Things to do
6-
Coron Island
Limestone cliffs rise straight from the sea on this island south of town, ancestral domain of the Tagbanua, who manage access and keep several lakes closed to visitors entirely. Day boats work a fixed circuit of Kayangan, Twin Lagoon, Banol Beach and the snorkelling at Siete Pecados. Permits are collected at each landing. Afternoon wind can shorten the route or drop a stop.
-
Mount Tapyas
Concrete steps climb from the edge of town to a cross and a viewing deck above the bay, a stiff twenty minutes in the heat. The reward is the whole archipelago laid out at sunset, with the islands turning dark against the water. Handrails run the full flight. Late afternoon is the hour to start, and water is worth carrying.
-
Barracuda Lake
Divers come here for thermoclines that swing the water temperature sharply within a single descent, over a moonscape of silt and limestone pinnacles. Visibility is exceptional and there is almost nothing living in the lake. Snorkelling is permitted, though the site rewards tanks. A short climb over sharp rock separates the boat landing from the water.
-
Kayangan Lake
A staircase over a limestone ridge from the boat landing reaches a brackish lake held in a karst bowl, its water clear enough to show the rock shelves several metres down. The viewpoint on the climb looks back over the cove and the moored bangkas. Swimming is allowed with a life vest and without sunscreen. Boats arrive in waves, so avoid midday.
-
Maquinit Hot Springs
Saltwater springs feed three walled pools on the shore east of town, heated geothermally to around forty degrees and ringed by mangroves. Evening is when the boats come back and the pools fill, often after a day on the water. Tricycles handle the rough access road. The heat is heavy in daylight, so late visits work better.
-
Twin Lagoon
Two saltwater pools on Coron Island connect through a gap in the rock, passable by ducking under at low tide or by a wooden stair at high. Warm surface water sits over cold springs below, and the blur where they meet is visible through a mask. Cliffs close the lagoon in on all sides. Queues build at the gap by late morning, when the boats converge.
