Out of Town checks in at the El Rio y Mar Island Resort in Busuanga, Palawan. 
 

El Rio y Mar (literally ‘the river and sea’) is a luxury resort (which probably rates  around three stars) located on the northern coast of Busuanga Island, the biggest among the Calamian group of islands that can be found sandwiched between the Palawan mainland and Luzon. 

You can reach Busuanga via daily flights on any of the major airlines (including Sea Air and the fairly new Zest Air), or a twelve-hour ship cruise from Manila to Coron, on WGA Superferry. Cebu Pacific offers two daily flights; their ‘piso-fare’ tickets—which my girlfriend and I booked for our getaway—are relatively inexpensive.

To get from the airport to the resort (or even to Coron town itself, on the northwestern side) there’s a 20-minute jeep ride and a boat ride. A resort officer was waiting to pick us up at the arrival exit. 

Begin chill-out now

When we got to the resort, we were welcomed with a jingle (“It’s our welcome song,” grinned Darren, the guy who’d picked us up), quickly got briefed on the amenities and meal schedules, then were ushered to our room without further ado.  

El Rio y Mar did not disappoint. Our deluxe cottage itself was a mini-wonder that opened up at the front to a vista of coast (about 500 meters of awesome beach) and the nearby hills of the opposite island. At the back, a thick forest filled with cicada sounds and flora reminded us to forget the city, our worries, and just about everything else. 

We got to familiarize ourselves with the local fauna, sighting a tree shrew and a huge tuko that, somehow, made the place all the more charming. Though I shudder to think what I would have done if I’d found a tuko on my chest when I woke up, fortunately, none of the wildlife actually ever came within touching distance.   

While there were a host of activity tour options to choose from (like the Calauit Safari, island hopping, World War 2 wrecks for divers, and bottom fishing, aside from the usual banana boat, jet ski, and wakeboard touristy array), we already had our eye on the Coron Island Tour. 

Swim your heart out

The Coron Island Tour took almost the whole day (from a 7:30am departure to a 4pm return to the resort), and featured all the major tourist attractions on sea that the island had to offer. Though it’s the most expensive among the resort’s tours, it proved to be worth every cent. 

It takes a minimum of four people to go on this tour, though. Fortunately, we arrived with a family of three—the Dizon couple with their five-year-old daughter—who’d opted for the same tour. After a boat-and-van ride to the small fishing community that is Coron town’s pier, another boat took us to our first stop.     

Siete Pecados

Siete Pecados is a protected marine reserve that’s home to a coral reef and its inhabitants. It’s perfect for snorkeling, and with life vests strapped on, you can do this to your heart’s content. Our tour crew even broke out the fish feed and scattered it around, to persuade the marine life to come closer to our boat. 

This cluster of seven rock islets comes with its own tale: according to legend, seven young sisters went swimming in the sea against their mother’s orders. Every one of the said sisters drowned; but a couple of days later, seven small islands sprouted from where they drowned, which is how the islets came to named the ‘Seven Sins’.        

Maquinit Hot Springs

Our next stop, Maquinit Hot Springs, was five minutes away from Siete Pecados. It’s the venting point of an active volcano, with salty waters that range from 38 to 41 degrees Celsius—perfect for aching bones and general detoxification, and probably the best kind of natural sauna there is. 

Due to the slight sulfuric content and pervasiveness of spirulina in the waters, the Coron elder community regularly comes and visits the hot springs. (Spirulina is a medicinal supplement with fatty acids, vitamin B12, minerals, photosynthetic pigments, and a protein content that’s far superior to legumes.) 

Kayangan Lake

When we’d had our fill of heat, we sailed off to the foot of the ascent to Kayangan Lake. Darren and the tour crew had packed us a complete four-course meal (the kind of sumptuous feast we would come to know as the standard for lunch and dinner at the resort, though the breakfasts were pretty heavy too!) in plastic plates and aluminum wrap. This picnic was, by far, the most amazing one I’ve ever had. 

When the food had been sufficiently digested, we braved the single ascent and descent to Kayangan Lake. Overall, it was probably a hundred or so steps, but the sight of that clear, tranquil lake was well worth all that hard work. In retrospect, the swim in it was the most enjoyable one in the whole tour.  

Kayangan Lake is nothing short of mesmeric. For three years running, it’s been celebrated as the cleanest freshwater lake in the country, and that shows in the crystalline, blue-green waters that run deep, true, and cool amid surrounding limestone cliffs. These house the cathedral cave, a real highlight of the experience.

Twin Lagoons

Our next stop was the Twin Lagoons, where an arched opening in a cliff revealed a secondary lagoon. This entrance was only visible from the surface at low tide. 

When we arrived, three other boats were already there, so our crew had to pull some seafaring maneuvers to get us close. While the secondary lagoon was nothing to write home about (filled with sea debris and tourists’ flotsam) the Lagoons were a great cap to our day of tripping through Coron’s attractions. 

Perfectly idle

After swimming from 8am to 4pm, we were exhausted enough to eat a horse! While we’d previously been contemplating going on the Island Escapade tour (where they leave you at one of the small, deserted islands, and you make like Blue Lagoon for four hours) all thoughts of that were erased by the sheer intensity of the Coron Tour. 

So it was in total idyll that we spent our last two days swimming in the pool, walking up and down the coast, and borrowing DVDs from the resort’s video library. The resort manager saw us off when we boarded the speedboat, and shook our hands.

(Karl R. De Mesa is a journalist, documentary TV producer, and creative consultant. He plays guitar for Biscochong Halimaw, and is the author of the book Damaged People, Tales of the Gothic Punk.)