Not really part of the usual Coron Island tour, we headed back to Banol Beach for a quick sunset photo session before concluding the day’s trip.
 
The good thing about renting an exclusive boat is that you can choose where to go and how long to stay without pressure from your fellow passengers. The tour usually ends at five in the afternoon but we asked if we could extend it to at least ‘til after sunset. Our boatman generously obliged.

So there we were, parting Coron’s water with our outrigger boat en route back to Banol’s white sandy beach. Racing against time to catch the sun before it lowers itself down the horizon. We made it with a few minutes to spare.

The limestone cliffs surrounding the beach were now reflecting the sun’s gold rays and the sky’s color was transforming from cool hues to warmer tones.

The beach, which was already beautiful in full sunshine, glowed exquisitely during sundown.

There were a few Korean tourists on the water, but they were already packing up when we arrived. Again, we had the whole cove to ourselves. 

I quickly scouted the area, looking for interesting foregrounds and angles to frame the late afternoon scenery, but the sun seemed to be on the fast-forward. It was going down far more quickly than I would have preferred.

No time to think and be artsy about it; I set my tripod where I was, screwed on my landscape filters and photographed the twilight away. The soft warm light transformed into a fiery orange glow, cooled down to a magenta hue, and turned into electric blue. Unfortunately, evening arrived too quickly. With heavy hearts, we boarded our boat, tucked our cameras, snorkeling paraphernalia and bade farewell to Coron’s Higantes Island.

  Coron Island Hopping Tour
  Boatman: Avel Arevalo | (0939) 815-0044
  Tour Fee: Php1,500.00 whole day boat rental fee

  Banol Beach Entrance Fee 
  Php100.00 / person (No fee when we returned for the sunset shoot)