Coron Solo Travel Diary: Bandol beach and Twin Lagoon

It was already past lunch time when we finished our swimming and mini trekking in Kayangan lake. Everybody was of course H-U-N-G-R-Y by the time we went back to our boat. Buti nalang may dalang snacks yung mga kasama ko and they shared it to me (insert #freeloader here). 

Aba, masama kayang tumanggi sa grasya! (in defense for those who think im a P.G. =P)

ang photo na hindi mashadong kulay green ang pagkakakuha

Our guide told us that it will only take a matter of minutes to go to Bandol beach where our lunch will be serve. When he said "BEACH" nabuhayan kami ng loob. Hahaha. Well, i have no qualms about snorkeling and lake swimming pero mas ok parin talaga yung beach ang setting, white sand and turqouise waters. Ahhhh..now that's what I call a vacation.

Yehey! We're here! Kainan na!!

I have to admit nawala ang gutom ko upon reaching the beach. It was so pristine and clean and beautiful and what not! Kulang nalang perfect photo-op na kasama ako (but since solo flight nga ako, mahirap naman makisuyo na magpakuha ng mga conceited pics, LoL!)


There are 2 nipa huts on these side of the island where we stayed. At first all the nipa huts are occupied by the Red Cross people (who are in their annual field trip daw according to Mila) but they eventually left the place after a couple of minutes that we're there.


In short na-solo namin yung lugar na yun!


Spell Happiness.

Come, swim with me

Mila's prepared lunch was ok, squid adobo, inihaw na fish, mangoes and some veggies (i think. After lunch we we;re all full at shempre anong masarap gawin sa isang lazy afternoon pagkatapos kumain.....


Manood ng Valiente?


Este, matulog pala! Almost all of us had nap after we've eaten. Hindi naman masama coz wala naman nagka nightmare sa amin eventhough we're busog.


(FYI for those na bagets who read my blog, Valiente is a popular afternoon soap on channel 2. Main contrabida is Tirso Cruz III and his name is Theo din hahaha).

Serene. Zen. Peace. Bandol.

One thing I like about Coron and it's neighboring islands, malakas ang signal ng 3G dito! Mas malakas pa sa Makati CBD! No kidding!


Sent this photo below to my friends in Manila via Twitter. Wala lang, nangiingit lang. LoL

After an hour of Zzz's I decided to swim the waters on Bandol beach, shempre ang lakas na ng loob ko lumangoy because I have my life vest with me. Ako na ang best in swimming in life vest!

What strikes me the most about this place was this rock formation located on the left side of our picnic area. The huge limestones reminds me of the sliced stones we found in the Chico river at Tinglayan, Kalinga province last year.




After an hour of swimming back and forth and some photo shoot it's time for us to go to our last destination -  the Twin lagoon. 

Entrance to the lagoon

Funny how you need to go to the lagoon. Since the small wharf on the side of the cliff are jnot suitable for boat landing, you need to SWIM from your bangka all the way to the lagoon entrance. There you'll need to go up, squeeze yourself to the narrow opening then jump to the lagoon. Problema is kapag mataba ka and you can't fit on the narrow path. Though it is only applicable to those super obese people naman =P.

Since my camera is not water proof and ayoko naman magbakasakali, i left my camera on the boat and swam my way to the lagoon entrance. During this time I haven't had any problem with my life vest but while we we're swimming, lazily floating, and savoring the calmness of the lagoon I suddenly felt that i'm slowly going down. \


LIFE VEST MALFUNCTION!


Of course I panic but presence of mind was in full control. I decided to swam back to the shore and pray nalang for my safety. LoL! Talk about happy ending, or kung nalunod man m vacation will definitely end with a bang. Hahahaha.


All in all it was a fun trip. Nothing serious happened. I prayed a lot during my 3D/2N vacation. Meet new friends. Discover new places and most importantly I realized the solo travel is feasible and much less hassle free and as fun as group travel. Will definitely go solo travel again next time.

Coron Solo Travel Diary: Siete Pecados wannabee Snorkler and a Suprise trek to Kayangan Lake

Woke up very early on a Monday morning, I thought I was still in Las Pinas and I need to get up and be ready for my 6:00AM gym. (yes I work-out every morning during weekday). Gah, I told to myself, sayang ang oras! So instead of going back into slumber I decided to get-up, freshen a bit and go the town pier plaza to see what Coron looks like in the morning. 

Surprisingly, many people are already up at 6 in the morning, Even some western tourist are already making their way to town and do some shopping and hunting stores that offers breakfast. And since we have a complimentary breakfast I decided to buy a pandesal while walking along the Lualhati Park. 

Feeling tourist lang ang peg!

The weather was perfect for a morning stroll. It’s not hot yet and the temperature is still cool. I like! Walang ganito sa amin! Wah!

After a couple of pandesal (which I tried to feed to the fish swimming in the pier dock but it didn’t eat at all) and some photo-ops I decided to go back to the hotel and have my breakfast. I was looking forward for a heavy breakfast since we will be having a v.v. hectic day today but alas this is what I got fro breakfast…… 

A little bit disappointing. Sana pala kumain nalang ako dun sa palengke where they serve a wide variety of breakfast meal. Anyhow its complimentary naman so choosy paba ako (eh libre na nga! LoL).

 

After breakfast and a quick dash to the drug store (to buy sunblock) we’re off to our island hopping trip for the day. Then again panic arises in me as we aboard the motorized bangka. You see I have this slight phobia in riding a bangka (whether big or small) after what happened in Capones island three years ago, but thank god life vest is available! Yay! Now I feel safe.

 

The life vest is my companion during the whole day. I have to admit it helps me swam in deep waters FOR THE FIRST TIME in my 31 years of existence! Pumalya lang si life vest while we we’re in Twin Lagoon, story to be told next post =D.

 

Okay, off we go, fist stop is the Siete Pecados Island. Oh during the whole duration of the trip we have Mila’s nephew who act as our tour guide din pala. He was explaining to us the geography and history and what not about siete pecados but unfortunately for me I  was not listening. I was too busy taking pictures and contemplating whether to swim or not (kasi nga hindi ako marunong lumangoy). 

But after too much prodding by Tita (she’s the gracious matriarch of the family which I was with during the whole trip) and showing me that it’s ok to swim I hesitantly and slowly drop my body to the cold water of Coron.

 

Eeeekkkk!!! I thought I was gonna drowned. (Arte much lang pala!)

In fairness, the life vest did let me float but I’m not letting my guard down with it. I was holding on to my dear life on the bangka’s outrigger the whole time! Wah! Such a loser am I! Lol! 

I have to admit the coral formation in Siete Pecados are awesome. Lot’s of colorful corals underwater and of course lots of fish as well. The most common type of fish the neon blue one which is much like a dalagang bukid to me, in color blue! 

Cute! 

I submerged my whole body and head jus to check the fishes and the corals in Siete pecados. Darn, I should have borrowed Rosa’s snorkeling gear. With only the googles in tow, it’s hard to see what’s happening underneath. =(. 

According to our guide, Siete Pecados is where Manila Ocean Park get their aquarium fish, parang may breeding station or something ata dun. But if im not mistaken, Siete Pecados was a popular TV show (or movie) way back in the 80’s (Age alert!). Also it’s a name of a bar or a band ata during the 90’s and early 2K-ish. Basta the name sounds very familiar.

 

After 20-30 minutes of arm binding (in the rigger) and drinking a couple of sea water (yikes!) and eating my companion’s puto (waaaa! PG! These people are so kind enough to share with me their baon) we’re off to Kayangan Lake.

Was v.v.v. much impressed in the entrance lagoon of Kayangan Lake. Super white beach and green scenery and crystal clear water! It reminds me of Calaguas Island (Read:Must-go-back-there-this-year) of last year. The island is inhabited by the Tagabanua (according to our guide, sha na ang best in information!) therefore we have to follow some rules like no bringing of food in the island and no traversing the caves (which we found out only while we did trekking going to the lake). 

Armed only with my googles and small amount of water, we hike for about 20 minutes going to the lake. But wait there’s more surprise in the island.

 

Lo and behold there’s this majestic view from the cave area wherein we are overlooking the lake. 

Awesome!

 

Here’s the cave that our guide told us not to enter. According to him the famous birds nest (not the one found in Beijing silly!) which in turn used for “nido soup” are abundantly stored here (thanks to the birds who live inside the cave =P). Only the Tagbanua can harvest it and use it. Bawal daw for taga-labas to get those precious nests. =(. 

OK Fine!

 

After a couple of ups and down the trail we finally arrive in Kayangan Lake! 

Ganda noh? 

Green kung green ang scenery!

Funny thing was to enjoy the lake you have to swim on it, kaso I leave my life vest at the bangka. 

So how now brown cow? 

Luckily one of my companions brought his life vest and since he’s a good swimmer I borrowed his. What a nice guy!

 

Then the much awaited first-time-ever-swimming-in-a-very-deep-bodies-of-water starts. At first was a little bit hesitant to jump from the docking board but once I felt na I was floating, then the happiness arrived! 

Yahoo! I can swim na! LoL! 

As the other people has witnessed, I swam back and forth the magkabilang dulo ng lake entrance. Hahaha. Feelign first timer talaga. It was fun pala to swim and I felt secured since 1. it’s a lake and no chance to be caught up by the wave 2. konti lang tao, so if ever na malunod konti lang ang witness (para di nakakahiya) 3. exercise mode sa swimming, i.e. nakakapayat! 

Haist. I think after an hour of swimming and photo-op (shempre sabit lang ako lagi sa mga kasama ko) it was time to go back to the boat. 

Kayangan lake, I owe you one. Dahil napalangoy mo ako for sure babalikan kita… 

Next stop Bandol beach and the scary experience at Twin Lagoon =P