In the northernmost reaches of Palawan province, lies the Calamian Group, another set of densely packed islands, filled with more secret beaches, towering limestone cliffs, lush greenery, blue lagoons and hidden freshwater lakes. We stayed in Coron Town, which is on the largest island of the group, Busuanga, and its namesake, Coron Island, is just a short boat ride away.
Getting here from El Nido should have been simple. There are basically two choices. You either a) retrace your steps back 6 hours to Puerto Princesa, fly to Manila and then back out to Coron or b) take a 4-hour boat trip on one of the several “fast, safe and comfortable” boats that run the route throughout the week. Of course, this was a no brainer and we opted for b as any sane person would. As it turns out, the boats are not fast, safe or comfortable and the entire journey ended up taking us 36 hours!
Our first attempt at leaving found us two hours into the journey with a large hole in the boat, bailing out 2 feet of water from the engine room thanks to some very rough waters and a captain who’d decided to ignore the coastguards advice not to attempt a crossing that day. We could see the funny side as we were never too far from land but had it happened 20 minutes later and further out in open water, we’d have been up the proverbial creek without a paddle. As it was, we had a few buckets and once Flo and one of the other passengers, Fred, had organized the crew to start throwing the water off the boat instead of onto the deck, we stopped sinking, managed to turn tail and slowly shamble back to El Nido.
The next day we made a second attempt on a different boat. Though more successful we soon discovered that 4 hours of Filippino time is not measured in the same way as regular time, and also learned a new definition to the phrase, “its just behind this island”. What this actually means is, “we’ll be there in another 5 hours”. However, the sea was calmer, the sun was shining and we spent much of the journey sitting on the roof of the boat chatting with our newfound friends. Several of them had shared our previous day’s experience and as the sun gradually went down and the stars appeared, we wondered if we would ever reach Coron. 
Monsters of the Deep
Aside from its exquisite natural beauty and charm, Coron is also home to some of the world’s best wreck diving, with about 15 diveable wrecks around the bay. Sometime during the Second World War, the Japanese thought to try and hide a fleet of cargo ships in the surrounding waters, presumably in the hope they’d be thought no more than rocky outcrops amongst the hundreds of other genuine islets surrounding them. Unfortunately, some eagle-eyed US scout spotted them and returned with 180 of his Helldiver buddies to wreak havoc on the 24-strong convoy, sending most of them straight to the bottom of the ocean. Not so good for the Japanese admittedly but awesome for anyone who is keen on donning a scuba tank and pair of flippers for some underwater exploration.
Now we have dived a few wrecks before, but these were rowboats in comparison. The wrecks in Coron are monstrous. Great hulks of metal, they loom out of the murky darkness like fortresses from the mist. Some lie on their sides, some still stand on their hulls and though anything of use or recyclable has been salvaged long ago, they are all intact enough that you can actually go inside.
I made sure to always be as close as possible to our divemaster who led us through the maze of passageways, down narrow ventilation shafts and old boiler units, through engine rooms and cargo holds, pointing out where we could see old oil drums, broken wine bottles and even a bulldozer, all remnants of a cargo that never reached its destination. Sometimes it was pitch black and all you could see was the faint circle of light from the dive torch softly illuminating some unknown and unrecognizable piece of rusted metal. At other times you emerge from the darkness in to a chamber of luminous grey green as the sunlight filters down through the silted waters, surrounded by the silhouettes of schools of fish in all shapes and sizes.
Diving the wrecks here had only one drawback, which was the number of people at each site. Even though the dive groups are made up of only four or five people, with 5 or 6 groups at a time, it gets pretty busy down there and with all of those fins flapping about, a whole lot of sand and silt gets kicked up and the visibility was not always great.
More Bikes, Beaches and Bangkas
We spent much of the time in Coron with the friends we’d made on the boat. On one day wehired motorbikes to explore Busuanga Island. We rather optimistically thought we might make it all around the circular road that takes you up past Calauit Island, which is bizarrely home to giraffes and other sub-Saharan fauna after an experimental game reserve and sanctuary was set up to house an ark full of animals from Kenya in the 70s, stopping on the way to take a dip in the small but perfectly formed, Concepcion Falls. In fact we only made it about one third of the way up the bumpy but picturesque west coast road before realizing we’d need to turn back to make it home by nightfall. There was also the question of lunch. Only two restaurants on the entire island outside of Coron Town, and we managed to miss them both so by 3pm were getting pretty peckish. Heading back the way we’d come we eventually found one and finished off everything she had left, all washed down with warm cola. Not very refreshing after our long day on a hot and dusty road but with no electricity there’s no refrigeration – it makes you realize how much we take for granted in our everyday life.
Another day we hired a boat between six of us and set off to see nearby Coron Island. Home to the indigenous Tagbanuas tribe, many parts of the island are considered sacred and are off-limits to tourists, but there is still lots to see. It was a beautiful day and with the sun blazing down from above, our little bangka took us first to Kayangan lake, where a 10-minute climb up a steep pathway left us breathlessly gaping at the crystal clear turquoise lake before us, its still waters encircled by craggy cliffs and jungle towering above. A small bamboo walkway around one section allows access for swimming and kayaking and with only two other people there we felt a million miles away from anything and enjoyed a happy few hours swimming and splashing about with the tiny blue pipe fish that seemed to be the only inhabitants.
Our next stop was the deep blue waters of Twin Lagoon but we decided not to swim here and instead make our way to a beach for our last few hours. We found a tiny, deserted beach about 30-metres wide with two small huts for shade and a rickety handwritten sign declaring a fee of P150 per person. Though there was not a soul in sight, our boatmen assured us we’d have to pay and sure enough, 10 minutes after landing two small children appeared in a canoe from who knows where, and after sitting patiently and without a word by the rocks at the edge of the beach, made sure they got their money before we left at sunset to head for our next and final stop, the hot springs back on the main island. Here we slowly cooked ourselves in various pools for an hour, before heading back to the town proper. Being some way out there weren’t too many trikes around but we somehow managed to get all six of us onto one. This worked quite well except for the uphill bits where we had to get off and walk… and the corners when it felt like we would topple over at any second… and when the road was uneven, which was always so, OK, actually not ideal but it was a lot of fun, an excellent test of balance and we did make it back in one piece!
The following day we left Coron, bound for Manila then Singapore. At the tiny airport we checked in before having a coke at the restaurant outside where roosters and dogs wandered about at will, looking for scraps. Looking around and reminiscing about our time there, we realized we weren’t sad to be leaving Coron or Palawan. It's the kind of place that gets deep inside you and instills such a sense of wonder that you just know one day you’ll be back for more.
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