It’s time to talk about the most awaited place in our trip in the Philippines. All the places that I have seen until that moment were beautiful, but Kayangan Lake was still the first one on my bucket list of places I intended to see in the country of over 7 000 islands.
As you already know, the tours we booked in Coron had their dates switched, so we had to wait until day #4 to see the lake, but now I know the wait was definitely worth it.
It was included on the itineraries of other tours, as well, but we decided to go for Coron Island Ultimate Tour, which contains 7 stops in some of the most beautiful places on Coron Island and the surroundings.
What I use every time I travel:
- To book hotels: Booking.com
- To book tours: GetYourGuide.com
How much Coron Island Ultimate Tour costs and what do you get for the price:
As well as the other tour, Island Escapade, we chose JY Travel & Tours, and we paid for the whole package 1500 PHP ($30)/ person.
We made the reservations through the hotel where we stayed at, and everything went as planned, except for a few details affected by the unpredictable rain.
Our trip to the lagoons, beaches, and lakes lasted approximately 8 hours and started at around 9 in the morning. The start was at the same port. In the price, we had:
- transport from the hotel to the port
- transfer with the motorized boat
- life vest
- guide
- lunch
Attractions we visited in chronological order:
Twin Lagoon
The twin lagoons had been the first place we arrived to on Coron Island.
Although the way to the first lagoon was very accessible, to reach the second one you will need to pass through a very tight place, under a huge rock.
The landscape is incredibly beautiful and resembles the Small Lagoon in El Nido, so the effort of passing through the small place, under the rock is worth it, even though at the end you will be powerless.
Once you get inside the water, you will feel how it’s getting hot, and then it’s going back to its normal temperature.
Don’t freak out, or think too much, it’s just a mix of the hot, salty water with the cold, sweet water.
Although it’s kind of hard to imagine that the landscape you will see in Twin Lagoon can be equaled, much less surpassed, you will be surprised to discover that the main attraction of the tour is Kayangan Lake, for good reasons.
Atwayan Beach
Even though we should have gone to Smith Beach, I don’t know exactly for what reasons, but we ended up on Atwayan Beach, a very beautiful white sandy beach, with chalets, situated on a small lagoon on the Eastern side of Coron Island.
Therefore, no matter the reasons behind the switch, I was glad it happened. Atwayan Beach is the place from where I picked up some plumeria flowers from a tree on the beach, the place where we played and fed a monkey (which, unfortunately, was tied up by her owner), but also the place where we had our lunch: barbecue fish, tomato salad, cucumbers, marine plants, peas, carrots, and boiled eggplant.
The usual rich and delicious meal I got you used to in my posts about Palawan…
CYC Beach & Las Islas del Coral
We should have visited Skeleton Wreck, an extremely popular tourist attraction in the area. They say that the wreck belongs to a Japanese ship, who had been attacked by the American Navy, in 1944, during World War II.
Because of the rain, we had to give up on the Skeleton Wreck, so we headed on to CYC Beach and the close Coral Garden.
Although the rain succeeded in making the water pretty muddy, we could still see the colorful marine life.
The Coral Garden is a very favorable place for snorkeling because the abundance of corals and fish will make you not want to get out from the water.
On the other hand, CYC Beach didn’t seem to be a very attractive place.
Guilty for my lack of enthusiasm regarding the secluded beach and its mini mangrove forest could be the rain who had stolen the sun for a big part of the tour.
So, I advise you to check the weather very well before booking the tour.
As you can see, although it was the dry season, the weather was still very unpredictable and not on our side for a big part of the day.
Kayangan Lake
I have told in the previous article “Island Escapade Tour” about how much I wanted to see this lake and how our tours had been reversed, so I would not be here until the 4th day of our stay in Coron.
I thought this was the kind of “what’s best is left until the end“, so I enjoyed it as much as I could from the moment I was face to face with the splendid panorama, after many views of it in pictures and videos on the internet.
Although it resembles the lagoons of El Nido, I haven’t been able to admire them from this height, so obviously the possibility of doing it here has made me happy.
Before getting there, I was convinced that the famous images on the internet, captured from above are of Kayangan Lake; but being there, I discovered that they actually belonged to the Kayangan Lagoon, separated from the lake by a hill that I had to hike.
Also, at the top, there is a mini cave that I used to take some pictures from an original perspective.
Aside from the view that awaits you, after a few minutes of climbing on the 150 steep stairs, followed by a slight descent, you will have the opportunity to swim in the cleanest water in Asia, the Kayangan lake water.
You will be convinced of this from the very first seconds when you will step on the wooden floor, and you will see very clearly the rock formations under water.
You can swim in the lake, and you can dare to jump, but you must take good care of choosing the place where you will plunge into the water, as the sharp rocks are abundant in some of the lake’s ponds and form even spectacular underwater caves.
Siete Pecados (Seven Sins)
The legend told by our guide involved seven sisters in love with the same man.
They went to a party on Coron Island, then when they tried to cross the water by boat back to their village, they all drowned, while they were fighting for that man, because of a storm that had suddenly occurred. Following this tragedy, 7 small islands emerged.
I don’t know if he wanted to make the story a bit spicy, but around the same tale is another variant of the legend, a lot more credible.
One of them is about 7 sisters who didn’t listen to their mother and went swimming in this area, despite her warnings, although it was unsafe, and the danger of death was almost imminent.
The tragedy occurred, and the 7 girls drowned, and then the 7 islets appeared.
Siete Pecados was the last stop on our tour. Generally, in most cases, it’s the first destination, but for us, it was exactly the opposite.
Maybe because I was already tired, I didn’t have so much enthusiasm reserved for the 7 islands.
However, it is one of the best places for snorkeling, but the landscape will not impress you so much, especially considering the beauties you have already seen on this tour.
Leaving aside the 7 islands, the end of the tour was a super sweet one, as the boat crew gave us a dessert I had never tried before: bananas in a caramel sauce. A delight!
♥ PIN IT ♥
