My other most anticipated stop of the day, Kayangan lake is said to be the cleanest AND clearest lake in South East Asia... I haven't seen all the lakes but I can say it was both clean and clear. haha The water is fresh water in the swimming area so the tour boats required us to bring out life jackets... little did they know I can easily float in fresh water just as easily as in salt water.. I'm that buoyant hahaha. But it did come in handy for towing my stuff around.
Small islands as you pull into the bay
The entrance to the lake had restrooms you could use.. if you dared and really needed to, as well as other little shops. We only had 45 minutes though so we trekked up the hill to get our photos of the incredible view point, and then have a relaxing swim in the lake itself.
There are over 300 steps up so wear some comfortable shoes and prepare for some heavy breathing.
But the view from the top made any and all stairs worth it!
And just behind the view point are some small caves with cool rock formations. If you have time, they can be fun to explore and climb around.
Then you descend about 300 steps to the lake. The views are just as pretty and the boardwalk around the lake makes for cool photos at different angles (without risking your phone!) Just be careful as the wood on the walkway is VERY slippery. We legit saw some one try to jump off and slip as they jumped and fall first half on the edge of the boardwalk before head first into the water. Don't worry though, they were ok but embarrassed for sure.
Finally it was time to get in and oh man how amazing it felt! After a day of sun burned skin and continuous salt water, NOTHING could have felt better than a nice cool dip in FRESH water. Seriously... NOTHING
We swam out as far as you are allowed? (We would've gone further but there is sort of a roped off area so we assumed you shouldn't swim past that)
Happy as a clam floating in such refreshing water! (Also RIP those sun glasses on my head.. This was the last time I saw them... may they rest in peace at the bottom of Kayangan Lake...)
Our time was up and we were heading back to the boats at the end of a long but very successful day. The dock had emptied out and we enjoyed the calm of the dock/ board walk to get to all of the boats.
The it was a short 20 minute ride back to Coron town, our boat dropped us back off shortly after 5 where we had another <4 minute trike ride back to our hotel. We rinsed off (let's be honest why would we wash our hair with another beach day the next day?) and we headed to find some dinner. We had noticed a restaurant with a heart shaped entrance when looking for breakfast and as we wandered back that way the smells coming from their grill was too good to pass up. I got a pork kebab with rice and this incredible sauce that they just called "sweet sauce" plus a hot chocolate like coffee drink called Milo? Apparently it's a big thing in SEA.
Then we were back in our room ready to snooze again around 7:30! haha Solid day in the sun.
Day 2 Costs:
Waffles and iced latte for breakfast: 230 php/ $4.40
Ultimate Coron tour (includes lunch and entrance to all sites): 1200 php/ $23
Dinner at Island Boy Grill: 120 php/$2.30
Aloe for my crazy burned skin: 350 php/ $6.75
Lodging:
Luis Bay Traveler's Lodge- $12.50 pp
Tour Company we used:
Wonderful Island Travel and Tours (one of the many pamphlets picked up from the airport)