whapakk.

When Jen asked me sometime last month if I would be interested in buying a ticket to Coron, Palawan for a February trip, I felt like I just had to say yes. I’ve never been there, the costs were way below my expectations, and I didn’t have to go with total strangers. So yeah, I decided that I just had to do it.

Roner, Tere, and Jen at the Manila Domestic Airport.

I know it’s so unlike me to be early for, well, anything, but I was there first at the Manila Domestic Airport, probably because I was so excited to burn myself on the beach. Jen, Tere, Roner, and I boarded a Zest Air plane sometime around ten in the morning, and because I’ve heard so many negative things about the airline, I couldn’t help but be a bit afraid of the flight. It turned out okay.

Me with Jen before boarding; whoever said Zest Air sucks big-time (yeah it does, but it's bearable)?

We reached Coron a little more than an hour later and it was really nice that the Francisco B. Reyes airport was much, much cleaner and organized than Caticlan’s airport. I thought that if the airport was this laid-back, then what more when we get to the beach? It was a great welcome at least for me; one of the many reasons I really wanted to go to Coron was to leave all work-related worries back in Manila, and the atmosphere from that point on at the airport through the end of the trip helped me do just that.

Francisco B. Reyes Airport: a flyer's gateway to Coron.

We boarded a shuttle to the Coron Village Lodge, where I, to my horror and clumsiness, dropped my camera from at least four feet high to a concrete sidewalk. It was just great: I dropped my stupid camera after just one step after getting to our destination. It was badly dented after I dropped it but at least it still works.

We stayed at the Coron Village Lodge: neat!

My first impressions of the lodge were that it was clean, was neatly decorated, had a really positive vibe to it, and had this weirdly unique identity to it that made it such a memorable place to stay in. On top of that, the welcome lunch was great.

Isda. Ongsorop-sorop.

There was no time to rest. We settled down in our rooms and changed into our swimming clothes and before the hour was over, we were on our way to the port for a boat ride to Atuwayan Beach.

The port's a trike ride away from the lodge.

Some of my readers know about this already, but I have a busted left eardrum. That means even with ear plugs, I’m not allowed to submerge it in water, which is a total bummer since I really like diving and swimming underwater. At times like this when I’m at a place where I’m tempted to sink and do pull a Kevin Costner (or maybe not), I just can’t and I really feel like shit just standing on the sidelines watching friends play Waterworld.

I think I ought to get surgery soon.

Atuwayan Beach featuring some random guy peeing at the waters behind us.

At any rate, Atuwayan Beach rocks: the sand was really fine and the place was really quiet (except for a group of kids I suspect peed on the beach, but that’s just me speculating; gross, damnit).

At the Maquinit Hot Springs. Hotwaternirvana.

We then visited the Maquinit Hot Springs which is probably the next best thing to heaven. I’m a sucker for hot water; my family knows how many shower heaters I’ve broken because of overuse, and I tell you, the Maquinit Hot Springs is way, way better than good old damned hot showers.

I’ll be writing about our second day in Coron soon!

More Coron: Day One photos posted on Shootdelay.