Maquinit Salt Water Hot Spring

After diving, the girls and I decide to go to the hotsprings for some needed rest and relaxation. It was about a 20 min. tricyle ride away, so the 4 of us bargain with our driver and squeeze into the tiny tricycle. This was also a good way to see Coron as it drove through the main road of the town and along the sides of the mountain.

Maquinit Salt Water Hot Spring is the only known saltwater hot spring in the Philippines, if not in the world. The water is a comfortable 40°C and I felt immediatly relaxed when I climbed into the water. The hot salt water made my skin tingle, or maybe it was stinging all of the cuts and bruises I had received from diving. Whatever it was, it felt good.









Only beaufitul sunsets in Palawan

Dive 5 - CYC Reef

After a great lunch of grilled fish, we make our way to our next dive at CYC Reef. This area was also a long stretch of beautiful reef with great visibility. I saw really spectacular coral formations in this area and took billions of pictures. By this time I was a lot more comfortable with diving again and I could just float around and look at all the beautiful things around me. Everything underwater was alive and usually scared the crap out of me if it started moving! But part of me also felt quite intrusive just by the mere existence of me being underwater and I felt I must have altered the natural order of things just by being there. So with this healthy sense of fear I usually stayed a distance away from the reef so I knew I wouldn't ruin anything. Maybe in future dives I'll start getting closer!

Some sort of animal


Nudibranch (seaslug)










Jenny & Leslie

Dive 4 - Barracuda Lake

The next day I decided to dive again but only 2 this time. I don't think my body could take anymore! I was with a different divemaster and different group of people. The entire group was comprised mostly of middle-aged Czechs who didn't speak any English. But they were seasoned divers because they had brought all their own equipement from the Czech Republic! However, I'll be okay if I don't see another 50-year-old balding man in a speedo again.

There were 2 girls from yesterday's dive on this dive as well, Leslie and Jenny. I didn't have a chance to speak to them alot yesterday but after today I found out that they both grew up in Vancouer and now live in Hong Kong! It was kinda cool to talk about home again with them and make some new friends.

Our first dive was at Barracuda Lake on Coron Island. Approaching this island was absolutely breathtaking. It's definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. But beauty comes at a price. The lake itself is inside Coron Island, much like a crater. In order to get there you have to climb up then down into the lake through what I lovingly call "Death rocks." Seriously. The locals have tried to make it easier by installing railings but the rocks themselves are still quite steep and don't have any premade footholds. And we had to carry all of our equipment with us to get through this! So I just paid one of the local boys $1.35 to carry it for me. Totally worth it. But even without all the equipment it was still a dangerous climb.





The treacherous climb into the lake


Now Barracuda Lake is quite unique. There isn't much to see underwater but people come here because it is a thermal lake. The top14m is brackish water at about 28°C. Below 14m it is salt water and around 38°C. Below 26m the temperature goes back to 28°C. At 32m the water starts to turn the colour of tea, because of the tannic acid from the leaves settled on bottom. It was awesome to be able to do a skin dive here and I usually tried to stay at the 38°C level because it just felt sooooooooooo good!

About to descend


Tiny seashell at the bottom of the lake


Limestone formations


And yes, I did see THE barracuda!

Dive 3 - Lusong Reef

Our last dive on the day was at Lusong Reef. There wasn't a wreck here, only metres of beautiful coral reef. You could even see it from the boat because the water was so clear!









Some type of eel


The other wrecks to see in Coron


The beautiful sunset ride back


After we get back everyone on the boat makes plans to meet up for dinner later on that night. But by the time I get back to my room I didn't realize how tired my body was and I pass out instantly on my bed. It was 6pm.

Dive 2 - Taie Maru

After shaking off the excitement of my first successful dive in 8 years, we have lunch on the boat and make our way to the next site, the Taie Maru. This Japanese oil tanker was not as deep so I was able to see more of the wreck. I still managed to go down to 22m. But while I was underwater I still couldn't tell what part of the ship I was on!

Lunch, boat styles


Don't let the smile fool you, it's heavier than it looks


I was also able to see more marine life in this area as well. I took a video of me swimming through a gigantic school of fish. There were hundreds of them!

I found Nemo!


A grouper fish (or lapu-lapu as it's known locally)


Part of the ship that is now home to hundreds of organisms


Now imagine hundreds more...


My favourite, a sea turtle!!!

Dive 1 - Akitsushima

After a good night's rest, despite the bad karaoke singing at the Coron Public Market, I woke up to beautiful sunshine. I walk over to the Sea Dive Resort for a briefing and to meet my fellow divers for the day. I don't remember their names but our divemaster was British and the other divers were from Denmark, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, and of course me, the lone Canadian.

Now, it has been 8 years since my last dive. 8 YEARS! It was in Victoria, BC with the water at 4 degrees Celsius and I knew that what I was about to see this time in the Philippines was completely different from Victoria. To be honest, I was terrified. To top it off, almost everyone that I was with were Advanced Divers and I felt bad if I held them back because I can't go as deep as them. But as is most things in the Philippines, the certification isn't absolutely necessary and I went further down than I know I was supposed to go. And since I was alone, the other local divemaster Kuya Toytoy was my dive buddy which was alot safer in the long run.

Coron is well known for it's wreck dives and the town is littered with dive enthusiasts from all over the world to see them. The first wreck we saw was the Akitsushima, a Japanese Imperial Navy warship that was bombed by the US task force in 1944.

Our boat for the day


The 2 hour boatride to the first divesite


My Box-O-Equipment


As my first dive in 8 years, it was definitely worth the wait! It was amazing to be under water again and the combined excitement and fear I had made it all the more amazing. And by far, my Canon WP-DC21 Underwater Case has been the best investment. Now I just gotta learn how to take pictures underwater!

The guide rope to the wreck


I'm smiling with my eyes


Don't know what this was but it sure looked cool


The Danes and the Frenchman on the way to the next divesite

Coron, Palawan

My flight into Palawan was brief and I arrive at Busuanga airport in the smallest airplane I have ever been on. It held maybe 20 passengers, apparently this isn't a very popular flight.



It was still a 45 minute ride into Coron but I could immediately see why people came from all over the world to Palawan. The province itself is so lush and green and this could be seen during the drive on the rough road to Coron. We even had to stop because an entire herd of cattle and their calves had blocked the dirt road!

I hadn't made any reservations for a place to stay and just depended on finding a place when I got there. I managed to sneak a van ride to this one place that was offering a free shuttle to their hotel only to find out that the only room that was left was beyond my price range. $37/night for a double bed with shower and air-con? No thank you. I am travelling on a tight budget so every penny counts. The driver however was very helpful when I told him that I needed someplace very simple and safe for a single person. So he drives me into "town" and walks me through this winding path past hanging laundry and lazy dogs to a humble seaside lodge on the pier. At $11/night this was more my price range. And I was able to steal the Wi-Fi offered by the more expensive lodge across the way!







But the view from the back porch was beautiful! A great way to start my Palawan adventure.