Coron-Gutob-Calauit Trip March 8-9, 2008

This is my 2nd batch to arrange a Coron trip. This time it has a Calauit trip on it.

Not known to my joiners, there were many surprises in this trip. All along I thought I have learned my past lessons from my previous trip, but there would be always something new to surprise me.

Surprise No. 1 – I was expecting a large boat, but what I saw was a medium boat. Not that I don’t like the boat, in fact, I do like the boat because it was fast. But what we have agreed was a large boat, with Comfort Room, and this didn’t materialized. Oh well.

My joiners did the typical Coron Island trip on day 1. These were a new bunch of people, and this batch 2 joiner reacted differently with the same itinerary compared to my batch 1 joiner. Learning: Each group is unique, there is no pattern.

Again, I did some fun shots while in Coron Island and CYC Island.

We passed by East Tangat Wreck aka Gunboat, but there were 2 dive boats occupying the location. With the strong wave and current, I decided not to pursue it. So off we went to Lusong Wreck. This time the boat took a different route. It passes by the northern tip of Sangat Island. My local guide showed me where the Bintuan Marine Sanctuary is – it was quite far yet. Upon reaching Lusong Wreck, our boat was positioned so awkwardly that we have to cancel the attempt to snorkel it. Then off we proceed to Dibutonay Island.

Upon reaching Dibutonay Island, my joiners had their fun time in the beach while I am arranging their food to be cooked. I was able to catch the sun setting down. I was able to roam to the western most part of the island… it was all rocks already. Upon returning back, I was able to spot a snake. I decided not to tell them, so as not to scare them.

Come day 2, we have to wake up early in order to leave at 5am. But we were able to leave at 6am. At 7am we were at Calauit Island Safari.

Surprise No. 2 – According to the boat captain, we have to make a reservation at Calauit Island Safari Park. But I didn’t make any reservation, so I was quite worried. Why did my contact did not informed me about this? So we tried calling some numbers. Finally, we were connected but we cannot make any reservation of some kind. So we just proceeded and pushed our luck – and we were lucky.

The first thing I noticed here is the river entrance and jelly fish abound. It was really a serene place there. I was also able to see the place where the van will be waiting and where the small boat will fetch guest should you be coming from mainland Busuanga. After docking is the small pier, I went down to the entrance booth.At the entrance booth, I immediately payed. I saw that nobody were using the tour truck – lucky us. From the entrance booth, you have to walk up to the Gazebo. From this point, I could already see some deers, then zebras, then giraffes. They were grazing all around. After a short briefing, we were all excited to ride the tour truck. The first thing we did was to feed the giraffe. Then after that was to be near the zebras. Then we went to see the caged bearcat and porcupine. We were allowed to inside the cage to feed the bearcat and porcupine. We were also allowed to touch it. After that we went to wild to hunt some giraffe, and we found a group of 6 giraffe (i think). The park guide said that it was rare that guest see a group of giraffe just like what we saw – really lucky us! After that we went to the crocodile pond to see to silent crocodiles. Along the way back, the park guide told us stories of their encounter with the pythons and the wild boar there – it was really an interesting story, hope we can see one, hehe. I was also able to see the place where you can spend overnight in the island. Actually, for afar, it looks like a public elementary building. The tour truck brought us up to the pier area. The tour took us around 3 hours. Imagine the length of time you have to wait if you are queued. This ends the highlight of the trip.

Our next stop was Black Island. The sea was calm to slightly calm – I think this is very rare, because I know the sea condition here is usually rough. Since we arrived there around 11am, the sun was scorching hot. After their visit to the rundown cave, we immediately proceed to Panlaitan Village to buy food for lunch.

Surprise No. 3 – There were no more fresh fish and squid being sold at that time at Panlaitan Village. The best time to buy is morning. Since my local guide knew our plan, why they didn’t warn us about this? So I ended buying dried squid and some canned sardines.

At Dibutonay Island, while the joiners were enjoying the beach and the local guide was cooking our lunch, I proceeded to pay to the caretaker.

Surprise No. 4 – This is my biggest surprise. The caretaker told me that the owner instructed him to collect P100 per head should we leave island the after 12nn. I cannot really believe what I was hearing – deep inside I was fuming mad. When I confirmed Dibutonay Island that we are sure to arrive, the owner increased the house rental rate one day before our intended date. How could I refuse that increase? And now the owner wants to collect P100/pax if we are still there by 12nn. But we arrived 4pm that Saturday, we just left our things there so that it would not be a hassle to carry it again. The owner talked to me in their cellphone. I told them that we are just about to leave and just getting our things. And strangely he was inviting me to go to where he was now (Sangat Island) via speed boat. I cannot leave my group and after what he just did – the nerve! The message was something like this “invite people to come to my place”. After that conversation, the caretaker collected me P50/pax in excess of 10pax. What is this? This is really becoming common in Coron. Can a sociologist help me figure out why is this always happening in Coron? It’s not really about the money amount I am mad, but the breaking of the agreement.

After Dibutonay, we went back to Lusong Wreck. At first, the joiner were hesitant to go down the water because all they can see was a slightly big sea wave. But I know I have snorkeled this place at a much higher wave. So I went down to snorkel first. Then slowly, little by little, the joiners started to go down to snorkle. But not all went down to snorkle. I acted as guide to the joiners. I was holding their hand to guide them to see the beauty of this wreck. I was also teaching them technique on how to use the lifevest. I am sure that those who have snorkelled here were rewarded by an awesome view of the shipwreck, the corals, and the fishes.

[no pictures]

After this, we headed back to Coron, at seadive resort, to do some shower and rest. But with me, it’s now time to settle the bills. Most of the joiners did the optional Makinit Hotspring tour. This was also the time for others to explore the Coron Town at night.

Surprise No. 5 – I didn’t experienced it, but it happened with my joiners at the optional Makinit Hotspring. My new contact arranged this tricycle shuttle, because he himself was a tricycle driver. This is the person where I got surprise no. 1. The usual contract about tricycle rental is that you will rent it for a couple of hours for P150-200 per tricycle. That’s it. I have done this maybe 4 times already. But what happened was, they were charged P50/pax and was asked some additional of P50 for the waiting. Oh well.

So this blog became mainly about the surprises I got from this Coron-Gutob-Calauit Trip.

The last pictures here are about the superferry ship and this batch joiners.

Megavalue Accommodation at Superferry MV OLGV

Tourist Accommodation at Superferry MV OLGV

Around the Superferry MV OLGV

The Coron Batch 2 Joiners