In May 2018 we took a dedicated group of content creators to Coron, in the Philippines, for an intense week of adventure and masterclasses in one of the most spectacular parts of the world.
We selected the participants from a group of up and coming bloggers and YouTubers, who all had one thing in common, they were dedicated to making a career out of travel. With the help of established industry professionals, we held workshops, seminars and island hopped our way around Coron creating new content.
We are doing it all again in May 2019, this time in Bali, but to give you an idea of what a Travel Continuously Summit is like, here’s what happened in Coron!
Coron, May 2018
Our destination was Coron, and our hotel was the luxurious Funny Lion, complete with fiery sunsets, infinity pool and rooftop jacuzzis.
Coron, a collection of islands between Luzon and Palawan is one of the most up and coming destinations in the Philippines, and we knew it would make for a fantastic location to live and work for a week.
Our Speakers
Most of the group were up and coming content creators selected out of a large pool of applicants for their passion, not for their follower count or influence. That all comes later and what we wanted were motivated individuals who would really benefit from the summit.
To teach these guys the practicalities of content creation we brought industry professionals to Coron to live alongside everyone. Our speakers held seminars and workshops and joined us on the day trips to give practical tips in the field.
The speakers covered a wide range of subjects and topics. Jordan Simons of the Life of Jord teaching all things YouTube. Jord Hammond, a professional travel photographer and Instagram legend gave editing workshops. Anton Diaz, the biggest blogger in the Philippines demonstrated how to grow a brand into a successful media empire.
It was a fantastic mix of seminars and workshops, that went into ever-increasing depth over the course of the whole week.
Exploring the Islands in Coron
The islands in Coron are quite simply, breathtaking. The natural scenery, the beaches, the lakes and the coral reefs were all part of the reason why we chose this part of the Philippines to hold the first ever summit in. We knew that everyone would be blown away.
During our week in Coron, we had two boat trips scheduled around the islands. The first took us to the main tourist sights, where we swam in freshwater lagoons, visited the iconic Kayangan Lake, had a Filipino style fish barbecue on a white sand beach and snorkelled over a sunken shipwreck, turned reef.
The second island hopping trip took us out to a more remote destination. In collaboration with a local tour company that works with the Tagbanua people, a tribe who have called Coron home for thousands of years, we visited a local island settlement and saw how the ‘Guardians of Coron’ live.
It was an immersive cultural experience that few other tourists to the area ever get to experience.
Two Boat Trips Just Aren’t Enough
Two boat trips though just weren’t enough for the group, and when it came to the rest day halfway through the week, no one was quitting. Instead of lounging around the pool the group decided to visit more of Coron’s spectacular islands, and we headed out early to travel out to the distant Pass Island and Black Island.
Pass Island was quite simply a tropical paradise. Surrounded by white sands and fringed by colourful coral, it was a beautiful place to relax, and we got there early enough to beat the crowds too.
When other boats began to appear on the horizon, we jumped aboard our outrigger again and headed off across the water to Black Island. This dramatic island is formed from black, limestone cliffs that rise abruptly from the ocean.
There were shipwrecks, caves and a delicious lunch waiting for us here before we made the long journey back to the Funny Lion. A rest day had turned into one epic day of content creation.
Hot Springs and Mountains
Every evening we enjoyed the fiery sunsets over Coron, perfect for capturing those colourful shots. While the hotel had an epic sunset view from the rooftop bar, we also knew there were other great spots in Coron too.
We climbed Mount Tapyas, one of the tallest hilltops in the area for an incredible view over Coron just as the sunset. After a sweaty hike to the top, climbing hundreds of concrete steps, we were were rewarded with beautiful vistas over the town below and the islands that stretched towards the horizon.
On our final afternoon in Coron, we wrapped up the workshops early and travelled to the Maquinit Hot Springs, a local natural phenomenon, for a relaxing bathe in the water after a hard week of work. What we hadn’t counted on, while we sat around in the hot water drinking ice cold beers, was the magnificent sunset, and soon we were all grabbing our camera gear and taking shots over the mudflats from a makeshift wooden bridge.
