ATTRACTIONS
ON BUSUANGA
ISLAND
The island of Busuanga lies at the head of the Kalamayan
group and represents the most delightful expression of tropical
beauty -- surrounded by white-powder-sand fringed islets
and steeped in history: jewels atop the forested sceptre
of Palawan Island. In recent decades it has become famous
for its reefs and wrecks.
In nearby Coron
scuba divers can enjoy not only spectacular corals and a myriad
of reef and pelagic fish, but also a fleet of Japanese warships
and cargo vessels at every depth. Sunk during the American
led advance to retake the Philippines in September 1944,
these wrecks bear silent witness to the rise of naval air-power
in the middle of the 20th century.
At the western tip of Busuanga Island is the captivating
Calauit wildlife park. Created and stocked in the 1970s with
plains animals from Kenya, it is now famous as one of the
few places on Earth where you can walk amongst giraffes and
zebra in a completely natural setting, sans lions.
Within its deep,
warm lakes and forested peaks nearby Coron Island holds
the secrets of a lost civilization. On this mystical island
time appears to evaporate and it is easy to understand
how it has become the fabled origin of a gentler culture,
in tune with nature, spanning the time before recorded
history to almost the present day. In the local dialect “Coron” implies “a
bowl, a crucible, a precious cup” . . . a holy grail?
Dive the lakes and come face-to-face with ocean fish, including
barracuda, which have evolved with the ever reducing salinity
of the lakes since their creation many millions of years
past amidst one of the greatest upheavals in geologic history.
Caution: A night spent here under the stars may change your
outlook on life forever.
Take a boat ride
to the pearl farms and discover how nature turns grit into
gold. Absorb the warmth of the prevalent hot springs on
the surrounding islands, as the nutrient rich water gush
to the surface, heated from far beneath the Earth’s
crust many miles beneath, and gear up for adventure at every
turn. But most of all, be prepared to be changed by your
experiences in and around Busuanga.
