2020.01.29 – Cauayan – Coron (Php) – After breakfast, we patiently waited for our 7:30am hotel’s airport shuttle. The Cauayan City airport was quite small but the waiting lounge was filled with travelers. As we looked at the passengers deplaning, we were surprised to see how many of them were wearing masks. The boarding of the A320 plane was very efficient with the two boarding ramps. The 50 mins flight to Manila was uneventful except for a short quiz ran by the flight agents which awarded small prizes. During the booking of our flight tickets with CEBU, we felt being victims of CEBU business practices which pro-actively sold you flight add-ons without requesting them. Hence, we ended up with a seat selection, a meal plan and travel insurance add-ons. We argued via CEBU chat, to no avail about seeking a refund for these add-ons not requested. Since we booked a 2nd flight from Manila to Coron with CEBU we “benefited” again of these same add-ons. In Manila, we had to take an airport shuttle from Terminal 3 to 4 which entailed a 20+ mins wait. The T4 waiting lounge was packed with travelers with over 60% of them wearing masks. It seemed like we clearly did not receive the memo! The 75 mins flight from Manila to Coron was uneventful except that Jenny won a small prize during the on-board quiz. Thankfully the quiz was the same as our earlier flight, hence we knew all the answers. The propeller plane to Coron was fairly small, hence we thought that Coron must not be too popular with tourists. Our view quickly changed when our airport shuttle arrived in the busy town of Coron. We could see tourists everywhere. We suddenly understood why it had been difficult to book a single accommodation for 4 nights in town. We ultimately had to book three different accommodations for our 4 nights stay in Coron. After checking into our first one night homestay, we rested before heading out for our evening meal. With no sidewalks, like in most towns, walking on the streets of Coron required constant attention to avoid the army of moto-tricycles, pedestrians, dogs, potholes, etc

2020.01.30 – Coron – Coron (Php) – We found an enjoyable cafe for our breakfast. We visited a local bank ATM to withdraw funds. To our surprise, we were able to withdraw a larger amount than we understood the local bank dispensed at their ATM. Just before noon, we moved our luggage from our homestay to a fancier hotel we had booked for our 2nd night in Coron. With funds in hand, we walked to the travel agency who organized our upcoming 3D2N (3 Days 2 Nights) Adventure Tour in order to make our balance payment. In the late afternoon, we finally managed to secure a private boat tour for tomorrow. We had our evening meal at a modest Korean restaurant. Later in the evening, we tried to locate with Maps.me our 3rd hotel in Coron for tomorrow. Thanks to the help of locals, we discovered the hotel’s location in Maps.me was incorrect.

2020.01.31 – Coron – Coron (Php) – We headed out to the same cafe as yesterday for our breakfast. Back at the hotel, we checked out of our room and left our luggage with the front desk while we went on our private boat tour. We met our boat guide at 7:30am near the dock. He brought us to a nearby market to choose some fresh meat for our lunch. Before leaving the dock, we had to confirm and pay the entrance fees to each stop-over site we planned to visit. After considering 5 stops, we finally agreed on 4 stops. The boat, typically called a bangka, with its captain and guide brought us for a swim at the famous Twin Lagoon, followed by two snorkeling sites with impressive corals and finished off with a relaxing time in another small lagoon. We were back on firm ground by 1pm. We picked up our luggage at our hotel and moved again, with the help of a moto-tricycle, to our third hotel in Coron. Jenny took advantage of the hotel’s clothes line to do an extensive clothes wash. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our room. Although we had appreciated the cloudy sky during our earlier private boat tour, we did not realize that we got sunburns on our back as we snorkeled. We had our evening meal at a nearby restaurant.

2020.02.01 – Coron – Coron (Php) – We had our courtesy breakfast at the hotel. It felt nice not to move to another hotel this morning. We relaxed in our room most of the morning. Later, we took a moto-tricycle to visit some shops to purchase a dry-bag in preparation for 3D2N Adventure Tour. After lunch, we took another ride to a cashew harvesting store where we bought a good supply for our Tour. We spent again the rest of the afternoon relaxing at our hotel where we also had our evening meal. In the evening, we loaded our small day backpacks with our travel essentials for our Tour as we understood our main backpacks would not follow us on our overnight islands campsites.

2020.02.02 – Coron – Lobog Beach Campsite (Php) – After our early breakfast at our hotel, we took a moto-tricycle to the Coron Port to join our Ultimate Adventure Tour 3D2N from Coron to El Nido. Although we could have taken a 3 to 5 hours fast ferry from Coron to El Nido, we had read many on-line recommendations for the 3 day 2 night adventure tour. The tour would allow us to reach many islands which would not be accessible through daily boat excursion. We arrived at the Coron port by 8:30am where we met briefly our tour leader and learned that our group size would be 21 for next three days. After having our luggage sniffed by a distracted chihuahua dog from the port’s K9 unit, we boarded our tour boat. The boat was much larger than we had anticipated. We had to wear life-vests on-board to comply with the coast guard rules. Our group included folks from the following countries: Italy (2), Austria (2), Denmark (4), UK (4), France (7) and Canada (2). Within a few hours on the boat, we all realized how attentive the 10 crew members and team leader were to our every need. Vanessa, our team leader, quickly presented us our 3 day itinerary. Before every stop, she would gather everyone for a short briefing. Our first night campsite was thoroughly well prepared and our hut was comfortable and cozy. As our boat could not dock on the island, guests could either snorkel to shore or take a kayak. Jenny became a frequent kayak passenger and kept the kayak boys busy. It felt like we were all contestants on the reality tv show Survivor – Philippines edition as we took our bucket shower. The prepared food was excellent and plentiful. We were all amazed by how the crew managed to cook all the meals on the boat’s small kitchen and kayak it to the island for us. A night bonfire completed the very enjoyable first day. Every one had retired to their huts for the night by 10:30pm.

2020.02.03 – Lobog Beach Campsite – Balemben Beach Campsite (Php) – During the night, the wind kept the sand flies away but hindered somewhat our sleep as the door curtain and mosquito net kept on flapping in the wind. After an excellent breakfast at our campsite, again kayaked over from the boat, we continued our 2nd day itinerary with its 5 snorkeling/beach stops. Lunch was again served on the boat. We arrived at our 2nd night beach campsite shortly after 5pm. The huts, shower and toilets arrangement were similar to yesterday. We learned that the tour company had established these huts only in the past year as previously the tour participants would have slept in tents on the beach. Our second awesome tour day wrapped up with an excellent evening meal and a bonfire.

2020.02.04 – Balemben Beach Campsite – El Nido (Php) – We had an excellent night sleep but we had to wake up early in order to board the boat before 6am to reach a bay some 50 mins away which was known for its turtle population. The early morning snorkeling was rewarded by the sighting of three turtles. Later, we had breakfast on board of the boat. We continued our 3rd day itinerary with its 5 snorkeling/beach stops and arrived in El Nido by 4:30pm. Throughout the trip, we chatted with most of the participants about their travel plans. It was surprising to learn that 2019 N-Virus situation was altering travel plans for many, such as flight to Hong Kong being canceled or exchange study semester in Taiwan being deferred. Everyone appeared happy to have arrived in El Nido and were looking forward to the remainder of their respective travel journey. We left Vanessa and the boat crew with great memories and high regards for the company’s well oiled Tour. From the El Nido port, we took a moto-tricycle to our accommodation. During this short commute, we noticed that the town of El Nido was, like Coron, was overrun with tourists. After a welcomed shower at our accommodation, we went out for our evening meal. Later, we visited a few laundry services to inquiry about pricing, business hours and pickup time as we had accumulated a fair amount of clothes in need of a good freshwater wash.

2020.02.05 – El Nido – El Nido (Php) – Before breakfast, we dropped off a 4kg load of clothes at a nearby laundry service. After breakfast, we walked over to the bus terminal to buy our tickets for tomorrow’s 5.5 hour journey to Puerto Princessa. Later, we took a moto-tricycle to the town center where we enjoyed some nice coffee and banana split. On the way back to our accommodation, we picked up our clothes and hanged them to dry outside our accommodation. In the evening, we took a moto-tricycle to a (very) expensive Italian restaurant for some pizza.