The rest of our week followed in a very similar fashion, morning beach walks, exploring the island via motorbike, and hours spent at the beach (dodging the pushy souvenir vendors). We did sign up for a snorkleing trip, although this too was not quite what I had expected, and failed in comparison to the one I had done in El Nido years ago. The tour was supposed to las 3 hours and included three stops: the underwater cave, snorkleing in a coral reef, and viewing of a giant clam shell. The boat was much smaller than I had expected, although that added a bit of character to the trip. The cave was really cool and easy to navigate, despite locals trying to sell their guide services upon arrival, but the two snorkeling stops were frustrating. Both of our snorkel masks were continuously fogging up making it difficult to see much of anything, and we both experienced a few stings which we were later told "probably small jellyfish, no problem!"
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Early on in the year I had set my mind on a (belated) birthday beach vacation in the Philippines. We had a week off school the week following my birthday, and in an effort to find a middle ground between good weather, flight duration and cost, we landed on the Philippines as our destination. My one issue with the country is that there are endless opportunities of where to spend your holiday, beautiful beaches and secluded islands, however getting to these destinations is sometimes a full day effort. I know for most people a week is a long time, but having spent months backpacking in my younger years, it still feels short to me. I didn't want to spend 1/3 of our time in transit, and instead chose to find an easier to reach beach paradise. Honestly though, in retrospect, I probably should have just put in the effort.
Thankfully, getting settle in Coron, post boat ride, was a breeze. Ian and I walked part of the way to town, eventually flagged down a tricycle and soon arrived at the Sea Dive resort, where I had a room booked. There was a kitschy bar, conveniently located about 10 feet from my room so Ian and I decided to grab a drink before calling it a night. The next morning I was up early thanks to the combination of roosters, construction and the dive office being directly next to my room, there really is no sleeping in with budget accommodation. I made my way into the dive office planning to figure out an island hopping tour for the day; different than El Nido, where you pay per person/per tour, in Coron you pay 1,500 for the boat, but can share it with up to four people. I didn't really want to hire my own boat so I was looking to tag along with a group of two or three. It was my lucky day because a Chinese couple were just preparing to leave and said it was no problem if I join.
I could have stayed in El Nido forever, but my flight back was from Coron, so eventually I had to leave. I still had some doubts about the day ahead of me but there was really no turning back at this point. I was told to arrive at the pier at 7 o'clock (an hour before we were due to depart) but knew there would be a lot of waiting. Slowing a variety of other travelers gathered, but I kept quiet and enjoyed my morning of observance, seeing who I'd be spending the next 8+ hours with. I knew an 8 o'clock departure meant we'd be lucky to leave by 8:30, but many others seemed annoyed at the lack of urgency on getting us aboard. Finally, closer to 9 o'clock they brought us to our boat, loaded our luggage and then gave us the go ahead to get on the boat, "one by one" to which no one paid much attention and stormed the boat like a pack of wild animals. I hung back and laughed at the idiocy with two others, as the rest of them made their best attempts at sinking the ship before we even left the port, great I was about to be stuck on a boat with 30 morons.
After our, thankfully, uneventful bus ride to El Nido, we decided to get a trike to the El Nido Art Cafe to get recommendations on where to stay in town, since we hadn't prearranged anything. The cafe is basically the central 'go to' spot in town for all of your needs - clothes, snacks, tour bookings, boat and plane tickets, as well as a good meal/drink. They were helpful in providing us with a list of accommodation (including price range) so we decided the best method would be to start knocking on doors. We originally wanted a beach side cottage but upon realizing the 'non-beach' properties were literally 10 ft across the street we settled on a cute room at the El Nido Plaza Inn for only 500php per night, such a steal. Once we were settled in our room it was time to explore the town, get to the beach and find something to eat!
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AsiaPhilippinesOver 7,500 islands of pure bliss. I've been twice, both times arriving with a "what am I doing here" hesitation, but weeks later resisting my departure. Forget about being on time, or eating lots of vegetables, but welcome beautiful sunsets, gorgeous beaches, and welcoming, friendly locals. Categories
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