There are many places to see and visit in Coron island for you and your family to explore but in our case, our tour guide shortlisted the areas for us because we were only allotted 1 whole day to visit these places: Kayangan Lake (Click to see review), Barracuda lake, Banol or Atuwayan Beach, and secret places, like lagoons and coral gardens. Too bad we weren’t able to visit the Skeleton Wreck and Twin Lagoon due to some tribe conflict. I don’t know. That’s what I’ve heard. Hahaha!
So, after our Kayangan Lake visit, our tour guide dropped us to Banol Beach, a small stretch of sandy white beach, where lunch is usually served for Coron Island Hopping Tours.
Banol beach is said to be a public beach, and similar to the beaches in Coron island which is surrounded by limestone cliffs. They say that El Nido, part of palawan, also looks like this beach but better and more beautiful than this beach. But as for me and myself, Puerto Princessa and Coron which is both part of Palawan is still one of the beautiful places I have ever been in the Philippines! Srsly, I ain’t joking. Palawan is now declared as one of the beautiful places in Philippines. Better than Boracay. Hahaha!
P.S. Don’t mind my unpleasant look. :))
Posing with cousins. I totally love the rock formation at the back!
A photo before we ate lunch. I really wasn’t able to take photos of our food since I was really famished that moment in time. Sorry. I have physiologic needs you know. Hahaha! But the food they served was really delicious. We had grilled fish, grilled chops, eggplant salad and vegetable curry for lunch, all freshly cooked right in our boat over a simple makeshift grill. Two thumbs up!
Always remember to put sunblock cream to protect your skin from harmful UVA/UVB rays and sunburn before you soak up in the water! You don’t want to damage nor burn your skin, don’t you? This is the famous Coppertone sunblock but different from the other one because it is foamy and not in liquid. In all fairness, I do love it this way. It’s easy and fun to apply. Hahaha!
Snorkeling in Banol beach was fun! There were lots of beautiful fishes underneath the water and one of it was to see up close a couple of corals where clown fishes dwell.
Heading back to the beach to go to our next stop: Barracuda Lake!
Barracuda Lake
Another lake in Coron, Palawan aside from Kayangan Lake that is worthy of visit and one of favorites is the Barracuda Lake! You have to climb up a wooden stair to be able to reach the lake. Again, they never fail to give you a thrill before you’d reach the beautiful lake.
Haha! The lake greeted me with a huge dead jelly fish.
To get to the lake, there are 30-40 wooden steps snaking through the jagged limestone cliff surrounding the lake.
The entrance of the lake, however, is very small, and only a handful of people can be accommodated at the wooden platform at the mouth of the lake. Thank God it wasn’t the peak of season where in lots of tourists visit this place.
Our tour guide said that Barracuda Lake is composed of brackish water, a combination of fresh and salt water. Seriously, I never knew a word ‘brackish’ existed until he mentioned it. Haha.
Took me a lot of time to remember the word “thermo-clines” Hahaha! Good thing there is google! :)) By the way, the lake is known for its unique thermo-clines, which are distinct layers of cold, warm water and hot water. And this can be experienced when you dive which is caused by the meeting of the cold fresh water and the warm salt water.
What I totally missed out during the swim was diving from that rock formation on the right side of the photo. People were climbing from that huge rock and they would dive. For an adventure seeker like me, I was sooooo jealous that I was already prepared to climb when my mom scolded me from afar. Funny how she already knew what I was going to do (mother knows her daughter) Hahaha! I really wanted to cry out loud and have a break down or even worse, tantrums! ’cause mama dear didn’t want me to dive.
The tour guide brought us at the tip of the lake and there we saw manyunusual rock-formations and mysterious caves in a breathtaking atmosphere.
While we were enjoying the swim, our tour guide suddenly opened the topic that the lake was named Barracuda due to the discovery of a large barracuda skeleton within its waters. It got all of us alarmed which made me jump right at the back of the tour guide. HAHAHAHAHA! He made it even worst by telling us that the barracudas still occupy in these waters but good thing it is likely that you will encounter them. :))
Searching for barracudas. Kidding.
I recommend the part where in you would cruise in around 15-25 meters where the cold freshwater layer meets the hot saltwater. It was very cool like I was very ignorant to be able to experience such bizzare thing. Hahaha! You can also choose your most favorite one and change whenever you like or you swim with your head in the cold and your body in the hot water.
Our tour guide brought my sister and friend at the other side of the lake while we were resting at the stair steps. Boy, I thank God I didn’t join their swim because they really saw a real barracuda. Hahaha! My reaction would either be fainting at the middle of the lake or panicking until I faint. :))
Isn’t it very beautiful and hypnotizing? I could really stay here and enjoy the remarkable scenery forever. I wonder what this lake would be like when the sun sets. Uggh! It would be soo mesmerizing. Especially as the skies turn into a blazing palette of incredible beauty as the sunlight hours come to a graceful end.
hellodewww 