We flew into Busuanga, the northern-most island of Palawan. It’s also the name of the airport (landing strip) that services Coron which is an hour long drive down a typical Filipino road (under construction). Coron is famous for it’s wreck diving on a fleet of Japanese ships that were sunk during WWII. The town itself is pretty small and gritty but the land surrounding it is beautiful. There are these huge green mound-like mountains that reminded me of something from “Highlander.”

 

I climbed one of those green hill/mountains (one of the scarier things I’ve done), we rode a motorcycle around, went to a natural hot spring, then snorkeled a couple wrecks and hidden fresh water lakes. Overall, it was a unique place that we enjoyed.

What We Learned

 

- There is a lot of price fixing in Coron. They are overcharging for excursions to the wrecks. Ask around and you might find an ambitious person who will “bend” the rules.

 

- Beware! - They have also price fixing on the trips from Coron, south to El Nido. You will be forced to pay around $45 for a shoulder to shoulder ride, nine hours, on a tiny boat. You can avoid this by taking a cargo ship ($20 hell of an experience) which leaves once a week.

 

- Two wrecks can be snorkled but the larger ones can only be reached by divers.