Mithun Divakaran Tapyas Coron Philippines

Philippines: Coron island-hopping tour (Part 2) – Twin lagoon, CYC island; climbing Mt. Tapyas

Date: 31st May 2013

This is a continuation of the first half of this Coron island-hopping tour. After lunch, the boat set off towards the next stop on the tour.

Emerald green water Coron Palawan
Goodbye to the emerald green water
Floating hut Coron Palawan
Floating bar?

Karst limestone rock Coron

Coron hills Palawan Philippines
Telephone signals seemed quite far away
Filipino girls Coron tour
Some of the tourists were in their post-lunch nap

We were supposed to go to Barracuda Lake next but we couldn’t because of some “problem” there. So instead, the boat took us to the Twin Lagoon. The water here looked far clearer than Siete Picados and the skies were clearing up too. So I got ready to jump in.

Twin lagoon water clarity Coron
Here we go!

Swimmer twin lagoon Coron Philippines
Blue lagoon indeed 🙂
Twin lagoon coral reef Coron Philippines
The water was cool
Twin lagoon corals Coron Palawan
Quite rich in coral life

Here’s a brief video:

The next few photos are processed using this method.

Corals cape point Coron
This is just one of many, many coral spots in Philippines

Twin lagoon corals Coron Philippines

Emerald coral reef Coron
I swam gently
Coral bed small fish Coron Philippines
Check out the small fish above the big coral
Anchor coral reef Coron Philippines
Anchored to the sand
Sea urchin Coron coral reef Philippines
Sea urchins, they’re considered a delicacy in the Far East
Coral fishes Coron lagoon Philippines
Loads of small fishes
Coral jungle Coron Palawan Philippines
It’s like a coral ‘jungle’ in here
Blue corals Coron Palawan
There were a lot of these blue corals down below
Blue corals Coron sea
They looked quite alien, but cool
Colourful corals Coron Philippines
The corals were definitely better here

Coral reef Coron Palawan PhilippinesCoral fish snorkeling tour Coron PhilippinesCoral snorkel tour Coron Palawan

Swimming guide handle Coron snorkeling
This is our guide helping people who can’t swim. This way they can just hold on to the float and still enjoy the sights underneath.
Fish underwater photography Coron Philippines
I would just stay still the water and float. It’s a nice sensation in calm waters.
Snorkeling coral fish twin lagoon Coron
But after nearly 30 minutes in the water, I decided to head back to the boat
Boat from under water Coron coral reef
I was really enjoying underwater photography

The boat then just moved a few metres ahead to the second lagoon. It didn’t look drastically different, but I went in anyway!

Sea urchins under sea Coron Philippines
More sea urchins
Big coral Coron Palawan
And more corals
Twin lagoon underwater Coron Palawan
Looked slightly different from the first one
Underwater snorkeling Coron Palawan
Not as colourful though
Coral sea bed Coron Philippines
Kinda dull (in comparison)
Taking photo underwater Coron Snorkel tour
I wasn’t the only one in my group with an underwater camera
School of fish Coron underwater
That’s a lot of fish!
School of fish snorkel tour Coron
And it’s amazing none of the fishes will ‘bump’ into you
Coron tour guide assist swimming
This is how a kid goes around with her mommy when both of them can’t swim 🙂
Boat motor from underwater Coron
I swam around the boat
White coral fish Coron Philippines
Spot the white fish
Round coral ball sea bed Coron
So many corals in different shapes, colours and sizes
Underwater Coron coral fish Palawan
I didn’t spot anything new at this reef, so I went back to the boat

When it was time to leave, the tour boat then rode to the final stop on this tour, CYC island.

Cyc island Coron Philippines
This is a small island where we could lay on the beach or swim if we wanted to
Cyc island mangrove beach Coron
Not the greatest beach in Coron
CYC island beach tree Coron Philippines
We disembarked
CYC island tees Coron Philippines
Pretty isolated
Cat CYC island Coron
So how this cat got to this island is beyond me
CYC island beach Coron panorama
I left my DSLR on the boat and just carried the underwater camera
CYC island beach water Coron
I felt like going in for a swim
Mithun Divakaran underwater
Coron underwater selfie!
CYC island Coron beach sand
A short while later we went back to the boat
Tapyas hill Coron from sea
It was nearing 3:30pm and we headed back to Coron town. The cross you see on top of that hill? I was going to climb to the top next.

Coron island sign from seaOnce we disembarked at Lualhati park, I headed straight to my room to freshen up and offload some of the contents of my bag.

Way to Mt. Tapyas Coron
Feeling lighter, I walked to the foot of Mount Tapyas
Coron village Philippines
It was only walking distance from Coron Backpackers Guesthouse
Road to Mount Tapyas Coron
I thought of coming here tomorrow morning but I didn’t want to risk waking up late and rushing it up a hill
Basketball hoop Tapyas Coron
Plus, the sun was still an hour or two away from setting
Palawan tax payers project tribute Coron
Giving credit where credit is due!
Steps Mt. Tapyas Coron Philippines
Sigh, my worst enemy on travels. More than 700 steps. Here we go.
Coron island hills Palawan
A few steps up and you already know the views are only going to get better
Mt. Tapyas steps tourists resting
It’s a good thing that they have benches where climbers can rest for a while before continuing onwards with their journey
Cyclist going up Mt. Tapyas Coron Palawan
Some people had other ideas
Tapyas hill steps Coron Panorama
It was pretty damn tiring

Tapyas mountain Coron evening

Top of Mt. Tapyas Coron
But after 30 minutes of huffing and puffing
Cross atop Mt. Tapyas Coron Philippines
I made it!
Coron hill panorama
Panorama time!
Coron town from tapyas hill
I don’t know what they are building out in the sea

Coron islands view from Tapyas hill

Mt. Tapyas view point Coron Philippines
This was the viewpoint. And the cyclist came up all the way up here to do wheelies — not ride downhill. I was disappointed 😛
Tapyas hill walking path Coron Philippines
They had a walking trail going around the top of the hill
Gazebo Mt. Tapyas hill Coron
They have a few gazebos up here
Tapyas hill crass panorama
I had to take many more panoramas
Gazebo tapyas hill Coron Philippines
This looked like a nice frame. So I set up my tripod and decided to shoot to a timelapse sequence.
Sunlight Mt. Tapyas Coron
But I had to stop because too many people started appearing in the frame
Mithun Divakaran Tapyas Coron Philippines
So I just took a photo of myself
Coron from Tapyas hill
It was time to head back down
Outlying islands Coron Philippines
So many islands
Coron hills at sunset panorama
Mt. Tapyas would make for a nice spot to watch the sun set
Colourful trees Mt. Tapyas Coron
I wanted to get back down before dark

When I got down, my legs were aching! I walked slowly because they were really stressed from climbing 700+ steps up and down. Once I got back to my room, I just lay in bed and gave my feet some rest for an hour or two.

I took a bath and later went out for dinner.

Heavy rain at night Coron
As soon as I sat down at Sushi Bar, it began to rain heavily. No worries, I carried an umbrella.
Lobster meal Coron Philippines
I ordered a lobster meal and found it quite disappointing. Barely any flesh and at this point, I gave up on my expectations when it came to great seafood in the Philippines.

By the time I headed back to my room, the rains had reduced to a drizzle. This was my last night in Coron. Tomorrow afternoon I would fly back to Manila. Much like how El Nido capped off my 2011 journey across the Philippines, this year it was Coron that was the true highlight of my trip. I faced quite a few disappointments on this visit to the Philippines, but the Coron experience made this visit to the Philippines worth the while.

Anyway, back to Manila for now!

Previous posts in this series:

Philippines 2013: Coron island-hopping tour (Part 1) – Siete Pecados, Kayangan lake

Philippines 2013: Aerial view of Mount Mayon; arriving at Coron

Philippines 2013: Lignon Hill Park, Cagsawa Ruins and Mount Mayon

Philippines 2013: Arriving at Legazpi; going to Donsol to see whale sharks

Philippines 2013: Leaving Boracay; Kalibo to Angeles City

Beachfront hotels and resorts on White Beach, Boracay

Philippines 2013: Bulabog beach, Mount Luho viewpoint and sunset at White Beach

Philippines 2013: Boracay island tour, Puka beach and snorkelling

Philippines 2013: Flying from Manila to Boracay, White Beach

Philippines 2013: Taal Lake Volcano and Peoples Park, Tagaytay

The crap I went through to get my Philippines tourist visa this time

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2 Comments

  • superkid

    12/01/2016

    Nice photos. Is it safe to bring DSLR on island hopping even without dry bag?

    Mithun Divakaran Reply:

    Yes, as long as you are careful! 🙂

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