Not wanting to waste any time while in Coron, instead of resting the afternoon away as we had hardly any sleep the night before, I headed off outside for a stroll around town. I thought I’d familiarize myself a bit with the place; get acquainted with the locals, check the plazas, look for places to eat out and generally just get a feel of the town.

Coron looks like any other developing provincial locale, what differentiates it though is the underlying economy behind it, fishing and tourism. The town is quite rich, being classified as a first class municipality, earning at least fifty million pesos every year.

The streets coming from the hotel were quite steep, it being part of the mountain’s foot I presume, but it generally flattens out as I reached the market area. 

Right beside the busy market a new tourism office was in the works (the current one is located near the Municipal Hall) and behind it was a sprawling plaza that looks out across the waters to the Coron Island. With such nice views and fresh air, it’s definitely a nice place to hang out in.
I followed the coastline all the way to the barren part of the plaza. It looks like it was being readied for construction. I approached a local and asked if something was indeed gonna be built there, he said that it was being developed as a commercial center, complete with Jolibee’s and Starbucks. The price of development I guess.

I feel that this would kinda ruin the provincial atmosphere of the place; in my humble opinion the small town of Coron should be left as it is, it’s part and parcel of the place’s charm.

I explored the town a bit further before heading back to the hotel; taking notes of the food places, banks and plazas that I passed by as we’re gonna spend almost a week here.

The sun was slanting down when I reached the hotel; time to climb the mountain out back.