Dayon Camo Coron 2010: The Sweet Return

Dayon Camo Coron 2010

February 8-12, 2010 marked the days of coming back to my piece of heaven named Coron, Palawan. This time I was with 3 other friends named Robert M. Uy Jr, Sheilaline Eugenio and Rachelle Ann Sevalla. We are to be met by several other acquaintances who are to join us for island hopping trips to minimize the cost for boat rentals. This trip also found us several other new spots that hold truly amazing sights and therefore are highly recommended to visit.

Our first day was spent on lazying around Coron town. The van driver dropped us off at Mommita’s Lodge, our preferred accommodation for this trip. We were met by Mommita at the doorway who then ushered us to our respective rooms, blue and green. Each of the air-conditioned rooms were rented at Php700 on a daily basis. Coron at that time is suffering from electricity blackouts every single day starting from 6am until 5pm. This grave condition started since January 2010 when a shipping company’s permit to operate was suspended to lack of requirements. Unfortunately, that shipping line is supposedly the supplier of crude oil for Coron. From there we realized that the lodge will not work for us because of Coron’s gruesome situation. We then, in unison, decided to scout for a lodging house with either a generator set or a seafront accommodation.

We arrived Coron town at lunch time so I have decided to take our team to lunch at wherever our feet could take us. Sea Dive Restaurant is just across the street so we decided to give it a try. I heard of not so good reviews about the place but at that point, I couldn’t think of anything else but to feed my hungry stomach. Off we went to the bridge that would take us to Sea Dive Restaurant. My peers were at awe from the amazing view of Coron Bay from the restaurant. I told them that what they are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s much more to Coron than that. So we ordered ginataang alimasag, Bicol express, chicken pasta and aglio olio. It took some time, maybe 30 minutes before the dishes were served. And when it finally came and it’s time to taste them, the four of us were dismayed. Presentation was okay but the taste is far off  from our expectations. The menu is quite pricey and we were expecting something special in return. Much to my chagrin, the aglio olio was very blunt, same with the ginataang alimasag. I think we were all just hungry at that time. But then all of us agreed that we’re never coming back to that restaurant ever again!

Sea Dive Bar and Restaurant

Soon after feeding our hungry stomach, it’s now time to hunt for the most comfortable accommodations in Coron. We started off with Birang Guest House, which is one of the choices I had back when were traveling for the first to Coron in October 2009. And so we hailed a tricycle and informed him that we are going to Viring Birang Guest House. We didn’t have any problems as far as getting to the guest house because most of the tricycle drivers know Viring Birang. After which I found myself traversing into a familiar path, we were led to Barangay Tagumpay where most of the houses are situated on a seafront.  The moment we set foot on Birang’s guest house, I was compelled. The place felt like I was really delved into an island vacation! The views are just spectacular! And the rooms, they were all in hues of orange, browns and pinks. It is a very stark contrast to what we have with Mommita’s Lodge and from then on I don’t want to leave the place anymore.  It’s as if I had eaten a lotus given by the usherettes! Since we are four in the group, we opted to stay on their second floor where they have 2 rooms that are good for 2 persons each. For more reviews about the Birang Guest House, just click here.

one of the views from our room

inside our room

inside our flat