Our 3rd day thankfully started a little later in the morning (I think we made it till about 5 this time haha) otherwise much the same. We killed time in the room until coffee shops opened at 7 and we headed out in search for sustenance. This time we tried a place called Tea & Shake which we liked much better as far as cost/ service/ and atmosphere.
Then it was back to our room this time getting picked up shortly after 8 for the short trike ride back to the tour shack to pay and then onto our boat for the Island Escapade tour!
This time we were on the boat for like 30 minutes with just one couple so at least we weren’t crammed in waiting… but we still didn’t leave until almost 10. (*eye roll) It takes forever.
Up first:
Famous for it’s sand bar and next door to the most expensive resort in Coron (a couple thousand dollars a night… quite the change from our $25 a night rooms haha) The views were amazing and the color of the water.. perfection. You can snorkel, play in the shallow water, swim out a little deeper, or wander the small island. We had a little over an hour in this haven with the last 20 minutes being the only boat there. But then it was onto our lunch stop and next beach…
Cocoa Beach
Picnic tables, coconuts for sale, beach volleyball, hammocks, and most importantly: SWINGS This beach may not have been the most scenic but it was still great to hang out on the swings and not to mention eat another fantastic lunch. (pretty much the same as the day before minus the clams)
Malcapuya Island
Our favorite and last stop of the day, this beach had the best and largest sandy beach, while still having coral and places to snorkel within range. There were more beautiful palm trees, the perfect depth of water, and the views from the beach of surrounding islands wasn’t too bad either. The boats park on a different side of the island, meaning you have a short 5 minute sandy walk to the actual beach (nothing that can’t easily be done in flip flops) There’s also little canoe boat men that for 100 pisos (about $2) you can hold onto as they pull you along over all the best coral spots to snorkel. This takes roughly 30 minutes and since only one of us brought goggles this day, we didn’t opt in for that but we heard it was really beautiful. Instead we spent our hour or so lounging in the shallow water and meandering amidst the palms. All in all, a great beach to visit if you have time when visiting Coron.
On the way back we again had to travel around 80 minutes, this time taking a detour around part of an island and through waters so shallow, they had to kill the engines for part of it. As we glided through the shallow water, Tippe and I were lucky enough to be on the front of the boat where you could look down and there were DOZENS of giant star fish! They ranged in size but the biggest we saw must have been 10in x 10 in. It was a really cool spot to see and really ended the day on a high note… which was good since the ride back was bumpy, windy, and VERY wet. We were soaked by waves coming up and over the box, But it was worth it to see the star fish better than anyone else on the boat.
So fair warning, I recommend sitting on the front if you can but you’re more likely to get wet from waves and sunburned from sun exposure. Plan accordingly.
Our boat dropped us off around 5:30 and we headed to our hotel to try to wash all the salt water from 2 days out of our hair. (it was a process for me, I probably conditioned at least 3 times.) Once we were all cleaned up, we headed back out our favorite restaurant, Island Boys Grill, for some more bbq pork. We had to be pretty economical with our dinner as both of us were running out of cash fast and the ATMs in rural towns didn’t like our debit cards, but I still splurged on two sticks this time. This restaurant’s BBQ was the best of the entire trip by far, maybe that I’ve ever had. Anyways the sun had already set on our walk over so we missed any opportunity to hike Tapyas for a sunset but I don’t think we’d have much energy after the long boating days to do it anyways. We headed back to the hotel, packed up our stuff, and prepared for an early morning rising to get back to the aiport and move onto our next island.
Day 3 Costs
Banana Bread and drink for breakfast $4.75
Island Escapade Tour- $25
Dinner- $3.60
Lodging
Luis Bay Lodge – $12.50 pp
Day 3 Total Costs: $45.85