Captivating Coron

Karla Vizcarra, Sep 13, 2006
http://www.philippinenews.com/

CORON, Palawan — What people already know about Palawan are facts that cannot be negated: it is the country’s last frontier. Its islands and the genuine treasure each one holds are beyond mortal depiction. Its ample bosom gives life to some of the world’s richest and most diverse land and marine species. To both postcards and The Lonely Planet guidebooks, it is paradise.

But still there are misconceptions: tiny seedlings of doubt that inhibit the wary traveler, notions that hold whole experiences back and must be debunked. These majestic islands may just be the loveliest conspiracy of sky, sea, land and history ever to befall our country yet, a jagged slope of real and extraordinary visions— altogether not a bad place for such and much needed enlightenment.

Misconception #1. A trip to Coron costs a bundle.

Not with the great tug-of-war for passengers happening among air and shipping lines it’s not. Rates have conveniently dropped—and continually drop—lower than ever, especially during lean seasons. SEAIR and Asian Spirit both have one-hour flights to the Busuanga airport; those who prefer a longer and personally, more interesting travel experience may choose either Superferry or Negros Navigation to shuttle them across the briny sea.

Room rates in Coron town are also surprisingly inexpensive. At the Seadive resort where we stayed, the fan rooms went for P400 to P500 (with a view) and P800 for air-conditioned ones (although for the life of me I still can’t figure out why some people choose this artificial abomination over the natural sea breeze).

The open, native-themed sea front has a bar, restaurant and a soul-stirring view of nearby islands that summon travelers to hop immediately on a boat and head straight out. A day’s rent of a boat is P1,500, which a group could easily divide amongst themselves. This day’s trip would take you to all the famous spots: Kayangan Lake, the cleanest river in the Philippines; Barracuda Lake, a short trek through lime stones leading into the blue and watery caverns of a mountain, some beaches and the Twin Lagoon, where two bodies of water are joined by a tiny crevice in a rock formation, which one could easily tunnel through.

The town proper itself has zero interest in credit cards and ATMs. Everything, from the roast/ sweetened casuy to the Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants, to the gigantic fish splayed out on the market is enticingly affordable.

Misconception #2. Coron is only for divers, I’m not a diver. Therefore, Coron has nothing for me?

True that Coron is called the wreck diving capital of the Philippines, what with its fleet of sunken WWII Japanese vessels lurking, ghostly under the deep blue. 62 years in these murky resting beds do make for very interesting dives, and more than one enthusiast would tell you that after Tubbataha Reef, Coron Bay is the best place to breathe from an oxygen tank in. But it’s not just divers who could encounter the spirits of fallen Japanese soldiers in these depths; the interconnected lives of a thousand marine creatures actually await anyone with a simple set of snorkeling gear— even plain, handmade antipara if you must.

Club Paradise in Dimakya Island, an hour and 30 minute land and boat ride from Coron town, cradles an entire sea universe (and I don’t mean just the compulsory coral and a clownfish or two) not three meters below its sea front. It is within a protected area further up north, near the Calauit wildlife reserve and still quite far from the threat of human greed and poison, which makes it one of the best places to visit in Coron.

And the swimming—pristine, effortless gliding actually—is incredible anywhere. The lakes within the mountains (caused by underwater rock formations pushed up by volcanic activity as Chairman of the Committee on Tourism Jim Pe helpfully explained), evoke only varying concepts of paradise. Volcanic activity plays a big role in these parts, although Jim could not fully say if there were indeed, actual volcanoes in the area. What is known for sure, other than creating beautiful limestone monuments, is that these geothermal reactions have produced another phenomenon as equally intriguing: the waters of the Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake and the Twin Lagoon have varying degrees of ice cold and warm temperatures. It is both hot and freezing at the same time, and this discovery alone is happy cause for hours of entertainment.

You could float in deep aqua water and gaze at a sky fringed with rock walls or watch the sun hit the lime stones at angles only true artists know about or sit in the comforts of your banca and spend the day’s remnants chomping on succulent sea food. Truth is, there are more things you can do in Coron than there are sunken vessels in its seabed (there are reportedly 24, including the smaller unnamed ones) and discovering them all is only half the fun. There are mountain treks (one of them leads to Coron’s giant cross), sunset beach picnics, bat, bird and bayawak watching, glorious hot springs to sink one’s exhausted bones in (best known is Makinit, some 20 minutes away from town by tricycle), some horseback riding, water sports, and one of my favorite land activities: meeting all sorts of fascinating people that only places like Coron could attract and exchanging equally fascinating stories under the stretch of a pink and orange sky. Now if still none of these interest you one bit, perhaps it is best to stay in your room and bathe in the radioactive glow of your pc. The outdoors probably wouldn’t want you trampling all over the place either.

Misconception #3. The sea is a scary, scary place.

One of the trip’s most reassuring statements came from the peaceful demeanor of Dirk Fahrenbach, president of the Dugong Dive Center in Club Paradise. “Sharks do not attack. I’ve been diving for 25 years. They are only attracted by the scent of fish blood, not human blood.”

Dirk has been diving ever since I was born. I’ve been afraid of sharks ever since I could remember. How could Steven Spielberg ruin what could have been a great human-shark relationship with a single (technically just one, because the sequels had different directors and were not really as effective) terrifying movie? Of course there are some places that do experience shark attacks, but such is practically unheard of in the Philippines.

“There has never, ever been a case like that in here. Sometimes the sharks even go out of their way to avoid people.” Omar Linsangan, Coron dive master tells me as well.

This piece of information rallies me onto a grand snorkeling adventure in Club Paradise’s vibrant shores. There are some heart-pounding moments at the sight of the huge reefs, but the almost hypnotic display of underwater activity keeps one stalwart—there are more fish and marine life in there than the entire cast of Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo combined.

Incredibly, the world’s largest clam—even larger than that published in the Guinness book— rests quietly on the ocean floor, not 20 meters away from the resort, not deeper than four meters from the surface. The clam is roughly one and a half meters in width, almost as big as one’s outstretched arms, and though it would seem fun to try to measure it this way, it would probably be best to do so at a distance. (Yes, you could probably fit inside that shell if the clam tried hard enough.)

A few meters further would take you to some sea turtles or pawikans, sacred on the seabed and looking more like sea angels than amphibians as they gracefully wove and soared towards the underwater pools of light. There are hundreds of jackfish, curious little clownfish, cow and zebra and leopard fish, probably, based on the patterns on their bodies, and too much that I cannot identify. One could stay in the water this way for ages, spying on this amazing love affair between the fish and the corals and never grow bored. No oxygen tank required.

You see, another huge misconception about beaches is that it’s only pleasant in the summer. Wrong. For a place as madly beautiful as Coron, every single day is. And one thing that is true of all this: life is too short a time to wait.