the porkchop :) )
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| Let's eat! Note: You will also be given a bottle of VIVA mineral water |
You will leave the island at approximately 2 PM. So you could spend your time taking pictures or have an afternoon nap. Second to the last destination for us was the hidden lagoon. This is basically just an area for swimming. You won't stay long here. Last, but definitely the highlight of the tour --> Kayangan Lake.
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| Left: Kayangan Lake Center: View from the boat (Note: This is not the actual lake. This is just one of the islands) Right: View from the mountain (Again, not the actual lake) |
Before you see the lake, you would need to hike 75 meters up and down a mountain. You will be advised to bring your snorkel and your life vest because the lake is very deep (for those who are great at swimming, you could just bring the snorkel) You will see various rock formations if you swim further. Just be careful--the rocks have rough and sharp edges so a little scratch would hurt.
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| Left and Center: Underwater rock formations Right: Kayangan Lake |
And that concludes the tour; we were transported back to town. The tour was fun and it gives you that peaceful moment to appreciate God's creation and the Philippines. It was a little over 4:30 when we got back to Corongaleri to return the rented snorkels. Our next challenge: go up Mt. Tapyas.
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| On the way to the top of Mt. Tapyas |
You could ride a tricycle if you want to start at the first step -OR- you could do it the way we did--we walked all the way from Corongaleri then up the steps. (Advice for the non-climbers: Don't do it the way we did because you'll end up tired before reaching the first step.) You'll enjoy climbing the first hundred steps but as you go further, you'll ask yourself why you even bothered to inflict torture on yourself! ^_^ But once you get to where the cross is, you'll get rewarded with an amazing view and you suddenly realize that it was all worth the effort.
So after taking more pictures and waiting for the sun to set, we started on our way down. Advice: Do stop once in a while on your way. You wouldn't want to suffer aching legs. You have an option to take a tricycle going to Maquinit Hot Springs right after the climb(We surely regretted skipping on this--we felt sticky and tired so we opted to go back to the lodge, freshen up, eat dinner (3 bbq @10php each, 1 jumbo hotdog @ 15 php), then rest for a while before going to the spring, only to find out that they close at 8 PM[Some blogs said that it's until 10 PM]) So there, we ended up sulking for a little while but we immediately dozed off 'til the morning of our flight back to Manila.
For the final day, we went to Coron Harvest(tricycle 10php/person) and bought cashews(Depending on the size of the packs, price range is around 100-200php). The lady owner was quite popular--she even had a tarp with Kris Aquino. She also gave us one pack of their local delicacy--the Bandi. It was good but I prefer the garlic flavored cashews. We also bought souvenirs and dried fish/squid. We also wanted to try the zipline (300php 2-way; 500 2-way, with snacks and certificate) located at the harbor but they start operation at 1 PM.
Yes we had our regrets: We weren't able to go to Maquinit, we wanted to go snorkeling at Siete Pecados, we wanted to see the Twin Lagoon and the other islands. But still, we enjoyed the trip, we temporarily forgot our work problems and we now have the reason to go back...next year! :)
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