Coron

We stayed at Coron Reef Pension House, which costs PhP 1,500 per night good for 10 people. They also have rooms good for 4, which costs only PhP 1000. Don't expect a hotel room with this price but it has decent bed, ac, a good sized bathroom, and running water.

You can contact Ms. Chinette (0919-887-7151) for reservations. You can also contact them for boat rentals for easier transactions. Aside from Ms. Chinette, you can also contact Kuya Bong (0908-290-4744) if you want to get more rates on tours around the island.

If you do not have any goggles to use, most boatmen do have snorkel gears for rent or you can also go around the municipality and rent one from diving centers there. The average rate is around PhP 150.00 but of course you can always ask for a discount :)

Coron, Palawan

Just got back from a 6 day 5 night vacation to Coron, Palawan... although the weather is not that great, the places we visited made the trip worthwhile.

A friend budgeted the whole trip which costs roughly around PhP 7,000 per person (for 7 people) for the accommodation, van transfer to and from the resort, island hopping, food, and airfare. We were able to visit 12 snorkling and diving sites, and a tour of Coron town proper.

We visited Siete Pecados, Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake, Banol Beach, Skeleton Ship Wreck, Banana Island, Malcapuya Island, Twin Lagoon, Gun boat wreck, Japanese ship wreck, Coral garden, and Sangat Island.

More on the places we visited and people we contacted on my next post.

Sumilon Island Part 2

After trekking, we then went to the lagoon and kayaked for about an hour. You actually have the option to feed the fish first (ask the resort for stale bread to feed them with) before kayaking the area. Don't expect for clear water though because the lagoon water does not flow anywhere. It has accumulated all the debris over the years so if you fall, you better keep your mouth closed.

Although the waters are murky, kayaking the lagoon is a very calming experience in itself. You have the mountain and the sea as your backdrop... all you need to do is enjoy the ride.

After the activities, we had lunch overlooking the ocean under the shade of the trees around the resort. We had seafood salad as our appetizer, a choice of either chicken, shrimp, or pork for the main course, and assorted fruits for dessert. Again, all the activities and the food are all included on the package.

Come afternoon, we had frenchfries and clubhouse sandwich for snacks before preparing to head home. The boat ride back to the mainland took a lot longer because of the giant waves we had to cross (this maybe because of the bad weather during that month and of course it was already late in the afternoon) but thank God, we were able to get back safely.

If you happen to go to Cebu, do not miss a trip to this wonderful island...  a little piece of heaven on earth.

Sumilon Island

After the zipline adventure, we then headed to Sumilon Island early Saturday morning. From Lahug, we were told to go Cebu South Bus Terminal and buy a ticket going to Oslob. The fare is about PhP 135.00 one way but with the way prices are increasing right now, your best bet would be to prepare at least PhP 150.00. You might want to go there as early as 3:00 AM if you want to get to Sumilon before 7 or 8 AM. The bus ride is about 3 hours from the city and from Oslob, wait for the boat that would get you to Sumilon Blue Water Resort.

The resort offers over night accommodation as well as day tours but with our budget running low, we opted to take the latter.  Accommodation with food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) as well as use of facilities, snorkeling gear, kayak, and trekking around the island costs roughly around PhP 10,000 per couple per night. Day tours on the other hand, costs PhP 1,500.00 during weekdays and PhP 2,000 on weekends. That amount covers boat ride to and from the island, a three course lunch or buffet (depending on the number of visitors on that day), snacks, use of facilities, use of snorkeling gear, kayak, and trekking around the island... money well spent if you ask me. Please do call them to make a reservation. Here's their number: (63-32) 492-0100. (63-32) 232-5411 or (63-32) 232-5412 to 14

After 3 hours on the bus and 15 or so minutes of boat ride, we were amazed by the sandbar on the island! The waters around it were the bluest of blue... something that can easily compete with the waters of Boracay. We were then given a ride to the resort itself and briefed on what we should expect on our visit.

Just a tip- if you want to go trekking, make sure that you wear shoes that could take the rocky terrain of the mountain. If you actually look closely, the rocks somehow look like coral reefs (makes me think that the waters were as high as these mountains). We trekked towards the Baluarte and the Light Tower and back to the beach, which took almost an hour or so of walking around the island.

More on SUmilon on my next posts...in the meantime here's a few pictures to enjoy

Cebu's Van Rentals

As promised, here are a few of the numbers that you can contact when you want to rent a van in Cebu and make your vacation a lot more comfortable.


1. Cebu Van Rental: (0923) 451-2244- PhP 1,000 for the first 2 hours and PhP 350.00 per succeeding hour. PhP 3,500 for 10 hours. I texted them early morning and replied quickly. You can also check out their Facebook account at Cebu Van Rental or email them at jehn_alo@yahoo.com


2. Juddy Nebria: (0906) 232-6780- PhP 3,500 for 10 hours and PhP 350 per succeeding hours. Again, very quick in responding to queries.


3. Luzviminda Travel and Tours: (0921) 753-54590- PhP 3,500 for 8 hours and PhP 300.00 per succeeding hour (they can plan the itinerary for you).


4. (0917) 585-0301- PhP 1,300 for the first 2 hours. You can also email thme at debbie.rojonan@gmail.com.

Will add to this list as soon as they reply to my text :)

ZipLine at Doce Pares

I have started summer early January with a trip to Sumilon Island. I was in Cebu for 2 weeks to train a few people about a new line of business in our company. I had the option to go home to Manila on the weekends or stay at the hotel, watch TV, and basically do nothing. wWell, it was an easy decision to make... I was in Cebu, for crying out loud. I've been to Cebu a couple of times before this trip but this was something special. I had two weeks for both work and play. Let's fast forward to Friday of that 1st week... my friends from Canada and China came home and decided to join me in my adventure. They had me researh on what we could do over the weekend and one of the things that we have decided on is to go to Busay Malubog and Zip line at Doce Pares. They're open Mondays-Thursdays (10:00 am to 8:00 pm); Fridays (10:00 am to 10:00 pm); and Saturdays-Sundays (8:00 am to 10:00 pm). The fee for three rides is PhP 200.00, pretty cheap if you ask me. Going there is a different story if you don't have your own car or a van that you can rent. There are several companies that you can call to rent a van-- I'll tell you more about it on my next blogs. What we did is to actually hire a taxi to go to the park and back to the city. The price: a whopping PhP 1,000.00! One of the upside is Manong waited patiently for us for 2 hours. You can get taxis on any part of the city or you can also ride a habal-habal or a motorcyle, which you can find at JY Square, Lahug. It takes 30 minutes to go up the steep mountain and get to the park but the journey is so worthwhile... the view is really awesome! Because I'm one of those girls on the heavier side, I am really worried that the line will not be able to carry my weight but fortunately, one of the staff told me that all the equipmeny they use came from the US and is maintained every day. I will post pictures soon so you'll get to enjoy the view as well. The experience is both thrilling and calming at the same time. The hardest part is actually letting go and having someone push you to take a risk and experience the ride of your life. All this I did in my favorite pair of flipflops.