I’m tempted not to write anything here but let the pictures speak for themselves. One thing is for sure. Coron has beautiful beaches. Aside form the towering lime stones and a number of islands its easy to just lay around on one corner of the islands with fine white sand, crystal blue waters and the sun. On our island hopping trip, we told our boatman to go opposite where the crowd is. At that time, we heard there were several groups touring in Coron. So our first stop was the Skeleton Wreck Site and Banol Beach.
Located just northwest of the large Coron Island, we docked on a small beach as a jump-off point for the skeleton wreck. On that beach there’s a 100 pesos entrance fee collected by the native Tagbanua. The Tagbanuas are the indigenous people who inhabit the island of Coron. The sunken ship remains which is just a few meters from the beach. I took some photos but it wasn’t clear enough to post. Still it was fun to dive towards the skeleton wreck which is now home to a number of corals and fishes.
After a satisfying underwater sight, we headed to the nearby Banol Beach. It’s just a small stretch of fine white sand beach, hugged by dramatic limes tones of the island. We had the beach all to ourselves which was great as some of us had fun taking photos of wacky poses or just some moments by the beach. There’s another entrance fee of 100 pesos in this area. Cottages are also available.
This is one beautiful beach I say again. The only drawback here is that there were jellyfishes in the area. I guess it’s the season so swim with care. Though most of them are sting-less, it can be itchy once you get in contact with them.
We had our seafood lunch there which our boatmen prepared for us. More shrimps, large fishes and rice which we ate with our bare hands. We stayed there for a while just to enjoy the place while we had it on our own.
I placed myself at one of the bamboo benches of the cottage and just lay there and relaxed at the sounds of the waves splashing on the shore, the chirping birds and the audible sound of the strands of the cottage roof hays being whisked by the wind. Until in a few moments we heard another boat approaching the beach. The natural silence of the place has been broken by the unpleasant yakking of passengers from the oncoming boat that can be heard even miles away.
We prepared our things since it was time for us to move on. We had a nice time at Banol Beach. I’m sure there are other beaches worth visiting in Coron but this first one already hit the spot right on. Moving on to the lakes.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.