Climbing Mt. Tapyas in Coron, Palawan

Arriving at Coron town in the afternoon, island hopping tour is not an option anymore for the first day. I took a late lunch at Lolo Nonoy's restaurants, before walking around the small town center to kill time. At around 4:30 pm, Nina the Russian lady I met at the plane, joined me on a short hike to Mt. Tapyas.

Mt. Tapyas at 210 meters above sea level is the second highest mountain at Coron town. Its just 14 meters higher than Mt. Manalmon in Bulacan. The white cross on its summit is lighted at night, so the mountain is easy to recognize like a beacon, whenever and wherever you are in Coron town or at nearby islands.

BPI - Pizza Hut Promo, 18 April - 31 Aug 2012

If you are looking for latest Sept.-Nov. 2012 promo of BPI credit cards, click here.  
 
After more than 2 months of waiting, BPI reintroduces their promo with Pizza Hut group, namely -- Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, and Taco Bell.

Promo period is from 18 April until 15 July 31 August 2012. Redemption period is until 13 September 30 October 2012, as they extended the promo. Below are the product entitlements after meeting the minimum purchase requirements.

Malcapuya Island in Coron

My third island hopping day was spent frolicking in the sea, sand, and sun, at the beautiful Malcapuya island. For Php 950 tour fee and after 1.5 hours of boat travel, I was able to set foot on this secluded island. 

Its still windy on our way to the island, so the waves continue to splash in our boat, which at that time consists of seven all-Filipino guests. The canvas roof of our boat has to be rolled to avoid getting ripped by the wind, so we have to endure the 3-hour round trip of being exposed to the sun's rays.

Coron's Kayangan Lake & Twin Lagoon

For the second tour day in Coron, I availed the Coron Ultimate Island Tour for Php 650 with Coron Galeri. This time, there were only 6 of us tourists in a smaller boat, including two of us Filipinos in the group.

The waves are strong, but good thing that our destination is less than 30-minutes away from the port. When we reached the waters that are covered by the island group, the sea became calm. The bluish gray rocky group of islands on the photo above is our destination for the day.

Coron's Calumbuyan Island & Coral Garden

Last 13-16 March 2012 in Coron, Palawan, is where I embarked on my first solo leisure travel. During that 4-day period, I was able to squeeze 3 days of island hopping, plus running and mountain hiking on the side.

My round trip airfare was only Php 835, with baggage allowance on Coron-Manila return trip, which I was not able to use anyway. It was my second time to board a propeller-type plane, about 60-seater, which is bigger than a 19-seater plane I had experienced during a trip to Romblon. After arriving at the Busuanga airport, I rode an airconditioned van to Coron town proper for Php 150 fare/person, for about 30 minutes of land travel.