TBJ TRAVELS CORON 1: Malcapuya Beach, Bulog Dos, Coco Beach, Maquinit Hot Springs Travel guide + itinerary

Malcapuya Island

The first time I went to Coron, it was in Club Paradise; it is a premium resort on a secluded island with gorgeous surrounding beach. About 5 years after that, I went back this year to one of the most beautiful regions in the Philippines, Palawan; the last frontier; limestone metropolis; one of the most abundant waters of the pearl of the orient. My husband and I went here for our summer vacation to escape Manila's sweltering heat; this time, we stayed at Coron town, which is close to the most popular destinations in the island.

In this blog post, I'll share with you our 4D/5N itinerary. Welcome to another TBJ Travels blog post series! 

This entire itinerary does not reflect our actual itinerary because there has been a major setback in one tour that we're supposed to join called Coron Super Ultimate Package Tour; our group left us because of a miscommunication with the agency and van service so we ended up doing a wrong tour, which we went with anyway because we did not have a choice. The agency made amends by including us in the next day's super ultimate package tour schedule for free so we revisited pretty much the same sites (we didn't mind though!). 

So this itinerary is a suggestion based on realizations, experience, and assessment of the best places to visit to maximize each day and budget.

First, our hotel!

CORON RIDGE HOTEL REVIEW

Our chosen hotel was Coron Ridge Hotel; it's located on a ridge with a beautiful view of Coron group of islands and Coron sea. We liked the view we saw in photos so we went for this hotel.

Coron Ridge Hotel lobby

The road going to Coron Ridge Hotel is quite challenging; it's uphill and almost beside Mt. Tapyas lookout; there's a final, steep street that leads all the way to the hotel, but at least they have a mini cab that picks up guests at the bottom of the street. However, the service is not always available as it goes around picking up guests from the town so if you have knee problems and weak lower body, the hotel's location may not be ideal for you.

Coron Ridge Hotel's mini cab service can pick you up downtown until 10pm. Just inform the receptionist!

Coron Ridge Hotel seems fairly new as the amenities are still quite new. Here's our room; it's good for 2.

Here's the bathroom. It's fairly clean and there's a hot shower option, although not that warm; it's enough to not give you a cold water shock when you take a bath in the morning. 

Coron Ridge Hotel also has a roof deck decked with books and boardgames where you can have a meal or chill.

Service is pretty great and staff are courteous, although their food is a bit pricey, especially the drinks, like their iced coffee is P150 and tastes like instant coffee; you can get a pressed one in town, specifically at Epic coffee bar for about the same price. Aside from this, I've never encountered any issue with the hotel. I'm okay to go back because our stay was pleasant overall, but what would keep me from doing so is this one house that's situated beside it with a man that kept on beating his puppy; that was stressing me out big time because I would hear the puppy's wails; good thing I was out the whole day every single day; if not, I would have moved to a different hotel.

Our room at Coron Ridge Hotel is at P3,200+ a night with free breakfast.

CORON TOUR 1: MALCAPUYA ISLAND, BULOG DOS, COCO BEACH

Malcapuya Island and its crystal clear water

The next day, we had our first tour with our chosen agency booked through Umali Dive Center. The tour package includes a visit to Malcapuya Island, Coco Beach/Banana Island, and Bulog Dos.

Two hours from Coron Town is Malcapuya Island, a long stretch of powdery white sand and crystal clear water. The water is pretty calm despite being there at 12nn when high tide usually sets in, making it ideal for swimming. We spent an hour here, although I wish we stayed longer to make the trip worth it, but alas, we still had other places to visit so the tour guide strictly gave us an hour only. A friend told me that we could see baby sharks on one end of the beach, but we didn't have enough time to explore the area; will save this for next time!

When approaching wildlife, approach with caution, do not provoke, and respect their space and habitat to prevent any accidents and attacks. Most importantly, let an expert assist you and if there's no one around, then just admire wildlife from afar.

Coco Beach

After our quick trip to Malcapuya, we went to Coco Beach for lunch; the lunch was pretty good; it's a standard island lunch that consisted of grilled pork, eggplant salad, chicken adobo, rice, vegetable pinakbet, seasonal fish, and watermelon; the menu was perfect for the view and location! Coco Beach also has a beautiful beach and just like Malcapuya, the water is clear; most of our tour mates went swimming right after lunch. We were actually expecting to visit Banana Island, but we were informed that we didn't have time anymore and it was an option in case we cannot visit Coco Beach for some reason.

Bulog Dos sand bar

The last stop of our tour was Bulog Dos, a sandbar that's 15 minutes away from Malcapuya island. It's a long stretch of sand connected to a small island; the waves on one side are strong and calm on the other; if you ain't a good swimmer, stay on the calm side. Water is very clear as well. We stayed here for 30 minutes only as the boats and groups have to be back in Coron town port at strictly 5:30 P.M.

Our first tour was intended to be a swimming tour. Palawan has deep waters, which makes it more ideal for divers than casual beach goers; if you're the latter, you can get to the nicest beaches by boat so I suggest get this tour if you want to swim and lounge by the beach. However, there is a time limit if you go with a tour company. If you want to experience these beaches in your own pace and time, then spend a little bit more and hire a private boat.

MAQUINIT HOT SPRING

Maquinit Hot Spring

My husband's diver instructor and friend has highly recommended that we visit Maquinit Hot Spring.

20 minutes away from Coron town port is Maquinit Hot Spring; it's located in the middle of a forest, but the government has since fixed the area to make it more tourist- friendly; they built a picnic facility a few meters from the spring and a pool structure around it; glad to know they did not bulldoze the entire forest to build a resort in there; besides, the road going to Maquinit Hot Springs is literally a dirt road with zero lighting; it's an underdeveloped side of town and pretty far from the center so I doubt tourists would choose to stay in there and miss all the fun.

Maquinit Hot Spring 

The thermal water of the spring is caused by lava underground that never erupted (don't worry, it's safe here because the volcano is inactive); Maquinit Hot Spring is also one of the rarest saltwater hot springs in the world because it is connected to the sea. 

Water temperature is 38 to 40 degrees. The pool has natural rocks at the bottom so tread carefully and don't dive. There's no fish in the water because temperature is just too high to sustain any form of life, but outside the spring, there are mangroves that house fingerlings and schools of fishes. A lot of families gather here, especially moms and pops because the spring's heat and natural salt have rejuvenating and healing effects on the body; it's really the perfect ender to a tiring day of island or beach hopping, but my advise is go here at night because the heat can be very unbearable during the day.

To get to Maquinit Hot Spring, you have to rent a tricycle; it's P500 to and fro the town, but this rate is for the entire day already and the drivers will wait for you. Maquinit Hot Spring is open from 8am until 8pm.

That's it for day 1! On day 2, let's go to the famous lakes of Coron!

Check out my other Coron travel guides:

TBJ TRAVELS CORON 2: Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake, Twin Lagoon, and more
TBJ TRAVELS CORON 3: Best restaurants in Coron