Coron, Philippines Travel Guide: For First Time Travelers

Coron is home to limestone cliffs, emerald green waters, beautiful beaches, and great snorkeling. We loved how exotic Coron was. In this travel guide I’m going to cover where to stay, how long you need in Coron, and the top things to do in Coron.

Where to Stay in Coron

Coron and Coron island are different. Coron island is where you’ll be spending most of your time exploring, this is there a lot of the activities and sites to see are. There’s also really only one accommodation actually on this island.

Coron is the main island where most accommodations are located. To get to Coron island is just a short speed boat from Coron.

We stayed in one of the Paolyn Houseboats which is the only accommodation on Coron island. We absolutely loved our stay here. It’s basically over the water bungalows right in the center of where you want to be in Coron. It’s a more expensive option but a once in a lifetime stay, and it’s cheaper than what you might think.

We loved how we could swim all day long in the ocean right off of our houseboat, get food and drinks delivered all day or you can dine at their main restaurant. They had kayaks for us, snorkeling equipment, and easy access to take private tours around the island (for a fee).

The best about the tours was that we could get there before the crowds starting showing up since we were staying right on the island and most tours don’t start till 9am.

The only downside was limited AC. They do have AC units in the houseboats but they kind of discourage you from using them and they do cost. I believe it would have been around $45 for 9 hours of use. Which honestly would be worth it but we opted out the entire time and by our third night I really wanted that AC. There wasn’t much of a sea breeze as they made it seem there’d be but we did have fans running at all times.

Overall, I would highly recommend staying here, the houseboats are nice, the access to the island is amazing, and the service/hospitality of Paolyn houseboats are top tier. They took great care of us!

Your other option is going to be finding accommodation on Coron that will be cheaper or I did see some nice resorts on nearby islands when searching on Booking.com

How Many Days Do You Need in Coron?

I would recommend at least 3 nights, possibly more if you are planning to take day trips to nearby islands. Three nights and two full days gives you enough time to experience that main attractions of Coron island. But there’s also many islands that have beautiful beaches nearby that might take a half day or full day to get to, in that case you will need more time.

Best Time to Visit Coron

We actually visited the Philippines mid-late August which is during their rainy season because we were attending a wedding during this time. So I took my chances of traveling Philippines during monsoon season and thankfully, we actually did not get much rain at all.

Coron is more protected from the harsh weather during this time of year than El Nido, another very commonly visited island nearby. So this is why we chose Coron. We were thankfully able to do everything we wanted in Coron, no boat delays or trip cancellations, and the sun was out the majority of the time.

Coron’s dry season is from December to May - this is when most people visit. I’d recommend coming during this time for the best chances of good weather. This will be more expensive and more touristy.

During rainy season you’ll find cheaper accommodations and significantly less tourists. But you never know what the weather may be like, you may have to be okay with rain on some days and be flexible in your travel plans.

I encourage you if you have plans or will be traveling nearby during this time anyways like me, I’d take the chances and go if the Philippines is somewhere you really want to visit. For me I’ve always dreamed of seeing the massive limestone cliffs amongst the emerald green waters, and if I’m already nearby, I might as well take my chances!

Top Things to Do in Coron

Barracuda Lake

Dramatic limestone cliffs from above and below the clear turquoise water. We loved snorkeling here and capturing some amazing underwater photos. This was our first stop on one of our tours.

Kayangan Lake

Nearby Barracuda lake, Kayangan lake is one of the most popular sites in Coron. Famous for the many stairs that takes you to a gorgeous view of the surrounding cliffs. Probably one of my favorite views in all of Coron. It catches the beauty this island offers perfectly.

After hiking up those stairs you’ll go back down to the lake where you can swim and snorkel. There’s also a cool cave here with bats inside if you’re brave enough to go in!

Shipwreck

During WW2, the US struck down a Japanese ship in Coron and today you can actually swim down to see and even touch the shipwreck if you can get that close. I do think it’s worth a quick stop and probably included in one of the tours you’re booking.

I couldn’t swim down that far but I could see, a guide actually took my go pro and was swimming down in the ship and got some amazing footage.

Snorkeling in the Coral Reefs

Now I haven’t been to many coral reefs around the world but here in Coron was definitely the most alive coral reefs I’ve seen so far, and it’s such a breathtaking moment to actually swim in alive coral reefs. There were vibrant colors, fish, and different kinds of life all around me.

I highly recommend snorkeling in the coral reefs here. We went to two different spots, one was called Coral Gardens and the other I forget the name of but they both were beautiful.

Beaches

Coron actually has some beautiful beaches on the little islands nearby. We went to a few during our full day boat trip and they all were peaceful, tropical, white sand, and had very clear turquoise blue waters and surrounded by the dramatic limestone cliffs.

Check out my guide on the beaches we went to in Coron.

Twin Lagoon

A very popular site in Coron, we came here on our own on our second full day in Coron by kayaks.

Twin lagoon are two lakes you can actually swim under during low tide or take the short stairs to get to the other side during high tide. Both lakes are surrounded by massive limestone cliffs.

If you want to swim under you HAVE to come during low tide. We were there during high tide and it looked deceiving, we could see light shining through the water so my husband decided to swim under to check if we could do it and ended up cutting his hand (it would have been his head if he hadn’t put his hand up to protect it). So definitely do not try swimming under during high tide.

I think it would have been better if we came during low tide and were able to safely swim under back n forth making it a super cool experience, other than that it’s not as cool as I thought it would be. It’s just like every other lake nearby. So I would definitely come during low tide.

What We Loved About Coron

We definitely loved the beaches, snorkeling in the coral reefs, and swimming in the crystal clear lakes amongst the limestone cliffs in Barracuda and Kayangan Lakes. These are definitely worth doing.

We were able to do all the above in just under 2 days. We did a full day tour that included everything but the Twin Lagoon, which we kayaked to the following day. You really only need an hour or two to do visit Twin Lagoon.

We had plenty of time to enjoy our wonderful accommodation and relax in the water. So 3 nights definitely gives you enough time to explore Coron and even add on more to your day. We could have added another trip to our last day since kayaking to twin lagoon really only took about an hour and a half of our time.

Coron is definitely an exotic destination in the Philippines with so much beauty. It’s definitely worth visiting if you’re planning a trip to the Philippines.