The Beauty of Coron {Philippines}
Dave and I have been traveling since September 2012, not solely looking for a paradise beach, but always on the lookout. And yet we had not exactly found that paradise beach setting. The closest for me were the beaches in the Algarve in southern Portugal – with the dramatic cliff scenery hugging the actual beaches.
The spots where we were in Thailand (Phuket, Koh Lanta) and Cambodia (Otres beach) were nice, but nothing that really blew us away.
And now we’re in the Philippines, and having finally discovered our paradise beaches.
After 5 days in Manila which we both agreed was a sketchy and dumpy city (literally when we walked outside our apartment to make the 3 minute walk to dinner we were approached by a handful of men, and the second Dave walked out of a bakery with a bag of muffins we really no longer felt safe). We did use our time there to get some work done, meet Dave’s employees (over the course of 2 breakout rooms, a board game dinner, and a full night of drunken karaoke), and go on a bamboo bite tour of the historical district as well as a slum tour.
We were ready to get outta there though and happily boarded our flight to Coron.
We were staying at the quaint and picturesque Kokosnoss guesthouse – in a seriously colorful room. Dave initially booked us in the fan only “cave room” which I quickly had to change once we were checking in. Now doesn’t this underwater themed bungalow seem so much nicer than a room described as a “cave” room? This room had AC too – an added bonus – though once we saw the AC unit, it became clear that it could not handle the heat and size of the room too well.
After getting settled we were ready to book tours for the following days. Coron itself has no beach, and is more of a jumping off point for the magical scenery in the area.
What you do is book day tours (labeled A, B, C, D, E) for $15-25 and they take you out in boats with a full seafood lunch for the day.
Tour B was our first tour and included Twin Lakes, Barracuda Lake and some beaches + snorkeling spots.
The scenery is breathtaking. Like pinch me to make sure I’m not dreaming.
The karst limestone cliff formations are drop dead gorgeous and I don’t want to blink and miss a second of these amazing sights.
I just could not get enough. This was paradise. After 4.5 years of traveling we finally found it!
Watch our for those sea urchins though! Wouldn’t want to step on one of those. The lakes and lagoons were amazing, hidden behind the cliff formations like secret alcoves (well not so secret when 10 boats all unload their lifevest wearing bobbing tourists). Oh well.
On the next day we picked Tour C (the most famous Kayangan lake on tour A was closed due a freediver drowning there the day before). On this tour we would see the most amazing beaches.
The photos speak for themselves.
Drop dead gorgeous.
Blue skies.
White sand.
Crystal clear waters.
Overlooking views.
Super unique looking boats.
Palm trees galore.
Just paradise.
Lots of shade for booking reading and lounging.
And picturesque sunsets.
Once you see something for the first time you always associate that one place with that type of scenery. For me karst limestone cliffs over the water and postcard perfect beaches will always bring me back to Coron, Philippines.
A truly magical place.
