How we spent three days in Coron

We flew to Coron to begin the Tao Expedition from Coron to El Nido. But since we didn’t want to go straight on the five-day, four-night trip after 27 hours of travelling from Australia, we decided to relax in Coron for three days first. Here’s what we did. 

Day 1: chill by the pool

We spent most of our first day in Coron chilling at HOP Hostel after more than 24 hours of travelling and three flights. It has great views across the water, a pool with a cabana, the shared bathrooms are clean, the terraces are a great place to relax and the sunset view from the roof is unreal. 

The food is good – although quite meaty. But the sizzling tofu, bean sprout spring rolls, and pure fruit shakes are the best things on the menu. We did wander into town for dinner, but honestly the food at Hop was better!

It’s in the town proper so it’s easy to walk everywhere. And it’s only 20 minutes from the Mount Tapyas viewing deck, which is another great spot to watch the sunset (or sunrise if you’re up super early). 

Day 2: The Super Ultimate Tour, Coron

On day two we took the Super Ultimate Tour with Millennial Island Travel Mate. 

They collect you from your hotel between 8-9am and take you down to the busy port where the journey begins.

We chose the Super Ultimate Tour because it visits the most stops, and covers all the places we wanted to see rather than having to choose between them on a smaller tour. It costs PH 1,699 per person (about £24) and lasts 8-9 hours so you get a lot of time and experiences out of it. 

The trip took us to:

• Kayangan Lake

• Barracuda Lake

• Twin Lagoon

• Millennial Cove

• Skeleton Wreck

• Coral Garden

• CyC Beach

Find out more about the Super Ultimate Tour in Coron here. 

Day 3: explore the town

There’s really not a lot to do in Coron town proper. Which is why it’s worth staying in a nicer hotel or hostel that has a pool or other activities. The day tours are the main event and since we were about to go on the Tao Expedition we didn’t want to keep going island hopping. 

Easy things to do from the town centre are the Mount Tapyas viewing point, which we did in the evening as the heat was a bit much for hill climbing in the day. It’s also a popular place to watch the sunset, but it gets busy so arrive early for a good photo spot.

There are also the Maquinit hot springs that you can get to without a tour guide. But since the water is 38-40°c and the temperature was around 33°c (with Apple Weather saying it ‘feels like’ 36°c) getting into very hot water wasn’t that appealing. 

One thing from the Coron Town tour that we wanted to do was see the local cashew factory. Luckily, Melb’s cashew factory is right next to Hop Hostel so we went in the afternoon. It only took about 15 minutes to see how cashews are prepared and treated, and sample a few of the flavours sold at Melb’s. The experience is free – and they even let you cut a cashew. But visitors are encouraged to tip and support the business. You’ll also want to buy some of their delicious cashews after the free tasting.

How long to spend in Coron?

We were in Coron as it was the starting point for our Tao Expedition. We had three days here to give us plenty of leeway in case anything went wrong with our travel plans. It also meant we had one full day to do an island tour. 

You could probably spend 3-5 days in Coron doing different tours. But they do repeat the same spots quite a lot. It’s a nice town with amazing things to see. But the restaurants aren’t great and we probably ate the best dinners of the trip at our hostel. So I think three days is probably enough before moving onto another area. If you want to spend longer somewhere in Palawan, El Nido is a better choice.

Where to stay in Coron?

We stayed at the Hop Hostel which is a very easy walk from most of the shops and restaurants in Coron town proper. But to be honest you could spend your whole time on Coron at Hop without leaving for anything except yours. 

It has an excellent restaurant, a relaxing pool with a cabana area for shade. It has a den with workout and yoga equipment, a ‘cinema’ full of bean bags, and a rooftop bar that serves free mini meals, happy hour drinks, and various entertainment each night. 

Hop Hostel Coron also puts on its own tours and also promotes the Millennial Island Travel Mate tours. This is who we went on the Super Ultimate Tour with, and was about PHP 300 cheaper than the ones promoted to us as we arrived in the airport. 

I generally stay in Airbnbs and hotels over hostels but Hop Hostel was a great place to stay. We were able to get a private room which had a sink. And the shared bathrooms and toilets were always clean and there was never a queue to use them. So even if you feel hesitant about hostels, Hop Coron is a good one!