Places::Coron, Palawan (Day 3)

        This was the first day of our island hopping in Coron.  I got a tip from one of the blogs that I have read about vacationing in Coron, just get a boatman and rent his boat and services for the entire day rather than avail one of those group tours being offered by hotels and resorts.  Aside from being cheaper, you get exclusive use of the boat and you don't have to share time with other groups of people in your party which was the case for group tours.  The blogger was kind enough to include the boatman's cellphone number and that was how we got hold of Avel, our boatman.

         Avel picked us up at our hotel around 7:30 am and we headed straight to the marketplace beside the docks to shop for our lunch that day.  Avel told us that his dad's boat was undergoing repairs so he subcontracted his uncle and his boat for our 2-day tour.  No problem for me as long as the price was the same.  He also mentioned that his uncle's boat is newer, only 6 months old.  There were 4 people who accompanied us during the tour, aside from Avel, there was Ryan, Avel's cousin, Ryan's dad, the captain of the boat and Mayer, Avel's other cousin.  I noticed before we left the docks that Mayer started firing up some charcoals at the back of the boat where they have a covered grilling station.

         Not quite long after we left the docks, we stopped in the middle of the sea surrounded by small islets.  We were at Siete Pecados which was the first stop in our tour which involved snorkeling.  

         Only Dinah, and the kids went in the water.  I stayed in the boat taking their pics.  Danii and Dylan chose to remove their life vests since it was easier to snorkel that way according to them.

        The place was teeming with fish.  They were not afraid of people and they got attracted with bits of bread, or in our case, rice cakes since there was no bread available that time at the marketplace.

         After Siete Pecados, we proceeded to Kayangan Lake which was on another island.  When we got there we had to listen to some talk from one of the locals (a Tagbanua tribesman) regarding rules on how to keep the lake clean during visits.

         Then the arduous hike to Kayangan Lake started.  The path was steep, and slippery.  I could really feel my age when I did that hike.  On top of the climb halfway to the Lake, there was a cave where we got to take pics and behind it was a spectacular view of the big island that was Coron's signature pic in travel sites.

         Then the arduous descent followed.  I noticed that going down was even harder than climbing up since the steps were made of slippery natural rock and gravity was pulling you down.

         The lake had crystal clear waters and we noticed some fish swimming that had pointed mouths.  We also noticed that the water was salty.  Our boatman said that it was brackish water.

         It took me a while to join Dinah and the kids swimming for I was busy taking their pics.

         Avel took us inside this small cave by the side of the lake where we took pics.  It was a good thing that there was no claustrophobic among us.

        After Kayangan Lake, we headed to a nearby beach to have lunch, Dylan's favorite part of the tour.

        Our boatmen did a wonderful job preparing our lunch and it was even made perfect with bottles of ice-cold coke.

        Next after lunch was the skeleton shipwreck of an old WWII Japanese ship where one could go shipwreck diving and fish feeding as well.  Only Dinah and Dylan went in the water this time.

        Last stop for that day was Twin Lagoon.  Only Dylan and I went in the water here.  The water in this lagoon was weird, it changed from cold to warm then cold again and so on.  Also the water was clear one time and then oily the next.  Mayer told me that it was  due to the hot springs around the islands getting mixed with the cold sea water.  That also explained why the water looked oily at times, hot and cold water densities being different caused refraction of light (there goes my geeky side again).

        When we got back to the docks that day after the tour, Avel suggested we try the hot springs at Maquinit.  We were glad we took the offer and Avel even accompanied us there.  The water from this natural hot spring pool was soothing to our bodies after all the swimming and the hiking we did that day.