Hard to Get In, Harder to Get Out

The morning we left El Nido was a tough one for Pedro as we had to be at the port for our ferry to Coron at 11.30, and he didn't get home until 4.30. As he dragged himself to breakfast, the boozy whiff and the giggles hinted that the previous night had been as fun as the one Cat had enjoyed the night before. Despite the prayer on the ferry's TV sets, the journey turned out to be a complete horror show. It should have been evident the moment we boarded from the sick bags and tissue everywhere. As soon as the boat left, it was like a terrible fairground ride. Almost everyone on the boat spent the journey vomiting and the crew were amazing at looking after everyone. At one point, strangers had to help Flora when she puked, as both Pedro and Cat were also filling up their 4th bag...
When we finally arrived, we went straight for Pizza as we felt so awful, and then found it a bit hard to find somewhere to stay as many places were full. A tricycle driver guided us to a hotel that was perfectly fine and we settled in.
The next morning we hired a motorbike and took a

long (much longer than expected) ride across the island to a waterfall. We stopped en route at a cute little restaurant and then cooled off at the waterfall. Flora spent 45 minutes of the return journey asleep between us on the motorbike, just like she had done a few years before in Bali. That evening we met up for dinner with Fergus, Harry and Sam who had arrived from the terrible ferry earlier that day and were booked onto a PADI course.
We had an early start, and a predictable long wait,

for another boat trip - the ultimate ultimate! The boat wasn't as nice as previous ones we had been on, and most of the other trippers were French speakers. The trip included two incredible lakes within outlying islands; Barracude Lake and Kayangan Lake. The walk over the rocks, although crowded, was cool and the water amazing - so clear and refreshing. We stopped for lunch at a hut built over the water by Skeleton Wreck. I know we go on about the clarity of the water in the Philippines, but this was like glass. Crystal clear with so many fish, and the wreck of a small fishing boat nearby within snorkeling depth. The final stop was twin lagoon,where we swam through a tunnel during low tide to get inside the lagoon with steep karst cliffs. It was stunning.
We met up with the boys, and the Australian girls for dinner and drinks that night amid news of an impending Typhoon that was confirmed the next day. All flights for the 3rd cancelled out of Manila, and although Qantas could offer us a flight to

Melbourne on the 4th, we couldn't get to Manila until the 6th. It was pretty disappointing to have to stay in Coron for a further three nights. It was a busy little town with frantic traffic and most of its attractions lay in the waters around and therefore involved boat trips which were cancelled. We climbed up the hill behind the town to the big cross on top and enjoyed the view and then we met up that evening with the boys again to celebrate Harry's birthday (not until midnight). They were already absolutely hammered by the time we met, and Pedro went to the local (shit) club with them.
Over the next few days we didn't do much. We had our final dinner with the boys in a lovely Italian restaurant, and went back on our final night and enjoyed a nice bottle of wine to celebrate paying off our mortgage, before embarking on the three flight journey to Melbourne.