"Banana Island" Dicalubuan Island by Rastarigo

simply serene and beautiful island... well if not, i would have pelted stones at our boat for taking us to an island not worth my time and dime hahaha. that didn't happen though because the island is more than what i expected- clean stone-free white sand under my feet, calm crystalline waters, interesting snorkeling experience, palm trees, total tropical island feeling as i lay on the hammock... another proof of how first rate a destination coron is. we set out 7 in the morning sharing the boat with a fireman from belgium and a septuagenarian from japan who can speak tagalog. on the way to the island, i stood next to the boatman and barged him with questions hoping he'd listen to my personal gripes. i don't like what's happening at the moment i just felt the need to know from the viewpoint of a local citizen what they think of these contemptible practice of collecting entrance fee to every tourist spot around coron including the islands. i am certain the local populace is not spared from the collection too and with the inexorable prices of basic commodities in coron like food, meat, fruits, vegetables (coron imports everything from manila, they don't grow or produce their own despite the hectares upon hectares of idle land they have), i wonder if they still can afford a trip in their own territory. they too the boat operators condemn the practice because they are like the catch basin of all complaints from tourists who rent their boat. the affluent tourists even complain, how much more a pauper like me. how disappointing to know they haven't done anything about it or is it because they are helpless in the first place the local government included although i can sense their displeasure with the system as it also affects their livelihood and the whole image of coron.
so why am i raising these issues here in my banana island page? first impression is lasting and will speak for the rest of what coron has to offer and that insurmountable pressure of redeeming coron's name from disgrace is right on banana's wings being the first stopover of an island-hopping in coron bay. when you're sick and tired of all these highly questionable entrance fees, at least you want something that could temporarily help you forget your economic woes brought about by these shameless collectors or something that could vindicate your decision of coming down to coron. mind you this coron trip of ours is the most expensive we've done all these years (vs. camiguin, cebu, bohol). it's sad to realize that more than the beauty of coron, it's the burden of entrance fees that is leaving a lasting impression on the pusang gala team, they must be scarred for life, financially hahaha. i reckoned up our expenses in coron and it turned out a huge chunk of it went to entrance fees alone. writing this article gets me so emotional and fuming again. bleugh! i better keep my cool and keep my fingers away from this keyboard hahaha.