Many tourists stop in the Municipality of Coron in the province of Palawan, Philippines. 

The iconic landmark atop Mount Tapyas is a large, lighted crucifix.

I climbed the 721 concrete steps 4 times over 3 days. Kili conditioning. And ended up with some terrific photos.

One guide told me he had been up over 4000 times, training with his soccer team.

Here are some of my vista shots.

Best time of day is dusk / night — but that’s the most crowded.

Full moon while I was there.

Coron is the jumping off point for Coron Island Natural Biotic Area a short boat ride from the harbour.

It’s a bigger town and arguably slightly more organized than nearby El Nido at providing FUN boat tours to paradise coves. More expensive than El Nido, however.

Public transportation is non-existent. To get to excellent Maquinit Hot Springs outside of town, easiest was to sign up for a half day city tour.

Maquinit is both fresh and salt water, making you very buoyant.

And it’s HOT.

The Catholic cathedral.

It’s easy to complain about tourists, but look what happens when your town takes off as a destination.

Actually, a few different guides told me that Palawan province has had better governance than the rest of the corrupt nation.

 Forbes Traveler Magazine’s included Coron on a list top 10 best scuba diving sites in the world — for the dozen sunken Japanese warships at depths between 10 and 40 meters.

I did enjoy my time in Coron.