| Life's a beach. And then you dive
Swarms of fish surrounded us as soon as we waded waist-deep into Coron's waters a few steps from the beach. After swimming in another white sand beach left by a Korean owner to its Filipino caretakers, we passed by an island being developed into a high-end resort and went snorkeling in Bulog Dos, a half-hectare island surrounded by beautiful corals and fishes. For twelve month, Gerlie had searched the Internet looking for a place to relax, swim, snorkel and laze away the hours. On March 25, we arrived at Busuanga airport where a van took us to a guesthouse made of bamboo that faced Coron Bay with a view of Mt. From the terrace, we feasted on the reflection of the sun on the turquoise water as it changed colors with its setting and rising. On our second day, we hired a boat that brought us around Coron Island, including Siete Pecados, touted to be the very best snorkeling place in that part of Coron. the undercurrents were so strong that they were sweeping us away from our boat. Kayangan Lake, said to be the cleanest in Palawan, was teeming with tourists at mid-morning. Keep your silence. The Tagbanua elder warned: Be careful with your steps. No, she wouldn't mind coming back to Coron, she said. No beaches with coconut trees," added this regular visitor to Puerto Galera and other islands in the country. Already, she dreams of owning an island somewhere near. Our hosts said that these developments are a boon to the island as security personnel from these companies patrol the vast area around Coron, thus preventing illegal fishers from coming near. We went kayaking around the island on our third day, and saw Nemo, the clown fish, some baby sharks, jacks, swordfishes and other fishes playing among the corals. When the day turned windy, we tried basketball or volleyball, or rested in the swinging hammocks. But an improved airport and road network have turned things around. This may be paltry compared to the throng trooping to Boracay or Puerto Galera at any time of the year, but this is better than being overwhelmed by too many tourists too soon, he added. These days, seven 70-seater planes descend on Busuanga's airport daily, and the town has seen the sudden sprouting of guesthouses and hotels, a situation that is beginning to be problematic, Alarcon said, because Coron town has no comprehensive land use plan, and roads couldn't be widened. But why shouldn't the town make haste in improving itself? Already, more tourists are making plans to come back, knowing that what they've seen so far is just a tiny fraction of paradise. • . "Even if you stay here for one month, you won't run out of things to do," agreed her husband Gebhard, a social worker. Tagbanuas are everywhere in this pristine lake where snorkeling tourists marvel at the corals that look like pinnacles. At noon, we hied to the Atulayan beach, where we ate a lunch cooked by our boatman in the boat using charcoal while we were sightseeing and snorkeling. The government, the beach owner said, had ruled out putting toilets on the beach because sewage would eventually flow back to the sea. We swam and snorkeled for a while, but mostly we rested in the beach where the only downside was the absence of toilets. Boats, she added, are supposed to have toilets anyway. It was Day 1 of our six-day stay on Dicalubuan, more popularly known as Banana Island, so called because it looks like 50% a banana leaf from afar. The sun was out that morning in late March, when we boarded a boat that cruised through clear blue waters and passed by several islands of different shapes and sizes. The deep sea begins about 20 meters from shore, but even here, visibilityis very good at a depth of 30 meters. So after 1/2 an hour of snorkeling, and having paid the P100 entrance fee, we proceeded to Kayangan Lake. Even rains won't spoil one's stay here, as guests can always go around town like we did and try the halo-halo at Tita Esh, buy provisions for an island stay, or visit a backyard cashew nut factory. In fact, there's not enough time to do everything on Banana Island. "This is the very best (island) I've seen in the Philippines, better even than some islands in Europe like Sardinia in Italy or Tenerife or Mallorca in Spain," Gerlie gushed. |
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Life's a beach. And then you dive
