Back in Caticlan, unfortunately the RoRo we aimed for was cancelled, so we had to wait around for a couple of hours until the next one. Chris managed to find us some plastic chairs, and we plonked ourselves by the ticket office, to ensure we got a space.
The RoRo took us over to Roxas on Mindoro Island. It took six hours, it was packed due to the previous ferry being cancelled, so we were limited to a bench outside. A friendly, young, Filipino man spent most of the journey talking to us. Starting the conversation by asking to take a selfie with us! His name was also Chris, (Alcris), and his favourite film is the Titanic! What were the chances!
From Roxas, we jumped straight into a minivan at the port, which took us to San Jose, three hours south. The driver was crazy. As always, the minivan was crammed full, and the roof had several bags, along with at least ten sacks of bananas. So it was piled high, and he was driving the van around the windy roads as though he was driving a go-kart.
Anyhow, we arrived safely, and a tricycle took us to a guesthouse, where we were welcomed by a security guard dressed like John McClane, with his white wife beater and shotgun thrown over his shoulder.
Shattered from another long day travelling, we quickly headed out to find food. Spotting a busy eatery, we ordered a pancit dish and Chris fancied a burger. The weird thing was that it not only took 40 minutes to cook, it seemed as though they had gone elsewhere to buy it! We were watched by a homeless man as we ate our dinner, and having been given an extra burger with our order, as we left I offered it to him. Surprisingly he refused it. It seemed he was just after money.
The room was fine, but it was a shared bathroom, and we had karaoke outside our room until 4am! So neither of us got much sleep, especially since our alarm was set for 5am.

After multiple minivans, buses, boats, tricycles and jeepneys, over the last few days, our final RoRo took us to Coron, where we had been aiming for. It was a 6am departure, but did mean that the RoRo had 'beds', aka thin plastic covered mattresses, so I managed to rest my eyes for a few hours. Chris however, not being able to just sleep anywhere like me, sat and enjoyed the slow, calm, journey. After six hours we arrived at the port, and asked a tricycle to take us to the main town.
As standard procedure, we checked out a handful of rooms, and settled on a small, stuffy room at 'Zurich Pensionne', as the price for the room also included breakfast the next morning. The room was ok, the only downside was that the only window was to the corridor, so no fresh air.
In honour of actually succeeding to arrive at Coron by land and sea, we decided to treat ourselves to a burger, and chilli and nachos, washed down with a celebratory beer, at 'No Name bar'.
The main attractions at Coron are the numerous WWII shipwrecks scattered around the bays. For divers, Coron's history started on 24 September 1944 when a US Navy strike force of fighters and dive bombers attacked a Japanese supply fleet of up to 24 ships, at anchor, in Coron Bay and around Busuanga Island.
So, it was then time for us to search around for a dive shop, reputable but with good prices. Coron town isn't too big, but there are plenty of dive shops. Using trusty tripadvisor, our general sense for the shops, looking at the quality of the gear, and of course considering price, we agreed on 'Rock Steady Divers'. With some time to spare, we also decided to book an island hopping trip for the next day.
For dinner we ate at a street food BBQ stand, and chose a squid, some pork skewers, a hot dog, and a corn on the cob.

Our day trip set off just after 9am. The group was around 15 people, consisting of Filipino tourists, Koreans, a German guy, and us. Our first stop was to Kayangan lake. It was a small climb to a viewpoint, with wonderful views over the boat station. The sea was the perfect aqua blue, and the limestone karst made for a beautiful seascape. A short climb down the other side and we arrived at a very inviting lake. It was crystal clear, and a perfect temperature for relaxing in. Chris diving, and me lowering myself in, we went for a swim around. The lake was full of needlefish fry, which were very curious, so Chris managed to take some great photos on the GoPro.
Next we stopped by Twin Peaks for some snorkelling. Loads of sea life with beautiful, colourful corals. Then we headed over to Banol beach for our lunch stop. The boat men had prepared an impressive spread of grilled fish, an abundance of crabs, vegetables, BBQ chicken, pork and of course rice. The Koreans taught us how to eat the crabs, as neither of us have really had to get our hands dirty, so to speak. I am not a huge fan, but Chris, despite the faffing, was loving the crabs!
Back on the boat, we headed to CYC beach, to let our food digest. The boat anchored a short walk from the beach, and Chris even managed to be the only person on the beach for a quick photo opportunity.
We then made our way around to the Floating cottages. Small bamboo shelters, floating out at sea, and some absolutely incredible snorkelling. The water was crystal clear and the corals were so captivating. The colours were incredible. We even had our picture taken with Nemo!
Amazed by the snorkelling, we reluctantly clambered back onto the boat to head to our final stop, the Twin Lagoon. The sheer limestone karst were breathtaking as we approached the lagoons. The boat anchored and it was a good 20 minute swim into and around the lagoon, entering by swimming through an archway, which is only manageable at low tide. Along with the German guy, we swam away from the floating orange blobs (the non swimmers wearing their life jackets!), to the other side of the lagoon. Chris, keen to find a cliff jump, settled with jumping from the archway. With a small crowd, he decided to show off his skills, performing a back flip, from the 2 metre platform. They loved it!
Back on the boat we were handed a refreshing fizzy drink and a sweet bread roll, before beginning the journey back to Coron town.
Not enjoying our small, stuffy room at Zurich Pensionne, we moved hotels to 'Coron Vista Lodge', a newly opened hotel, a short walk out of the main town, but surrounded by local eateries and small shops. The room here was large, with tall ceilings, plenty of windows and natural light, and a nice modern bathroom. Having found a new love for Korean food, and noticing a small, but very busy Korean restaurant in town, we decided to give it a go. I had a delicious spicy Ramen Kimchi noodle soup, and Chris enjoyed the Bibimbap. Shattered from all the sea air and swimming, and knowing we had an early start for a days diving, we took an early night.

Raring to go, we stopped by a kind looking elderly lady's eatery for breakfast. She served us hotsilog to give us plenty of energy for our days diving. We met our group for the day; an American guy and Japanese girl who would be diving together with an instructor, and we were joined by a German guy, Marian, and our guide.
Our first dive site was Barracuda lake, a volcanic crater. Apparently called Barracuda lake because there was one big barracuda living above the thermocline...just the one! Raul had recommended this dive due to the brackish water and dramatic temperature shifts, which can reach as high as 38°C. Although there isn't much to see in terms of fish, this dive is more about the experience of the thermoclines. You don't need to wear a wetsuit, so it was already an experience gearing up in just our swimmers. We then had to walk, with all our gear on, up and over the jagged rocky wall, with some help from a wooden platform, to reach the lake. We were the only ones here, a luxury.
The water was a nice temperature to start with, and as we dived deeper, to around 30m, we reached the thermoclines. The range went from 28-38°C, and it was physically possible to see where the thermoclines were. Swimming through the thermoclines was a big blur. It was a strange sensation, and at some points the heat became unbearable, and I just wanted to be back in the cooler water.
The bottom of the lake was covered in volcanic ash, and our guide decided to head dive into it! It was bazaar and so funny to watch, as his entire head and shoulders disappeared into the silt. There were plenty of cat fish in the lake, and some very curious shrimp who were keen to pinch at our hands.
It was around an hours boat ride to reach the site of the first ship wreck, Olympia. An auxiliary supply ship, sitting upright, 122 metres in length. This was my first ship wreck dive, and Chris' second. Our guide handed us a torch each and off we went. It was pretty eery approaching the ship, and the visibility wasn't great. The really cool thing was that we were able to swim through the ship, visiting the mast, bow and stern. What we didn't expect to find was a huge marble sting ray just chilling on the bottom of the boat. It took us all by surprise, and we kept our distance. Later finding out that both Chris and I had the same thoughts running through our minds about how Steve Irwin died.
We swam around, following our guide through small doorways, into the jail quarters, passing by lion fish and bat fish. It was a good experience and I enjoyed the challenge of swimming through tight gaps, doorways, and having to control our buoyancy.
It was back to the boat for a bite to eat. The captain had prepared some pork, grilled fish, vegetables, an aubergine dish, and of course rice. We rested for an hour or so, to let our food digest, and to keep in line with diving regulations. Then it was over to our third, and final, dive site, the ship wreck of Morazan, an English passenger cargo vessel that was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy and used for her war efforts. At 93 metres in length, she is lying on her starboard side. There are four big cargo holds, making exploring easy, and the engine rooms still contain two impressive boilers.
It was another challenging dive in terms of swim throughs and buoyancy control. We saw ghost pipe fish, razor fish, and harlequin sweet lips. I enjoyed this ship wreck more as the outside of the ship was coated with really pretty corals. I had the song 'Under the sea', from the Little Mermaid film in my head as we swam past some of this coral, as it really reminded me of the film and secretly I felt like a mermaid!
Three dives in one day, the most we have done in one day, is actually very tiring. We were handed a celebratory cold beer to enjoy on our journey back, a nice touch from the dive school, and sat back and relaxed.
Hungry and tired, we ventured out for an early dinner to 'Winnie's', which was recommended on Tripadvisor, and shared some samosa's to start, chicken and cashew, and crab fried rice. It was very nice, and cashews are a must have in Coron, since cashews are the delicacy for Palawan, but more importantly Coron is said to have the best cashews. We stopped by Marian's on our way back to exchange GoPro footage from our dives, then crashed for the night.

It was the day the whole country and world had been waiting for for years...Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather. The lovely elderly lady from breakfast yesterday had said she would cook us some fried potato for breakfast today, so we had to stop by. Bless her, she had cooked us a plate of chips, which was a little strange to eat for breakfast, but we are used to eating pretty much anything for breakfast these days. I had mine with some BBQ chicken, and Chris had some sting ray cooked in vinegar and chili. We met with the American guy from diving and his friends to watch the fight. Looking around at 9am for a busy pub, we came across 'Sea Dive', set over the sea, with a nice sea breeze, plenty of seats, and a high up flat screen. We plonked ourselves at the bar and watched the pre fights as the room slowly became busier and busier. By 10.30am we had a beer in hand and were ready, along with a room full of other travellers and locals, to watch the fight of the century. It was such a great atmosphere, and everyone was cheering for Manny. So there was a definite anti climax as the fight drew to an end and the result was announced. The crowd cleared pretty quickly, with a lot of disappointed and frustrated faces.
We stopped by an eatery for a quick pork adobo with rice for lunch. Chris had a singlet made, with the dive flag on the front and the Filipino slogan 'It's more fun in the Philippines' on the back. Then we spent the afternoon at the hotel, catching up, and avoiding the rain and storm.
Unfortunately I fell poorly, so spent most of the afternoon and evening in the bathroom. We ordered some food in as I couldn't really leave. A dinner of plain rice and bananas for me, and seafood fried rice for Chris.

I was not looking forward to an eight hour banca journey over to El Nido before I fell ill, so now I really was apprehensive. We had heard from several people along our travels, that the banca from Coron to El Nido, or vice versa, could be horrific, and people had died when the conditions were extreme.
Dosed up on Imodium and travel sickness, I reluctantly left the hotel room.