4th October - circumnavigation of Busuanga Island - back on mooring in Coron

Saturday 4^th October

(I love the way this boat matches the reef… The bare hills in the background are not due to clear-felling – the ground is barren on some of the hills and nothing grows, other than tussocks)

Eventually, around 11am yesterday, we did manage to leave our mooring in Coron.

We had a beautiful peaceful three hours or so around the corner of the island, and we anchored in a calm bay called Port Borac.

Large families live in these little houses

Co-ordinates:

12 degrees 2.327 N

120 degrees 18.916E

depth 5.3-ish metres

Very sheltered

People here live a very basic life in tiny woven huts, built on stick stilts.  They are surrounded by dogs, pigs, chickens, and their only mode of transport is their boats.

We spent the afternoon watching rain clouds and doing excited little rain dances.  We managed to gather maybe 200 litres of water in our buckets.  It all got very exciting when I knocked the precious black plastic funnel into the water.  I had to leap, fully clad, into the sepia-toned sea to rescue it; Pete was very impressed – or was it amusement that made him laugh so much??

It kept raining quite heavily even while the sun shone brightly

Pete finally met up with Seadive Jim (whose full name is Jim F Goll, from Seattle, USA.)  They had deep conversations in the café while I went to the little shop where I bought my new internet simcard, to get top-up.  

Jim and Pete

My shop friends – brother and sister – were extremely kind and helpful, and very happy to be photographed.  There are not many veiled ladies in Coron, but there is a general air of tolerance and acceptance, one way and another.  This particular woman is VERY lively and animated and expressive; all you can see are her sharp black eyes.

Her brother is more shy, but he made sure to test my computer, and my simcard.  He tried it out on his home-made computer, and showed it to me very proudly.  “The only one of its kind in the world!” he said.  He has made it himself, out of recycled bits and pieces.  I am mightily impressed!

A most excellent computer!

We got up early this morning and by lunch time were in the gorgeous bay where we found El Rio y Mar resort, with a free mooring just for us.  Good thing too.   It is much too deep to be able to anchor here.  30 metres and then suddenly – shallow coral!

The water here is REALLY crystal clear.  Lots of places we are told have crystal clear water.  But they don’t really.  Here we can see everything very clearly, as if looking into a mirror.  Bliss!  (I swam so much, up and down the reef, that I nearly made myself ill...)

Monday 6^th October

We stopped for a swim off Coron Island - SO beautiful!

And now we are back on our big strong mooring in Coron, after a very pleasant and successful circumnavigation of Busuanga Island.  We did not go aground on a reef, nor did we get tangled in pearl farm nets.  It was all very beautiful and…all is well on 2XS!