In Pictures: Kayangan Lake

By Kin Enriquez -

With temperatures in the metro climbing to as high as 37°C, it is hard not to think of destinations where you can just sit back and cool down with a fresh breeze blowing on your face while you soak your feet in fresh ice-water, or where you can dive-bomb into the water to combat the early signs of global warming. 

For this week's In Pictures, we go to Kayangan Lake, in Coron, where we can do exactly just that, and more.

Wooden boardwalk along the side of the lake
Kayangan Lake is a freshwater inland lake, located just inside Coron Island in Palawan. The lake is considered sacred by the indigenous Tagbanwas who live in the island. The island itself is protected, and only the Tagbanwas can live there.  
A visitor stands on a limestone outcropping
Bounded by sharp karst formations and jagged limestone cliffs, the lake is accessible through a trail going up from the beach. The trek takes about 10-15 minutes. Along the way  you'll be accorded with magnificent view of Coron cove, and you can also visit a small cave halfway through the hike. 
Fish from the lake

Once you reach the lake you can find a spot where you can put your belongings. There's a wooden boardwalk built along the rim of the lake. You can sit in there and dip your feet in the water and let it suck the summer heat out of you. You can also let the fish nibble at your feet. 
Me skindiving in the lake
You can bring your snorkeling gear with you and skin dive. Below the lake is a scene taken from  an alien world that you only see in sci-fi movies. Jagged limestone rocks jut out of the lakebed like tiny skyscrapers, bathed in an eery green glow that gets dimmer as you dive deeper. 
Lakebed limestone formation 

Kayangan is reputed to be the cleanest lake in the Philippines. As such people are advised not to put on sunblock or insect repellants before dipping in. 

There are other freshwater lakes in the island as well but those were closed to the public, giving them an almost mythical reputation. 

Approaching the caretakers' quarters
How to get there:
Getting to Coron is easier these days. You fly from Manila to Busuanga, then take a van from from the airport to Coron, 150 pesos each way. The route is serviced by many airlines, including Cebu Pacific, PAL Express, Zest Air, AirAsia and SEAir.

From Coron town, you can take a 20-minute boat ride to Kayangan. For a general guide to Coron, go here.

The trek to Kayangan Lake will give you an added bonus: this view of Coron island cove

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Golden Tara of Agusan

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
One of the main reasons why I am always drawn to museums when I travel is that I would want to see, in real life, the fascinating things that I've only read in books or have seen in the films, such as archaeological artifacts or the paintings of Van Gogh and Dali . Museums give you access to all that. I majored in History when I was an undergraduate in the University of the Philippines. As such, I am always excited to see artifacts and historical curiosities that I encounter during my travels. But sometimes, they also make me sad, like when I saw the Golden Tara of Agusan in the Field Museum in Chicago.  The reverse of the Golden Tara The Golden Tara is a gold statue of a Hindu-Malayan deity discovered in 1917 in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, in southern Philippines. Weighing about four pounds, the 21-karat gold statue depicts a woman deity sitting cross-legged, ornamented with a headdress and various accruements in the arms and legs. It was dated to early 13
Read more

Off the Beaten Track: Mapun, Tawi-Tawi

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Guest post by Mara Ione Sarail Mapun? Where is that?” I get this question a lot when people ask me about my hometown. I’d ramble on and on the island (its location and the culture and the pretty spots...) but since the place is not really in any of the Philippines tourist spots and is in the middle of nowhere, I might as well talk about Atlantis instead. But the island does exist.  Mapun Tawi-Tawi or Cagayan de Sulu) is an island municipality in the Sulu Sea on the southwestern extreme of the Philippines, located very close to Sabah. Or from the way I see it on the Philippine map, the island is located on the Philippine’s “armpit”. Mapun is a volcanic island. The picture above shows Mt. Nanggoy, an inactive volcano near the Sapah Lake. The most popular tourist attraction in Mapun would be the three crater lakes on the west part of the island. Legend says that the three lakes were once volcanoes that erupted together. The first two, Danao and Singuwang, becam
Read more

How To Track Your Travels with Google Location History

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Ever traveled to a place then forgot the name of that small shop that sells the best tasting cronuts you've ever had? Or have you ever wanted to retrace your steps in your travels, down to the smallest alleyways you passed along the way but couldn't? Here's a travel tool that enables you to do that - so well that it's cool and scary at the same time: the Google Location History. I use the service - which you need to enable on your mobile phone and Google account - to look back at my travels and generate some cool maps that retrace my steps during my trips. Google Maps, by itself, is an incredibly useful app already; I cannot count how many times I've used it when traveling to find my hostel, the nearest subway station, that cronut place. Having location history enable, made it cooler and more useful. Take a look at these examples: The top photo shows my movements around Singapore during my trip there in September, It basically showed my movements in t
Read more