Coron Island – the seas of Japanese shipwrecks

Pete survived the 4.5-hour crossing to get here and we decided to book a hotel near the port, not in the main hassle and bustle.  It was lovely walking past the tricycle terminal refusing the set and inflated fare to town as we could see our hotel as we docked. 

We got there just in time for a spectacular sunset.

We wanted to get rid of our colds so planned a lazy day at the hotel enjoying the pool. 

We even switched the TV on twice and watched a Netflix movie – wow!  Haven’t watched any TV in months. I had been desperate to watch the movie “Nyad” about the lady who wouldn’t give up her dream of swimming 103 miles from Cuba to Florida – what an amazing lady!  I’d read the book which was fantastic and the movie was good too.

The next day, we went on a Wrecks and Reefs snorkelling tour.  Coron Island is known in the diving world for so many wrecks to dive and snorkel, which is something neither of us has ever done before.  They are mostly Japanese boats bombed by the Americans in 1948 and a couple sit shallow enough to snorkel.  The boats have been taken over by corals and fish, making them a great habitat to explore.

First, we went to East Tangat Wreck which is 6-7 meters deep.  You could see the bow of the boat but some of the rest was too deep with the visibility we had.

Next, we went to Lusong Wreck, which was much shallower and more covered in coral.  It was great to see, and some locals with big lungs and good snorkelling ears could actually swim through the hull of the boat.  Even with a pair of flippers, more like ducks feet, made from fibreglass!!!

Some people didn’t like the slight sting off the plankton (looked like flashing spaceships as big as your hand) cutting short their time in the water but we didn’t mind it.

Next, we went to Lusong Coral Garden.  Oh wow!! It was amazing!!!  So many different corals all growing together.  Many colours. Many fish.  It was amazing!!!  our photos dont do this justice as my mobile wasnt happy inside a waterprrof case and missed most of our drift snorkel.  Shame we didn’t have our Go Pro with us for better photos but we refused to rent one for 1,500 Pesos.  We have one at home but you can’t travel with everything.

Our last stop was Pass Island where we were served a pretty impressive lunch spread the crew had made on board, complete with vegetable carvings. 

We got chance to chat to our fellow snorkellers – 4 Filipnos on their holidays, 2 French and one lady from Australia. The island was beautiful and we had some time their before returning to our boat for a 2 hour journey back.  We got talking to the lovely Australian lady, originally from Malaysia, who had just been to Sabah and was able to give us some tips. 

Back at the hotel we had a quick shower, watched the sunset by the pool (with a beer) and then met the lady and we headed into town for dinner.  Pete enjoyed some haggling for a tricycle there and back saving 25 pesos each way – a major result 🤣

Our last day we had until 6pm before our ferry left for Manila so, we left our luggage at the hotel and rented a motorbike to explore Busuanga Island (the land mass we were actually staying on even though everyone calls it Coron which is a small island off which you can’t stay on ?????)  It was a brand new bike – very shiny and actually had some suspension which made for an easier ride on our bottoms.

We headed North and wound around the coast for an hour and a half.  We got to an environmental checkpoint where you had to pay 200 pesos each to the Municipality.  We had already paid 200 pesos each at the port so decided to turn around and head back half an hour to Conception.  After one detour finding ourselves in a commune of people living on houses on stilts (pretty whiffy) we found a little guesthouse on the sea front where we could get a cold drink and sit in the shade.  We had just received an email from the ferry company.  It said our ferry had been delayed by 6 hours meaning we wouldn’t make our flight in Manila to Borneo.  Oh the joys of travelling!!!!!!!