Our second day in Coron is supposed to be Coron Loop tour we booked through Ms. Rina of Coron Wonders (09178136159). But since our friend's flight was cancelled (she was the one on CebuPacific I mentioned in an earlier post), she said we can go on with our Banana-Malcapuya-Bulog Dos tour so she can join the Coron Loop tour the day after.
Fortunately, the weather was good and the sea is very calm that day. Ms. Rina fecthed us from Coron Reef Pension House at around 8:30am and we boarded this boat.
Ms. Rina told us that she will not be joining us for the day. Instead Kuya Juan will be our tour guide (he used to work in Amphibi-Ko, another inn near Coron Reef). We cruised the sea for about 2 hours and saw these beautiful limestones on the way.
Our first stop is Malcapuya Island. After researching for almost a year, I read a lot of good feedback about this island. And finally, I can now attest that indeed, this island is paradise. It has a long stretch of fine white sand, clear blue water and nice limestone formations. I read some comments that the sand is here is not as fine a boracay. I beg to disagree. Yes, the sand near the dock is not as fine as it has shells and small stones. But as you go farther towards the other end, there you will see the fine and white sand bar. The water is so clear that we even saw a small stingray not too far from the shore.
Here is a view of the docking area from Malcapuya's view deck.
A rumor says that the owners of Malcapuya Island bought this magnificent piece of nature at only Php 5,000. I dropped my jaw when I learned about this. Anyways, it's just a rumor and who am I to dig in? Just kidding. If I own this island, I wouldn't even trade this for a multi-million building in Makati. The place is simply breathtaking.
They also have huts for day tours and cottages/rooms for an overnight stay. We had our lunch here, food inclusive in our Coron Wonders package.
If you hate the seaweeds in Panglao, Bohol, I am sure you will love this part of Malcapuya.
Astonishing view of the island from the view deck.
Here's one of the cabanas available for an overnight stay. They also have concrete rooms for a premium price.
We strolled along the stretch of Malcapuya Island and arrived at these rock formations. I felt I am one of the casts of Survivor.
Jellyfish! But we only saw one.
Here's our morning snacks courtesy of Coron Wonders: sandwich, a delicious coffee jelly and Coke
And our sumptuous lunch! Crabs, Clams and Chicken Adobo.
After lunch, we headed to our next destination, Banana Island. If only I could spend a week in Malcapuya, believe me I will!
Banana Island is just a few minutes away from Malcapuya Island. Here, you can either go snorkeling, swimming or just beach bumming.
We chose snorkeling. Fishes galore!!!
The water is so clear that even without using an underwater camera, you can see the fishes roaming around from above water level. The seabed is rocky though compared to Malcapuya.
Some corals, stones and sea urchins.
Look, I am chasing the pink fish!
Later that afternoon, we noticed that the sky is turning dark and that it is raining in some parts of Coron.
The sand here is not as fine as Malcapuya and not as white as well.The sand bar is shorter, too. But accomodations here for an overnight stay is more affordable than in Malcapuya.
It's going to rain!
Since rain is about to pour, we immediately left Banana Island and went to its neighbor island, Bulog Dos. Here, you will find a lot of giant starfishes.
From Bulog Dos, you will see Malaroyroy Island, where Two Seasons (a Boracay-based resort owner) is building villas. Their website says it will be open in the first quarter of 2012.
We just took some photos and ate our afternoon snacks (Putong Puti and Coke) and headed back to town. We docked at the public port in front of the Public Market and Coron Gateway Hotel becuase it's low tide already and our boat cannot dock in front of La Sirenetta/ Coron Reef. From the port we just walked home.
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