Coron, Palawan: A Dream Wedding and a Nightmare at Snorkeling
- Mr. Local
- Aug 20, 2018
- 5 min read
Have you tried snorkeling? It’s almost always great isn’t it?
It was 2016 when we were invited to attend the wedding of my cousin, Precious, in Palawan. It was my first time going there as it usually requires riding an airplane, and, I haven’t ridden one yet that time. I was really excited, and (I admit it) kind of scared. But the flight was good. I didn’t know passengers are served with food on a domestic plane.
When we arrived at the airport, I felt like I’m already in a different country. There were no buildings, no traffic, and not a lot of people. There was a service van that picked us up and brought us to a resort where we stayed in. During our road trip, we could see the mountains and hills on each side of the road, it felt surreal, as the place is very peaceful, and there were minimal houses.
As we arrived at the resort, few locals greeted us and asked us to eat with them (that’s how most Filipino’s greet when they meet someone while they’re eating). As we checked in on the room, it was small, and looked like a typical motel room.
Let’s cut to the wedding of my cousin. We rode a roro (small boat) to Balinsasayaw Resort which is located in a small island in Coron. The moment I stepped on the island, I felt the powderish white sand – it was like walking in cotton land. I literally laid down and felt the sand (I just couldn’t help it).
I’m not the kind of guy who is fond of very romantic scenes, but man, my cousin’s wedding was beautifully romantic. The event place is perfect, the weather is wonderful, the dresses of attendees were beautiful, and the bride (my cousin) looked majestic, wearing that egg shell colored wedding dress. I’m sure this is the perfect dream wedding of many future brides – and my cousin is nailing it!
You could watch a DIY (Do-it-yourself) SDE (Same Day Edit) video of the wedding here: It’s simple and sweet.
The reception was also the best. Since the wedding theme is Bohemian, the reception was made to be a music-dance filled thing. The venue had hanging warm yellow lights, and Nipa cottages built at the sides, and of course at the front is the buffet. My other cousins and some other visitors played music, as the attendees and the newly wed danced in the middle area of the event. Indeed, it was a very lively night.
(C) JM Cayme, Benjjie Banas, Ivan Banas, JC Privado
After the wedding day, we went on tour around Coron. We went to Kayangan Lake, and other islands where I had a memorable experience when we tried to snorkel.
My families and relatives rented a small boat as we toured around the famous spots in Coron. We almost arrived at the snorkeling spot, except the boat couldn’t dock near the shore as it was low tide. So, the boatmen asked us if they could just dock the boat a 100 meters far from the shore, and just provide us life vests so we could start snorkeling to the shore. It might seem too far to start snorkeling, but since our clan are adventure seekers, my cousins and I said yes, as we jumped off the boat. And that was the biggest mistake of my life.
As my cousin jumped off the boat first, he noticed that the waters are still too deep, so he warned us to be sure to wear life vests. So then I jumped, and yes it was deep, and so dark that it was surely not a spot for snorkeling. But we started to swim to the shore. You’d think it was easy since we’re wearing life vests? No. It’s exactly the opposite. It was hard to swim as even the small waves are drifting us away from the shore. But we did our best to swim until we get to the more shallow part of the sea. I thought, oh, thank you it’s done. Well, nope, that’s not the case. As the waters got shallow, we were able to snorkel. But instead of seeing beautiful colorful fishes, we saw millions of sea urchins on the ground! Due to this, my cousins and I couldn’t step unto the sand, so we had to stay floating until we get to the shore. It was especially hard and more of an effort for me, since I was not wearing any slippers or any shoes made for snorkeling.
There were only a few times I have tried snorkeling in my life. All of my experiences didn’t include sea urchins, but this one did. And there were tons of them. So my cousins and I decided that it’s much easier to go back to the boat than to push through to the shore. So we did. But the nightmare was still not over. The worst part came. I needed to breathe air, so I had to step for just a sec on the sand. And BOOM. Sea urchins were all over my big feet. And my cousins were far away from me already. I removed them with my bare hands, and started desperately swimming back to the boat.
Finally, I was already near and below the boat. I asked the boatman to let the ladders down, so I could come up. He did. I went up, and walla! Instead of relatives waiting for me, there were strangers, surprised of who just boarded the boat, with bleeding feet!
Instead of admitting that I accidentally boarded the wrong boat, I acted that it was intentional. Fortunately, the passengers were old ladies that are okay with strangers. I said, I stepped on some sea urchins and had to board the boat. I pointed at my relatives’ boat and waved at them. I asked the boatman for advice and cure for the sting of sea urchin’s torn. They said, put vinegar, or pee on it. He also said try putting it near the grill, as he pointed at their grilling food, so the torn would come out. So I did that! Why would I do the first two? There? How?
Surprisingly, the old ladies were grilling fishes and squids on the boat. And OH, I went near it, and put my foot up above the grill, near their food. (Now that I think about it, oh my goodness, I adore my confidence that time. Really, desperate situations require desperate measures). So then, miraculously, that grill trick did not work. So, I just said, I’ll just go back to my boat (which was already undocked, and slowly moving away), and figure it out later. I bid goodbye to my new friends on that boat, and jumped off. I swam again, very fast, as if a shark was unto me.
So then, I boarded our boat, and my relatives asked what I did on the other boat. I said I just befriended them because I needed help with my feet. But they teased that I was just looking for girls to meet and flirt with (I just eventually agreed, instead of telling them the story of how I put up my feet on strangers’ food).
And yeah, that was it. It was a contrast of what happened the day before that. Indeed, it was a perfect wedding and a nightmare at snorkeling!
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