Expenses:
8000 Php –Airfare and Hotel Accommodations for 3 nights 4 days and airport transfers Promo (for 2 people) Via Skyjet and Jims Castle Hotel
3200 Php – Tour Packages
*Breakdown:
a.) Ultimate Island Tour- 1500 Php
b.) Island Tour C- 1200 Php
c.) DIY City Tour, Mt. Tapyas, and Maquinit Hot Spring – 500 Php
Tour Options depending on your budget, we opted to choose DIY’s and the tour with the most number of Islands to maximize our time.
Tour Packages ranges from 650-2500 Php. (prices vary from one travel agency to the other)
*** When you reach Busuanga Airport there will be flyers and offers waiting for you outside ***
TOTAL expenses: 14,400 Php
Pocket Money: 10,000php (Optional: For Pasalubong, Food, Booze etc.)
You can contact your local travel agencies for group tours; you can save more if you travel by pax.
Tour Packages includes: Life Vest; Tourist Boat and Tour Guide, Lunch and Snacks, and Pick Up and Drop Off, All entrance fees and permits, cottage, med kits and FREE use of Kayaks.
What to bring:
1 . Snorkeling Gear /Diving Gear
2 . Swimming Shoes (if you don’t want to step on some stonefish, sea urchins and other unknown creatures crawling down the sea bed hahaha)
3 . Shit loads of Sunblock (lol) *trust me, if you don’t have sunblock wear your rash guard, brought the 2 items with me, but still manage to burn myself. Haha *
4 . Extra Shirts /underwear and shorts
5 . Camera (small point and shoot would be fine or your go pro and Iphone shoots just well)
6 . Waterproof bag or Case
Fear not, if you don’t have some of the items mentioned, you can rent. Just ask your tour guide.
Snorkeling gear- 120 /whole day
Swimming Shoes- 150/whole day
What not to bring:
1 . Jewelries and expensive items
2 . Bulky DSLRS/ Cameras (but if want to take a risk then go ahead just put it on a protective waterproof case, you’ll be staying in the ocean for the whole day so think of the possibilities that could happen to your expensive gear)
3 . Items of high value, well you can if you want to? But its better not to be flashy and attract unnecessary attention, by attention I mean, thieves and prices go up (literally everything) when they see you with a Cartier bracelet for example.
Day 1: Arrival
Travel time from NAIA airport to Busuanga Airport is 40-45 minutes.
Upon arrival and baggage claim, a person will greet you with a placard with your name written on it. Travel from the Airport to your Hotel will take you around 10-15 minutes via a coaster provided by your hotel.
Upon check in, you are free to explore the city rent a scooter for 500 Php for the whole day or you can make a deal with a local tricycle driver, we got 300-400 Php for the whole day hahaha (Bring out your negotiation skills) *Tawaran mo bes ng makamura LOL! *
City Tour offer from the hotel is expensive (650-750 Php), plus you only have a limited time to appreciate and explore each place you are going to, so we opted to rent the tricycle the whole day.
First Stop, the famous Lolo Noy’s. Yay FOOD!!! Lol.
Maquinit opens 6 am and closes at 10pm. Most of the tourists go around 5-6 or 7pm after their respective tours. But you wont be able to enjoy because there will be a lot of people during that time. So for photos and instagram purposes go in the morning and go back at night.
After that we went to St. Agustine Church the only church that can be found in Coron Town Proper. Being a Christian Community people go to church regularly and you can hear the church bells and prayers all through out the day.
Last stop, Mt. Tapyas, 230 meters above sea level and 730 steps going to the top. According to the locals during the Lenten season people will climb the mountain to show their devotion to one’s faith. They say, a mass is held on top during Holy Friday and Black Saturday. Saw some people climbing with some weights or even a bicycle. A breath taking view of the whole Coron completes my first day in this wonderful city.
Seeing the sunset made me realize that it’s not always about saving, working and then die eventually. Sometimes you need a time to yourself to contemplate and to be thankful for whatever blessings you have received together a special person. I couldn’t ask for a better ending to my day.
Day 2:
Ultimate Island Tour – Coron
7 Islands for the whole day
1.) CYC Beach
2.) Smith Beach
3.) Skeleton Wreck
4.) Las Islas de Coral
5.) Twin Lagoons
6.) Kayangan Lake
7.) Siete Picados
This sums up my day. You can see more photos on my Instagram account @imbryfetalvero. We were swimming and sunbathing the whole day, a lil exhausting and tired but happy. At the end of the day you will experience the beach in your hearts content. Snorkeling, paddle boarding, kayaking or scuba diving.
I'm excited for tomorrow :)
Get real Bar with Isabelle. J Met the owner and was introduced to some important people. Special thanks to Maui of Get Real Bar for the warm welcome and for the food. To Mr. Reyes of Pass Island Resort, I will fix my schedule and will definitely come back for a review.
Day 3: Island Tour C (A day in the Maldives)
1.) Bolog Dos Island
2.) Malcapuya Island
3.) Banana Island
Day 4: Souvenir Buying and Packing and Departure (Busuanga to Manila).
Airport transfers from the hotel to the airport takes around 15minutes.
I am sad to leave Coron, but I will surely comeback. My time here is not yet over. I have met new friends, learned some important lessons and a trip worth remembering.
(All photos are owned and copyrighted by Bryan Fetalvero. 2017 All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos without explicit permission is punishable by law.)
