MANILA, Philippines - Palawan is the country’s last ecological frontier, or so I’ve been told. One of its most beautiful group of islands, the Calamianes, is in the northernmost part of Palawan. Busuanga is the biggest of the islands, which also includes Coron, Culion, Calauit and Linapacan. Coron is the official gateway to the Calamianes.

The 45-minute ride from Busuanga Airport to Coron is a humbling experience, as the jeepney bounced along the road of red earth. The small fishing town of Coron is approximately 50 km from the Busuanga airstrip and terminal. Despite the daily bustle of inland commerce and small-town activity, it has a sleepy back-country feel to it.

Like a way station for supplies and an information center before getting to paradise, Coron is the jump-off point to the many other islands surrounding it. The three main places to stay in are Sea Dive right by the water’s edge, Village Inn and the new Darayanon Inn.

We leave Coron town to its daily rituals and take our boat to Coron Island 20 minutes away from town. In the foreground, we see a range of mountains shaped like hillocks of different sizes, and we are out of time.

Tomorrow could be next week. And so, in these islands, you mark time with the sites you visit, not with a watch. After a while, I feel like a mariner, telling the hour by the light above the sea.

Coron Island is the largest limestone formation in the Philippines, home to the semi-nomadic Calamian Tagbanwa and the balinsasayaw (swift). Known as luray to the Tagbanwa, its nest is used to make the famous bird’s nest or nido soup.

In 1998, the Calamian Tagbanwa was given their indigenous traditional rights and claims over hectares of land and water. The Certificates of Ancestral Domain Claims (CADC) give them their rights to manage and protect the areas, just as their ancestors did.

The Tagbanwa have subsisted on bird’s nest trading for the last 400 years. In most of the places we went to, there were signs designating the area as under a CADC, and there was always a hut with one or two Tagbanwa to collect a visitor’s fee.

In Coron and Coron Island, one sees the sea margin everywhere in the blending of marine and terrestrial: Coastal caves, mangrove swamps, tidal flats, sandy beaches, reefs barely awash at low tide, cliffs and the immediately surrounding sea.

Kayangan Lake is usually the first stop a boat makes after leaving the Coron town pier. Our boat drops anchor by the island’s edge, and we disembark to start our 15- to 20-minute trek uphill and downhill to get to this breathtaking tropical saltwater lake about 100 meters above sea level.

Barracuda Lake. Our boat moves on to another lake a few minutes away. This time it’s a much shorter trek from where we drop anchor, but the trail does not have steps. Instead, we have to climb sharp rocks to get to the lake.

Twin Lagoon. High limestone walls and spires that shoot up to the skies divide these lagoons. During low tide, you can swim from the big lagoon to the small lagoon via a natural open formation in the limestone wall. It’s the only point of entry from one lagoon to the other. The small lagoon is totally still and quiet, and the water is warm at the top and cold at the bottom. It is quite a thrill, and the swim in the small lagoon can leave you quiet for a time in the privacy of your thoughts.

Skeleton Wreck. Eight of around 11 ships of the Japanese Navy that were sunk in WWII are scattered all over Coron Bay at depths of 10 to 43 meters. Skeleton Wreck is in the northwest corner of Coron Island. You can make out the shapes and forms of the keel and the ribs of the steel-hulled ship from the moored boat. The coral reef near it is great for snorkeling. The fish darting in and out of the wreck serve as a welcome distraction from the eerie feeling I get from the sight.

Banul Beach. A small white-sand beach ideal for a swim and a picnic. No crowds, just a few open-sided huts. If you like this beach, there are many, many more in the area. The coves and beaches have a bring-everything-leave-nothing setup. Imagine 20 to 30 more undiscovered islets with beaches, sandbars and coves. Tread softly and it is your own kingdom.

Culion Island. About an hour away south of Coron is Culion Island, where the leper colony was established in 1906. Twenty miles long and 10 miles wide, the town is quaint and the people are polite and friendly. It has narrow streets that wind up to a mountain overlooking the sea.

Pride of place can be felt in the stories of endurance, heartbreaking separations, isolation, courage and benevolent dedication from people you meet on the island. Though they no longer have to stay isolated and separated, many of them, for lack of any real place they can go to and call home, have stayed in Culion.

A well-kept, two-story museum dedicated to preserving and documenting life in the settlement, plus the history, failures and breakthroughs in eradicating the disease, is located on top of a small hill beside the hospital.

On top of the town on a promontory overlooking the sea is the Immaculate Concepcion Church, built in 1933 by the Jesuits. The church replaced the old Culion Fort, which was constructed by the locals under the supervision of the Augustinian Recollects in 1740. The old fort served as defense against Moro raiders. The watchtower and a cannon remain and give a historical touch to the beautiful, well maintained church.

Maquinit Hot Springs. This place is best visited at the end of the day, that magical crack in time right before sunset. The salt-water hot spring is in Coron town near the Coron pier and can be reached by a short 10-minute drive. Situated beside a mountain fronting the sea and surrounded by mangroves with their short trees laced all over with aerial roots, Maquinit Hot Spring’s waters is a steady 40 degrees celsius and is constantly flowing at a displacement of 5,115 liters of water per minute, as measured by Phivolcs.

Privately-owned, the original pools were built in 1976 and a bigger pool was added in 2000. The owners have kept it as natural as the day they discovered the spring, and there lies the beauty of it all.

I do not sing praise. I’ve just pieced together my city-girl observations, which can never really evoke the untamed spirit of a place like this and perhaps inspire you to make your own journey. But go, like I did, to look at nature’s economy and be humbled by it all.

PAL Express 50 seater DH 300 flies to Coron daily from Manila at 8:50 a.m. Special thanks to Governor Joel Reyes, Mayor Marjo Reyes, Sea Dive Resort, Darayanon Inn, Ayette Pe, Lia Ramos and Paradise Spa.