Shopping Trip to Coron
Author: Shirlz
November 2023
There are no ATM’s in Culion that accept international bank cards so a trip to Coron, a bigger town on Busuanga Island, was needed to draw enough cash to cover the next few months of travel through the remoter islands.
My friends on Tasman II thought it would be best to go by ferry. We were having some windy days and much of the approximately 15 mile trip would have been dead to windward. The day before we planned to go, we made our way along to the town dock and found that there were two options: either a big official ferry boat that left at 8am or a more interesting-looking banca that would leave at 9. We chose the banca and arrived at the dock in good time the next day. The wind was still blowing strongly from the NE, pretty much exactly the direction we would need to travel.
The banca was waiting at the dock, being loaded up with stuff to take across to Coron Town. A motorcycle was tied down in between the benches either side. Before boarding, our bags had to be set out on the floor of the waiting room so that they could be carefully checked out by a sniffer dog. She found nothing to get excited about and we had the go-ahead to board the banca. I was grateful for the helping hand offered to get me across the gangplank and along the narrow prow. There were only a few other passengers and we were able to make ourselves comfortable, each with a lifejacket propped up behind as a cushion.
The banca skipper chose a route throuh a narrow gap between some islands across from the port on the other side of Culion Bay. The tortuous channel gave good protection from the wind, but needed some skill to avoid both shoal patches and rows of black buoys marking pearl-farm fields. I had my phone with me and fired up the Navionics app so that I could track and save our path through for future reference. Soon we were out in open water again and battling against the full force of the wind until we reached another channel between Apo, Uson and Malbato Islands. The scenery was spectacular and I was very happy that all I needed to do was sit back and enjoy it, all decisions expertly made for me.
We arrived at the Coron dock at about 11:30 and first stop was the ATM machine. Then a quick (rather uninspiring) lunch and some concentrated shopping. Bulky stuff could be left on the banca waiting for the return trip. The town was quite busy and there were a lot of tourists about.
Before leaving, we headed for the old market which had a good selection of fresh fruit and vegetables. How lovely to get some juicy mangoes again.
Back on board there were only two other passengers and a lot of heavy sacks of rice and what looked like sand or cement. The crew were amazingly expert at handling the boat through the shallow, corally water. The wind was still strong but now blowing in our favour. We raced smoothly along and soon enough we were back in Culion.