When I first thought of going to Coron, Palawan, I did not expect that I’ll be doing it in the midst of a global pandemic. Being one of the top destinations in the world, I perceived my visit to the place as anything but a background of an ongoing health crisis. So when I found myself sitting in a plane in Francisco B. Reyes Airport in Busuanga, Palawan, wearing face masks and a face shield, I started admitting to myself that this is the new norm of traveling now and that THIS IS IT—I am finally in Coron.
Travel Requirements
Similar with other places, traveling to Coron requires several requirements that need to be met prior to the day of entry to the municipality. I’ll try to concisely explain and share our experience in obtaining these travel requirements in this post but in the meantime, here is the list of the documents that you need to secure to enter Coron:
- Confirmed roundtrip flight tickets
- Confirmed booking in a Department of Tourism (DOT)-accredited accommodation
- Confirmed itinerary from a DOT-accredited tour operator
- Negative RT-PCR test result taken 48 to 72 hours before the flight
- Coron Tourism QR code
- Additional at the airport: Official receipt of RT-PCR test
Most of these travel requirements are easy to accomplish once you book your roundtrip flight and obtain the necessary details. We went to the Coron Tourism website for the list of DOT-accredited accommodations and from there chose the one with the best offer. Eventually, we decided to stay at Sun Valley Tourist Inn which we found has the best deal for including the arrangement of the tour. A week before our flight and after several follow-ups, they sent us our confirmed booking and the whole itinerary for our trip with JY Travel and Tours as our accredited tour operator.
Probably the most difficult one and the most anxiety-inducing requirement is the RT-PCR test because of its time validity. Basically, your whole trip relies on its result so if you tested positive, the whole plan would be cancelled a day before your flight. You wouldn’t be able to obtain the Coron Tourism QR code as well because the negative RT-PCR test result is part of its pre-requisite.
For our RT-PCR test, we applied and availed of the DOT-Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) subsidy at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) where we got swabbed and paid only ₱750 (US$15.47). This financial aid is part of the government agency’s initiative to revive tourism by shouldering 50% of the original cost of RT-PCR tests for qualified tourists. A day after our test and a day before our flight, we received our results which were negative. After this, we signed up to the Coron Tourism website where we finally got our QR code.
All of these requirements will be checked in the airport before boarding with the addition of the official receipt of RT-PCR test. Once approved, they will allow you to enter the gates and board the plane. Take note that aside from face mask, face shield is also required in entering both the airport and the aircraft.
Arrival Protocols
Upon arrival at the airport, tourists will be asked to place their hand-carried bags in an area for disinfection before queuing up in line for handwashing. Body temperature would also be checked afterwards with a thermal scanner before being asked to present the Coron QR code for scanning. Last step at the airport is payment of the environmental fee which costs ₱200 (US$4.11). I also noticed that checked-in baggage were also disinfected prior to releasing as I’ve received my bag sprinkled with disinfectant. After this, we looked for our van driver who brought us to the Coron Town Proper which took us around 30 minutes to reach.
6 Days and 5 Nights in Coron
Uncertain of what the future holds, my friend and I agreed to make the most of our trip and decided to stay in Coron for six days. Generally, the whole trip was tiring yet we made sure to still have time to relax by allotting a day for it which what we did during our arrival day. We wrapped our first night in Coron by visiting Santino’s Grill where we ordered their Pork Sisig (₱220/US$4.52), Liempo BBQ Meal (₱185/US$3.80) and some booze.
The following day marked the first day of our four-day arranged tour in Coron and it was scheduled late in the afternoon which allowed us to discover another restaurant in town called Poco Deli. Unlike Santino’s Grill, Poco Deli also has branches in Manila and serves European cuisine. We tried their Truffle Seafood (₱350/US$7.22) and Bolognese Pomodori (₱350/US$7.22) but the real star for me is their Quattro Formaggio (₱400/US$8.25) which is a thin crust pizza with a bursting taste of different types of cheese—probably one of the best pizzas I’ve tasted!
After a hearty meal, we proceeded with our tour for the day which is the Coron Town Tour which included visits to Lualhati Park, St. Augustine Church, Coron Souvenir Shop, Mount Tapyas and Maquinit Hot Spring.
Our second day of tour was allotted for visiting some of Coron’s world-famous tourist spots. This tour may not be the same for all travelers as there are three different tours to choose from depending on the preference of the visitor. For our trip, we availed of the Ultimate Tour which included trips to Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon, CYC Beach, Coral Garden, Sunset Beach, Siete Pecados, Reef Garden and Skeleton Wreck. But if you want to visit the also popular Barracuda Lake, you can choose the so-called Tour B which includes trip to the place along with Smith Beach, Twin Lagoon, Skeleton Wreck and Reef Garden. Tour A on the other hand includes trips to Kayangan Lake, CYC Beach, Las Islas de Coral, Sunset Beach, Green Lagoon and Quin Reef.
I think one of the good things about traveling during a pandemic is that there are not much tourists. My friend who has gone to Coron pre-pandemic has noted that there were a handful of tourists most especially in Kayangan Lake and Twin Lagoon that you’ll need to queue up in line if you want to get a photo op or climb the stairs to the other side of the lagoon. People have also said that the waters are cleaner and that marine life is more visible due to the lack of foot traffic.
Personally, I love my experience in Kayangan Lake and Twin Lagoon because—given its undeniable majestic limestone formations and clear turquoise waters—we got the chance to fully savor each place and relax because there were not much people around. I will never forget that serene moment in Twin Lagoon when we were just floating in its waters, looking at the sky and enjoying the calming silence of the place and the cold water surrounding our bodies while basking in the sun. I think my experience would be different if it was just a regular day.
Even our lunch was memorable because it was set in a cottage above this clear turquoise shore with a background of the limestone formations. I guess it has also became memorable because of the people we got to meet and exchanged conversations with which made me realize how I missed socializing during this pandemic.
We spent the next hours visiting the remaining destinations in our tour which all amazed me for it was the first time that I saw a shipwreck, fishes swimming outside of an aquarium, a coral garden and a mangrove in person.
The third day of our tour was allotted to visiting some of the region’s white sand beaches and is commonly known as the Escapade Tour. This island-hopping itinerary includes trips to Bulog Dos Island, Banana Island and Malcapuya Island. However, travel time during this tour was longer due to the islands being far from Coron Town Proper. The boat we used was also bigger probably due to the long distance that will be traveled and had more tourists on-board.
Honestly, since I am not much of a beach bum, I didn’t find our trip to the islands that memorable because there was not much to do aside from beach bumming and swimming. There was a snorkeling activity to see the corals in Banana Island but I have left my snorkeling gear in our hotel room that day so I wasn’t able to join. However, I did enjoy seeing the sandbar in Bulog Dos Island and being amazed with the powdery white sand in Malcapuya Island.
We also did a side trip to Ditaytayan Sandbar which is not part of the package we’ve availed and required an entrance fee of ₱200 (US$4.11). The sandbar here is more visible and not that submerged during our visit and provides better view than that of the one in Bulog Dos Island in my opinion.
Same with our experience the day before, there were few to almost no other tourists in the places during our visit.
It was during our fourth night in Coron when we decided to walk back to our hotel after having dinner when we started noticing the impact of the pandemic to the town. In fact, during our first night, we were supposed to grab dinner at the famous Trattoria Altrove to try its brick oven pizza but was disappointed when we found out that it was still not operating. Even in Inihaw Project, where we had our dinner during that night, the effect was very noticeable as we were the only ones dining in the place. I also noticed that even its adjacent popular restaurant, KT’s Sinugba sa Balay, was also still closed. Most bars and other night out spots were still not operating and only very few restobars and shops were open. The used to be busy main road of the town was almost deserted at night and few people were walking outside. Basically, there is no nightlife in Coron this pandemic period.
Our last day of tour was allotted for shipwreck and coral reef viewing which is called as the Reef and Wrecks Tour. Honestly, I did not know what to expect from this tour as I’m not a diver and the best thing that I can do is snorkeling. But as it turned out, the day of this tour is one of my favorite times in Coron. Destinations for this itinerary includes East Sangat Shipwreck, Lusong Gunboat, Lusong Coral Garden and Pass Island.
Despite seeing Skeleton Wreck two days ago in our Ultimate Tour, I was still in awe when I saw the Japanese shipwrecks in East Sangat and Lusong Gunboat because of the ships’ clearer and visible forms and probably because we were the only ones in the area during that time. My experience in Lusong Coral Garden was also memorable because of the amazing reef found in it which includes various coral formations and fishes (saw a school of fish here for the first time!). In fact, the scenery reminded me of the movie Finding Nemo because the reef in Lusong Coral Garden almost looks like it.
Last destination for the day and for our Coron trip was Pass Island which was also the place where we had our last tour lunch. Our experience at the place is probably the best way to wrap our four-day tour because of its laid-back tropical ambiance and the presence of restrooms and canopy tents for relaxing. This was also the time that I can say when I felt relaxed because we have stayed in the island for more or less three hours doing nothing but chilling by the beach.
Similar with our experiences in the previous days, we had the destinations all to ourselves except for Pass Island where another group had also stayed.
For our last night and dinner in Coron, we dropped by at Sharky’s Restobar near our hotel where we tried their Elmurts Shrimp (₱350/US$7.22) and Grilled Liempo (₱250/US$5.13) .
Coron in a Glance During the Pandemic
Unlike in Manila where wearing of face masks is strictly observed, the people in Coron Town Proper are more lenient in wearing masks and face shields probably because of the very low number of recorded COVID-19 cases in the island. During our visit, our tour guide has shared that there was no active cases of the disease in the place.
In terms of health protocols, land and sea transportation are operating half of its capacity while business establishments have logbooks, alcohol bottles and thermal scanners in their entrance although these are not as strictly observed as compared in Manila.
In terms of awareness, people were not that well-acquainted with the local and national updates. We have talked to our tour guide, boat captain and tricycle drivers we’ve met during our trip and all of them were asking about some of the requirements we have accomplished before entering Coron.
Generally, one of the very clear things that I’ve noticed during this “extraordinary” trip is the importance of tourism to the municipality. As related by our boat captain in one of our tours, people have relied and shifted to fishing as their livelihood during the lockdown that daily catches were so abundant that they cannot sell it to the market because of the overflowing supply. As I mentioned before, business establishments have also closed down due to the lack of foot traffic. This experience also made me realize how tourists should be careful in traveling to the island and ensuring they don’t bring the virus in it because people here are not as cautious as in Manila.
Expenses
Overall, I think our travel expenses in Coron was cheaper compared to how much it’s supposed to be if there wasn’t a pandemic. From the flight, hotel accommodation to dining in restaurants, we scored prices that were mostly discounted due to the small number of tourists visiting the island. We even experienced seeing a menu offering a 20% discount to its dishes due to COVID-19. We also did not restrict ourselves when it comes to choosing where to eat.
In case you are wondering, here is the list of our estimated expenses per person during our trip in Coron:
| Particulars | Amount |
| Roundtrip Flight (MNL to USU; USU to MNL) | ₱1,900.92 |
| DOT Subsidized RT-PCR Test | ₱750.00 |
| 6D5N Hotel Accommodation & 4D Tour + Room Upgrade | ₱9,660.00 |
| Take Home Lunch at McDonald’s | ₱140.00 |
| Dinner at Santino’s Grill | ₱290.00 |
| Lunch at Poco Deli | ₱680.00 |
| Kayak Rental (divided to 7 persons) | ₱167.00 |
| Entrance Fee to Ditaytayan Sandbar | ₱200.00 |
| Coconut at Malcapuya Island | ₱50.00 |
| Dinner at Inihaw Project | ₱300.00 |
| Take Home Dinner at Ramen Sakura | ₱350.00 |
| Dinner at Sharky’s Restobar | ₱528.00 |
| Pasalubong | ₱400.00 |
| Snorkeling Gear | ₱300.00 |
| ₱15,716.92 (US$325.21) |
Got any questions or clarifications during my travel to Coron this 2021? I’d be happy to answer them! Drop them in the comments below.
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