Amazing Coron: What pasalubong to bring home

A trip is never complete without bringing home some goodies for your loved ones. Palawan has a lot to offer. Seafoods, pearls, cashew nuts, mangoes. But before you buy something, take note of this guidelines. I took this photo from the airport.

So please, do not attempt to bring home any of these, as you will be penalized at the airport. And they implement this seriously. Another thing that is forbidden to bring outside Palawan are their mangoes. It is because Palawan mangoes have what they call "mango weevil pulp".

According to http://positivenewsmedia.net:

Mango pulp weevil was observed in the southern part of the province in 1987, which was believed to have come from the neighboring country of Malaysia. 

Because of the discovery, a ban was imposed against the transportation and selling of mango harvests from southern Palawan. The whole province was also placed under plant quarantine. 

This means fresh mangoes from the province are not allowed to be transported outside so as not to affect others. The imposition of the ban has made the market for the mangoes in the south limited only in the local market. 

Now, the ban is not only in Southern Palawan but in Northern Palawan as well. Coron is the Northern part of Palawan. Too bad, because the mangoes in Coron are so big and sweet! My hubby even bought 2 pcs. for his own consumption before our flight.

 

 

Anyway, instead on whining on mango ban, splurge on Lamayo - marinated danggit. I found this version better than the dried version you usually buy in Cebu. In the public market, Lamayo costs P350/kilo. We asked Tita Chinette, owner of Coron Reef, where we could buy cheap Lamayo and she said someone delivers Lamayo on a daily basis in their house at P300/ kilo. So I gave her P300 and voila! I have a bunch of mouthwatering Lamayo!

Someone also delivers mud crab or Manla in Coron Reef. A bunch costs P70. These tastes like alimango but looks like  a mix of crab and alupihan. Regular crabs (alimasag) is at P100/ kilo and alimango is at P300/kilo, depending on size.

You can also buy fresh fish from the market and they will be glad to pack it for you.

A Palawan trip is not complete without bringing home cashew nuts. Price is P50 for a 1/4 kg pack. Anywhere you ask, it's the same price.

Coron is a small town and there are only a few who sells souvenir items. When you go to the public market, you will not find the typical souvenir items there like keychains, ref magnets, etc. Instead, you find Coron shirts at P130 each.

A souvenir shop a few meters away from Coron Reef is the most famous shop here. 

Bring home these wood carvings. They have it in all sizes, even as small as a ref magnet.

 

 Keychains at P35 each.

Paper weight, pen holders, etc.

This is the cheapest you could buy here, bracelets at P25 each.

Shirts are priced depending on size. If you want the "I Love Coron" shirt, they do not have it here. Instead, head to the public market and you can get one for P130 each.

You can also bring home some cashew specialties like Bande (caramelized cashew), cashew butter, cashew brittle, etc.

Amazing Coron: Coron Loop Tour

Our third day in Coron was dedicated to Coron Loop tour. It's an action-packed adventure that includes trekking, snorkeling and a lot of water activities. This tour is the highlight of every Coron getaway. Expect to get wet and wild! Bring watrerproof pouches for your cameras, cellphones and other valuables. Don't forget your snorkeling gears and aqua shoes!

Our first stop: Siete Pecados or Seven Islands

Siete Pecados is a better version of Pambato Reef in Puerto Princesa. If you enjoyed snorkeling in Pambato Reef, you will get hooked to Siete Pecados. Bring pieces of bread to feed the fishes here. They are sooooooo many species of fish in this area. And they are big!

By the way, allow me to introduce the woman behind this travel, Ms. Rina of Coron Wonders. She has 2 batches of guests that time, us and another big group but see made sure she hops on both boats to attend to our needs. Kudos to Ms. Rina! We will definitely book a tour with you again. She also arranges tours in Puerto Princesa and El Nido.

I do not know how to swim. I am afraid of deep waters. But I enjoyed this part of our trip. What I did was to stay at the boat's ladder and snorkel from there. It's addicting!

Did you know that the fishes you see in Manila Ocean Park are from Siete Pecados? Yes, the clown fish, parrot fish, etc. are all from here! So when you snorkel here, it is as if you are inside Manila Ocean Park's Oceanarium.

Corals galore

I did not find Nemo though.

Our next stop is Kayangan Lake. If you've been searching about Coron on Google, you must have seen tons of photos of Kayangan Lake. But it is really more stunning up close! 

Kayangan Lake is managed by the Tagbanuas, the indigenous people of Palawan. Before leaving your boat, apply mosquito-repellant as there is a tribe of mosquitoes here!

You will walk through this docking area towards the trek.

 You will walk on water. You can wear your aqua shoes or just walk on barefoot.

The journey to Kayangan Lake begins here. Prepare to climb steep and slippery rocks. If you conquered Mt. Tapyas, then you can climb all the way up with much ease.

And this is what's waiting for you, a topview of Kayangan Lake

It's a bigger and better version of Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan.

After trekkking up, you have to go down to the other side to get to the lake itself. Water is so clear and deep. I just stayed near the wooden bridges built beside the rocks.

Kayangan Lake has brackish water, a convergence of salt and fresh water. No colorful Nemos here though, but it has shrimps!

 There's a small cave at the other end of the lake.

This is what you will see underwater in Kayangan Lake. Awesome rock formations under clear water.

 Before we ate our lunch, we decide to pass by Barracuda Lake. This is a famous diving spot in Coron but from the name itself, expect barracudas swimming around.

The stairs to Barracuda Lake. Rocks here are sharper than in Kayangan Lake, so beware.

 

It looks almost the same as Kayangan, only way deeper. See the water? It's clear but its so blue because it is so deep! My friend tried to see what's beneath Barracuda Lake and she said it's like a building that collapsed, then filled with water. So it must be really deep.

 

 We did not go to Banol Beach but chose to eat lunch in Vivian Beach, a small cove that has huts for picnic. It is just a few meters away from Barracuda Lake.

Our lunch includes fish (sorry, no photo taken), seaweed salad and bulalo.

 

After lunch, we headed to our next destination, the Twin Lagoons.

When we approached this entrance, we felt as if we entered a postcard!. Very beautiful limestones here.

There are 2 ways by which you could enter the second lagoon (the first one being where your boat will dock). If it is low tide, you could float through this small opening. The water is also deep. But during high tide, you will not be able to do that.

  

Instead, you could climb this stairs....

And go down here. See that opening below, that's the other entrance I've been talking about, only from a different perspective.

And there, another paradise abound.

Since I am really afraid of deep water, Kuya Dennis, our boatman, got this balsa  for us so that we can also enjoy the lagoon. It is the first time I experienced a balsa ride.

The tide is getting low.

On our way to the Skeleton Wreck, we saw a Super Ferry towards the port. Ms. Rina said Super Ferry has midnight trips from Manila and arrives 12 hours after. So if it leaves Manila at 12 midnight, you will be in Coron by 12 nn the follwoing day. Not bad! If you have to scape from the Metro, hop aboard this ship!

Initial approach to Skeleton Wreck. This is also part of the Tagbanua ancestral domains so people here technically owns these treasures.

 

There's a sand bar here but we did not dock near the shore. Instead, we went snorkeling again!

That ladder is my knight in shinning armor during this trip. I held on to this ladder while giving bread to these cute fishes.

My hubby tried to take a photo of the shipwreck, but this is the closest he could get. The ship is said to be a vessel that will supposedly deliver foods during the Galleon Trade until it unfortunately sank here. Our boat is anchored on its tip.

More fishes!

This is the finale to our Coron adventure. We hope to come back soon! Next time, we shall visit the Calauit, Busuanga side.

Airfare via Air Philippines for 2 pax	428
Accomodation (Coron Reef Pension House) @ 3 nights	1800
Terminal Fees (RT)	440
Airport Transfer (RT)	600
Tours *	6540
Total	9808
per pax	P 4904
* Includes Coron Inland with dinner, Coron Loop with lunch and 2 snacks, Banana-Malcapuya-Bulog Dos with lunch and 2 snacks, entrance fees, cottages, boat.

Note: 

Food in Coron is cheap if you will not indulge in high-end restos. But hey, you are on vacation and you deserve great food! You may try Bistro Coron, Kawayanan Grill, La Sirenetta, Lolo Nonoy's and Binalot Tong Daon.

Food provided by Coron Wonders are enough. If you are not fond of heavy breakfast, their am snacks will suffice. Lunch and Dinner are really tummy-filling!