This is a rough guide on how to enjoy a family vacation in Boracay – home to one of the world’s best beaches – without having to eat cup noodles and canned meat twice a day while on the island. And yes, there’s a trick to getting your own free beachfront chairs that doesn't involve checking-in at a fancy, beachfront hotel.

Inasmuch as we want to spend the days lazing around Samal Island Huts, a speedboat in Babak port was already waiting to take us island hopping around Talicud island in the morning of December 1, 2012. Renting the speedboat for one day set us back P7,000 (whew!) so we really need to put on the sunscreen and see what Samal has to offer.

I didn't expect much from Samal Island, judging from most reviews in TripAdvisor calling the island "overrated" -- that the sands are not white and the beach far from fantastic. I've learned my lesson the hard way when we went to Puerto Galera. We visited Coron beforehand and the place set my standard for what a tourist spot should be. Coron was my first ever legit out-of-town trip and our visit was phenomenal. I have since compared every place I've been to with Coron and have been unconsciously setting myself up with some major disappointments. It was only later on that I realized how I've been sabotaging my own trips because of my high expectations.

This is part 5 of the series I'm writing for our Coron trip. You may check the other posts here:
CORONicles Day 1: Touchdown Coron
CORONicles Day 2: Coron Island Loop Tour
CORONicles Day 3: Malcapuya Loop Tour
CORONicles Day 4: What Should've Been An Awesome Calumbuyan Tour

June 03, 2012

Alas, it was time for us to leave this paradise and go back to the metro. I honestly wanted to stay just for the Calumbuyan Tour. But it was time to go home :'(

After the fun in the sun, it's time to face math! So, how much did our 5D/4N Coron trip cost? Itinerary and expenses after the jump.

This is part 3 of the series I'm writing for our Coron trip. You may check the other posts here:
CORONicles Day 1: Touchdown Coron
CORONicles Day 2: Coron Island Loop Tour
CORONicles Day 4: What Should've Been An Awesome Calumbuyan Tour
CORONicles Day 5: Wrap Up and Post-Travel Accounting

June 01, 2012 , Friday

07:00AM
After a tiring but fulfilling hike on the first day and an "intro" tour on the second, we were excited as hell to see what else Coron had to offer. It didn't help that I've seen Coron three years ago because I was still the most excited among the bunch :)) I was fidgety the whole morning and couldn't wait for for the others to finish breakfast.

This post is the second of the series I am writing for our Coron trip. The first post can be viewed here:
CORONicles Day 1: Touchdown Coron
CORONicles Day 3: Malcapuya Loop tour
CORONicles Day 4: What Should've Been An Awesome Calumbuyan Tour
CORONicles Day 5: Wrap Up and Post-Travel Accounting

May 31, 2012, Thursday

06:30AM
We all had a good night sleep and woke up early to prepare for our island hopping tour. Waking up to the sounds of nature was something we, as urban nocturnal creatures, badly needed. The room that we had in Gran Vista was a basic fan room. We didn't need A/C rooms as the cool wind of the province was more than enough to lull us to sleep. Even though we were really exhausted from climbingMt. Tapyas the day before, we were all enthusiastic about the day's activities.

This is part 1 of the series I'm writing for Coron. You may check the other posts here:
CORONicles Day 2: Coron Island Loop Tour
CORONicles Day 3: Malcapuya Loop tour
CORONicles Day 4: What Should've Been An Awesome Calumbuyan Tour
CORONicles Day 5: Wrap Up and Post-Travel Accounting

May 30, 2012, Wednesday 

We visited Puerto Princesa at a time when Mayor Hagedorn's team was rigorously campaigning for the Underground River to be included in the New 7 Wonders of the World list. Posters were all around the city, showing instructions on how to vote for PPUR through SMS and through the Internet. Everything was all good - except for the fact that Hagedorn's face was 10x bigger than everything else that was written on the posters XD But yeah, it's how Philippine politics works.

Anyway, we were very excited to see this natural wonder and to know if Puerto Princesa would topple Coron in the top spot of our places-to-see list. More after the jump.

Would you buy a 3D/2N Puerto Princesa trip for 2pax with airfare, hotel accommodation and island hopping tour for P9,900.00? I did. I joined the bandwagon and clicked the "buy this deal" button in the MetroDeal website. Hey! That's just P4,950/pax for an all-in package! But did we really save P6,100.00 as advertised on their site? More after the jump.

It has been almost 3 years since I visited this paradise but I can still clearly remember how much we enjoyed this beautiful, ravishing, extraordinary, perfect, stunning, lovely, magnificent, exquisite place named Coron. Too many good words to describe it, seriously. After college graduation, my friends and I initially wanted to go to Hong Kong to celebrate before we all become "professional" citizens of the world. But due to the bird flu scare, we were forced to find another place to visit. My friend, Maan, insisted that we go visit Coron. We wanted to go out of the country but the heavens probably wanted us to explore more of the Philippines before we head somewhere else. This 5D/4N Coron trip turned out to be my best trip yet. 

What's after the jump:
1. 5D/4N Itinerary and cost breakdown
2. Ms. Gigi and Gran Vista
3. Places to see
4. Tons of pictures!! :)

This is a sample travel plan for a 2D/1N trip to San Juan, La Union for 4pax.  Of course you can choose to not do some of the activities here like surfing on the second day. You may also want to stay in a different hotel. Check out my previous post for other hotels' contact information and room rates.