Banol Beach

Alas! After a series of floor/sand less (except for man made wood bridges and some rocks) islands visited, Banol Beach offered a  perfect white sand beach.

Felt so safe with the sand. Got something to confess here : I'm quite reluctant swimming on a deep floored lagoon or in a deep sea. I'm talking about gear less swimming (off diving gears) here. I'm always comfortable with sand in sight. Some floors my foot could touch when not on float.

The beach serves as the lunch spot of the whole Coron Island tour. It has nipa huts with tables for dining by the beach.

Our tour coordinator had packed some buffet lunch with fresh catches of the day seafood grilled by our boatmen at the shore. See our foods at my food blog later.

While the lunch was still being prepared, we took advantage of the pristine sea and swam a little on a highnoon not caring about burning our skin.

Not totally, there were shaded areas covered by huge rocks where you could enjoy swimming lessening the harmful sunburn.

 The Coron islands' trademark_ stunning rock formations continued to amaze me at Banol Beach. As if the perfect  fine white sand and cystal blue water weren't enough to keep my jaw ajar.

There was a pinch in the heart everytime we had to live a paradise-y island such as Banol Beach, the only consolation was I knew I would be seeing another paradise. Coron seemingly has endless list of islands to offer.

Coron Gateway Hotel & Suites

Before I resume with my island tour, let me share you one of the best places to stay in Coron Town, which I personally conclude as one of the only two luxury hotels in town _ Coron Gateway Hotel .The other one I'm referring to is the Coron Hilltop View Resort which you could visit here later.

The facade was quite deceiving in a less attractive way. Maybe because the building hasn't reached its final construction yet. But the potential is very evident of becoming a full pledge beauty_ maybe on our next visit?

The big catch was the view of the majestic islands, available 24/7 over the window and terrace of our room.. On our second day, we woke up so early at dawn (before 5am) , and was overwhelmed by the beauty of the islands surrounding us.


The rooms were fairly awesome too.

It's the more expensive room we didn't take..

brother at the sofa, catching a loss sleep the night before




We stayed in the second best room.

this is how mess-up a room could get over our stay 

the safe inside our messy closet

The big misfortune was the room got everything we needed : mini bar, t.v., aircon , safety deposit box, roomy closet, comfy beds, state of the art bathroom and a lot more. Yes it was so sad to leave the room cos it was so nice to stay inside but Coron is meant to be experienced!

My favorite part of the room actually was the bathroom. Almost occupying better half of the room, it has a Japanese sliding wall which could be opened if privacy wasn't an issue when relaxing on the tub. I guess the scenario calls for a couple honeymooning or if you have small kids staying with you, you could watch them taking a bath/playing on the tub over a magazine or a t.v. program, while sitting on the sofa or on the bed.




Well, bottom line is_ yes it's compromising to savor the nature drops of beautiful Coron by leaving a comfy hotel room as such everytime, but it completes the whole experience.
The staff was so great. Best ever! And the manager was so generous,. They surely made our stay so calling- for- a- repeat visit.

Mount Tapyas

For now, let me take you off shore. Let's go back to the dry land and I promise to continue the island tours later.
Once again I was about to validate the gift of strength of my legs with Mt. Tapyas 700+ steps challenge. Although I wasn't as gifted as to have beautiful legs like those of models and women in the movies, I'm  always thankful that I have a pair that are strong and very functional that walk me through highs and lows of my life.

The goal was to reach the summit of the second highest point in Coron. The target was that white cross standing 2000 feet above sea level.Unlike in Baguio's Grotto steps whereas you could drive over and take short cuts of your choice, Mt. Tapyas asks you to walk through all the way up the cross.

I am no mountain climber and far from being athletic but don't be deceived by  my mommy-ish pair of legs, I promised you they take me wherever I command them to bring me. As for the other set of legs beside me ( my cuzin's), well go on_ doubt !!!!

No sweat at 100 steps.Already, at this early on, the view spoke so much of beauty of nature.

At 200, well seemed like everything was well and manageable still. Just a shot of water and good to go !  Cuzin' you agree ?

I rushed up afraid to be stopped by exhaustion started to build up after another 50 steps passed 200.



I stopped at 400 and realized that there was no marking for 300. Also, at this point the other pair of legs had given up and stopped few steps after 200. Cuzin was hyperventilating and decided to be proud of the highest mark she had reached, way beyond the number of stairs in her house..

I decided to make use of the last rest station available before I go on without a stop.

I look back/down to get motivation from the beautiful view and to remind myself of how many steps I had already mounted and there was no turning back!

I look forward/ up and saw how near I was to my goal. Go! go! Go!

A few steps further, I could no longer contained myself from the view getting transcendent every step I took up. I stop for awhile to take some photos. Wish I had more appropriate lens_ sigh*

Pretty _ the town of Coron and the countless majestic islands around.

Heaven was so close. .

Was I not there yet ? .. In less than an hour after the first step at the foot of the mountain, I found myself ( with my brother) at the foot of the cross on top of Mount Tapyas!!!

The cross made me pray. I prayed for the souls of the Japanese soldiers during the World War, who ended their lives here.


 I also prayed to thank the Lord for a wonderful life he's giving me and that I always feel His love for the bountiful beautiful nature He bestowed my country such as those within sight at the top of this historical mountain.

Up here, I saw upclose the chipped part of the mountain which history carried by its name. Tapyas means chipped or sliced in English. The mountain was used as a military camp of the Japanese force. When American force came in the country, they bombed the mountain which chipped an interesting part of it. Thus the mountain has been named Mount Tapyas (chipped mountain).

I was not sure if I was pointing the right one. The local vendor said it was the Mt. Darala, a dormant volcano, seen across on top of Mt. Tapyas.

After a while of savoring the top view of Coron, I decided to wave goodbye and thought of my cuzin' waiting below on the 200th step, 500 steps away.



Everyone said, their legs were shakin' uncontrollably while getting down. Mine didn't! Really proud of my mommy-ish strong legs!