I woke up today morning feeling quite hungry. I was going to be swimming and snorkeling a lot later today, so I needed some energy.
I had a filling bacon, eggs and baguette for breakfast
After that, I was picked up by the tour operator for my island-hopping tour.
We boarded our tour boat docked at Luahati ParkBut it was a long wait before we departed because we were waiting for some more peopleEventually we did set off and begin our tour. This was our guide for the day.This is the “Sleeping giant” island, not too far from Coron’s shoreOur first stop was at the nearby Siete Pecados Marine ParkSiete Pecados Marine Park is a snorkeling siteI took out my underwater camera and jumped in
The water looks like this because of the camera’s colour reproduction. That said, the water was quite emerald green.Like most coral reefs, you’ll find it largely populated by scissortail sergeant fishHmm, did that boat just anchor down on some corals?They look like rocks, but they are coralsThe fish do get pretty closeI know its hard to make out the colours of these corals, but the camera I was using is far from a professional camera
Broken corals?
Here’s a video I took underwater:
For the following photos, I applied this technique of photo processing.
It brings out the colours of the objects (like fish) better but at the same time, the water wasn’t a clear blue eitherBut this gives you a better idea of the colourful coralsI was enjoying myself none the lessI finally spotted a Yellowtail Damsel
Well would you look at that. The law of nature playing out right in front of me — big fish trying to eat small fish — and it’s hiding to stay alive
I was starting to enjoy underwater photographySomeone jumped in the waterAlthough snorkeling in Siete Pecados Marine Park beats what I saw in Boracay, I would visit even better snorkelling sites later on this tour
A rainbow fish having a stare stand off with me
Lots of small fishI was so enjoying drifting in the water…… that I forgot it was time to leave.
I went back to the boat as most of the other tourists in our group had gotten out of the water.
We moved on againWe were going to an island to see Kayangan Lake nextThis is where I would get my postcard photograph of CoronWe dockedWe disembarked
There is an entrance fee, but we didn’t have to pay as it was all included in our tourWe now had to climb up a few steep stepsThen we reached a point from where we could get the famous sight of what is popularly photographed as ‘Coron’This view! You will find this backdrop used in many Coron descriptions, tour promos, etc.Look at that colour“I was in Coron!” shot doneWe then descended down the narrow stairsAnd there it isThis is Kayangan lake, supposed to be the cleanest lake in PalawanWe would get some time to swim in the lakeThat’s the island mapI put my DSLR back in and went in with the underwater cameraAbove water……and underSwimmers were trying all sorts of thingsLeaving memorabilia?It was mostly a rocky bottom. No corals.Kayangan lake is pretty big though. I don’t know how far long visitors are allowed to swim.These tourists were about to fall off this bamboo raftSplash!As for fish, these small ones were the most common
A fish’s view of what the outside world looksA lot of fish were congregating nears the stepsThese gold-coloured fish were playing hide-and-seek under the steps
I got out of the water and made my way back to the boat. Since I was carrying a heavy backpack, I would take time climbing the narrow stairs, and I didn’t want to delay my group.
It was nearing lunch time. The cooking is all done on the boat.Grilled fish, pork, seaweed salad and riceWe ate in hereThe boat staff ate theirs on board the boat itself
After lunch, we set off for the next coral reef. But I’m keeping that for a separate post. I ended my day by climbing Tapyas Hill, so it’s quite a lot of photos to cram into one post.
