06282011
Day 2
Our first stop on our second day tour would be in Malcapuya Island. But of course, before we headed to the island, we had our breakfast first at CVL's Restaurant. We had their pancakes and omelet with onions and beef tapa paired with brewed coffee and orange juice. mmmnn... nomnomnom!!
It usually takes 2hours to get to the island but this time, kuya Jong gave us a different boat and it's a gunboat which will take us to the island in an hour instead and different bangkeros. Kuya Raymond and his Tatay. (i forgot his name! :D)
We had to hurry and buy our food for today's lunch. We plan to have it in Banana Island. I've been craving for sea foods, so I decided to buy lobsters, Blue Marlin and seaweeds. We also have spam that we bought in manila.
Finally, we had our first sight of Malcapuya Island. While we were approaching at the beach front I can't help but adore this place and all we can say was -- Wow! We can't wait to get to the island. Most of the guest's boat we're docked at the back of the island to preserve the place.
There's no one in the island except from the group of girls, but they took off as well, about 20mins or so, we were very happy... it's like the island is ours!
The first thing I did is I walked on the beach shore, feel the water mixing with the pure, fine, white powdery sand of Malcapuya. I was so speechless and fall in love with Coron again. Definitely top of my list.
Btw, there's also a 200 entrance fee that you need to pay when you get in, like any other island and lakes that you will be visiting in Coron.
We got dibs on the best spot along the shore -- the tree house which was right smack in the center of the beach shore! The tree house also had a hammock which was perfect for chillax time! While we were exploring the island and taking pictures, our boatman prepared our lunch: a seafood fest of sorts with our steamed lobster and grilled blue fin tuna and a big bottle of royal. Whew!!
Again, I started to snorkel and took pictures of the underwater world. While enjoying the blue green crystal clear water of Malcapuya, kuya rommel, (i think?!) caretaker of the island, introduced us to erap, the sweetest Labrador I’ve ever met and Sandra the maharot and selosa one, and Willie and Shalani, the cutest piglet couple. heheh!!
Kuya Rommel asked us if we might want to check the sanctuary. It’s not that far from the shore but he asked us to use a banca, I was kind of hesitant because there might be another fee but kuya rommel proactively mentioned that we could give any amount as a tip and he'll take us to the sanctuary. Then I said OKAY!
As we get to the sanctuary, we took a dip to check it out and got the surprise of our lives. The big spots weren't corals, they were schools of fish! One was a school of small fishes and the other was a school of slightly bigger fishes! We had fun playing with the fishes that swam with us. It was so exciting, fun and scary (kasi ang lalim!!!! hahahah!!) And there were also a group of GIANT Clams!! Whew!!
My underwater Dicapac camera case was definitely a blessing. We enjoyed our sweet time swimming and feeding the fishes!
After enjoying Malcapuya Island, we left for another beautiful island called Banana Island. And of course, there's also a 200 entrance fee. :D
The boatman said that the island is banana shaped, thus the name. I didn't really notice this when we were there. One thing I noticed, though, is how amazing the island is! The sand is fine and white, the water is very clean and cool and the corals and fishes are very much alive and colorful!
We had our lunch here, the best lunch iv'e ever had! the steamed lobster and the grilled tuna dipped into spicy soy sauce, paired with seaweeds and we had some spams and cold orange soda with the most beautiful beach view! What's not to love about this trip?!
After lunch, we had the perfect siesta time in the perfect place! Swaying myself in the hammock that JB brought, tied to the cottage we used while eating my favorite cheese and sour cream ruffles, It was a feeling that I wanted to have for a long time because it was not the usual thing that I experience everyday in the city --- away from my comfort zone and stress. And JB had his boracay rhum with kuya raymond. heheh! We stayed in the island for like 3hours!
After Banana Island, we headed off to Bulog Dos Island. It's a little island not far from Banana, which was also beautiful with its sand bar and rock formations. We had fun taking pictures of ourselves here. The water looks great but it’s already low tide so we just opted to explore the island. There I saw the largest starfish I’ve ever seen!!
These islands are a little bit farther than most tourist spots in Coron, I guess this is why the beauty of these islands was preserved. It really is worth the time and effort to visit these islands. Perhaps it would be a great experience to be able to stay overnight in Malcapuya or Banana, we didn't have the chance to but definitely we'll do next time! Or might be next year! hihi!
Around 4:30pm we left Bulog Dos and we're headed for another long boat ride going to Coron town proper. It was already past 5:00 pm when we arrived at the port area. Indeed, it was an amazing travel adventure but we need to hurry for Mount Tapyas hike. We want to see the most beautiful sunset up there!
At around 5pm, we again bought snacks and a Big Bottle of water to take with us to Mt Tapyas, a 720-step hill with a huge cross at the summit. My record for reaching the top of Mt. Tapyas was 25 minutes but I'm sure a lot of other people could do it faster. If you go around the grassy part at the top, you'll discover that there are two other viewing decks near the top. We took most of our sunset shots in one of the viewing decks. After an hour, we finally climbed back down. I was looking forward to a relaxing dip at the hot springs.
When we got back, our tricycle driver was there, waiting, ready to take us to Maquinit. The ride took approximately 15 minutes. Entrance to the hot springs was Php 100 per person. Again, our tricycle driver waits for us. The hot springs was just that, hot! You have to get in slowly and allow your body to adjust to the heat. After a while, you'll get used to it and not feel the heat (much). It's the only known saltwater hot springs in the Philippines. We spent a relaxing time there.
Around 8pm, we opted to leave. In no time at all, we were back in CVL and had our dinner in our Lodge. We ate our lunch leftover. :D
The evening went by quickly. Once again, it was time to sleep. We weren't really looking forward to going home to Manila the next day.
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