Coron Island and Kayangyan Lake Tour

Island and lakes tour,
As mentioned in the previous posting today was the day for a boat tour around the Coron area. We booked the boat and tour through “Paradise Planet” you can call the manager Dolores Basbas on 090-995-6630 alternatively you can E-mail her at dolores_basbas@yahoo.com
Before going to the boat Dolores took us shopping at the Coron market for the day's food supplies. We stocked up with a nice sized red snapper, a pile of salad items, a couple of bottles of water and a small bag of rice. At this stage the two guys from China were a no show so we were starting to get worried that Hans and I were going to have to bear the cost of the boat ourselves. Dolores did a great job and hunted them down in time for us to still get a reasonably early start. Poor blokes had had a terrible night in a hot, uncomfortable and noisy room and had ended up sleeping through the alarm.
So away at about 0830 with myself, Hans, Mike and Stan. The scenery as we approached our first stop, Twin Lagoon is nothing short of stunning, jagged limestone cliffs rising out of crystal clear water of various shades of blue. We tied up in the first lagoon with a few other tour “Bangkas” (outrigger boats) and donning masks and snorkels swam through a very short tunnel into the second lagoon. Not much in the way of coral here but a reasonable variety of fish including a decent school of barracuda. Stayed about an hour and then off to Skeleton bay for more swimming amongst the fish. Plenty of live coral here and a great variety of aquarium fish. The mooring line is tied to the wreck of a ship, the history of which I have no clue. Swam for about an hour and then off to Kayangyan Lake. The scenery at the anchorage for the lake is alone worth the cost of the tour, it is just beautiful. A path up over the hill and down the other side leads to a brakish lake surrounded by shear jagged walls of limestone. Returning to the bangka after yet another long swim we lunched on the fish and salad cooked and prepared by the skipper and his mate. Stan ever hopeful of catching a fish took off with his telescopic rod and reel but returned empty handed yet again. The rest of the tour was along similar lines with a stop for another swim at a marine sanctuary followed by a visit to the hot spring to sooth tired swimming muscles.
With what energy we had left, Stan and Mike accompanied me on the climb to the cross on the hill for pics of the sunset and panoramic views of the islands around Coron.
Tomorrow off to La Nida by Big Bangka.