Philippines: Malapascua Island

09/03/2016

I left my hostel in Puerto Princesa around 6 o'clock in the morning to catch two flights to Manila and Cebu. From Cebu Airport, I made way to Cebu North Bus Terminal to catch a bus to Maya Port. The journey took about 5 hours. It was 9PM when I reached Maya Port. I walked down the street to find a bed to sleep. I easily managed to find one at Kekoy Lodging House for 400 peso.

10/03/2016

I woke up as early as 7 o'clock in the morning as I was stoked to visit Malapascua Island. I went to the Maya Port to see the availability of the outrigger boat to Malapascua. Unfortunately, it did not go according to my plan. There were only two tourists including me. Hence, the waiting time was high for the outrigger boat to be loaded with passengers. While waiting, I was ambushed by locals offering boat services. I stood firmly to my decision and waited for about 2.5 hours for the outrigger boat to be loaded. I paid 150 peso for the ride.

I reached the island around 11 o'clock in the morning.  Prior to my arrival, I already contacted Santi. My sister recommended me to dive with Santi when she knew I was heading to Malapascua Island. I then contacted Santi through Facebook Messenger. Santi is a dive instructor at Little Mermaid Dive Resort. I went looking for her once I reached the island.

11/03/2016

I was on the outrigger boat as early as 5:30AM for deep diving, looking for thresher shark in Monad Shoal. It was truly amazing to jump off the boat in the middle of the ocean at 6:15AM. This was my first encounter with thresher shark. It was a great experience to see the thresher shark swimming 5 meters away from me. I went as deep as 30 meters for about 37 minutes. My group and I had a chance to be accompanied by two spotted eagle rays while doing a safety stop. It was fascinating to see them swimming and passing by us freely.

My second dive was at Gato Tunnel. I was in the water at approximately 10.42AM. I went inside the tunnel where my divemaster, Santi looked for the whitetip sharks. She managed to find us a good spot to watch the whitetip sharks swimming around. Other than that, I also saw tiger tail seahorse, pgymy seahorse and white-eyed moray eel. The dive lasted for 72 minutes and we went as deep as 22 meters.

I would like to highlight that Santi is such a good divemaster. She separated me with the high air consumption divers. What she did was extraordinary. She sent the divers in my group to do the safety stop first and let me dove a lil bit longer. As a low air consumption diver, not many dive centers really care about air consumption. I always feel bad for having a low air consumption when I could not fully utilise my tank everytime I go diving but I still need to pay the full amount. I was glad when Santi showed me her appreciation towards my low air consumption. Thank you so much, Santi! Look for her if you are planning to dive in Malapascua Island.

My third dive was at Gato Island also but not sure which side of Gato. I saw scorpion fish, cuttlefish, frogfish, long-jawed mackerel and persian carpet flatworm. The dive lasted for 57 minutes. We went as deep as 22 meters.

I paid 5,050 peso for three dives including the marine tax, monad fee and fuel surcharge.

12/03/2016

I did not sign up for any diving today. So, I took the opportunity to relax and walk around the island.

13/03/2016

I took 7:20AM outrigger boat to Maya Port and got a free private ride from Maya to Cebu South Bus terminal. The three Swiss guys I met from the dive center asked me to join them since I was alone. They were kind enough to share the cost of private transfer among them and offered me a free ride. Though they were heading to Cebu Port, they requested the driver to send me to the South Bus Terminal. I was blessed to receive such kindness while travelling.

To be honest, Malapascua is such a gem. I would love to re-visit and spend my day with diving with my loved ones. One day diving was definitely not enough when they have plenty of dive sites. Til then, Malapascua!

Philippines: Puerto Princesa and El Nido

05/03/2016

From Manila, I flew to Puerto Princesa with AirAsia at 5:50 in the morning. It was just a short flight.

Before I made way to El Nido, I grabbed the chance to visit one of the seven wonders of the world; Puerto Princesa Underground River. I booked my Underground River tour with Palawan Holidays by emailing them at palawanholidays@yahoo.com. The rate was affordable. I paid for 1,540 peso for the tour. They were kind enough to pick me at the airport. The journey took about two hours to Sabang Port.

When we reached Sabang, our tour guide went to Underground River Authorities Office to get our permit and time slot for our group. In order to maintain the outstanding universal value of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, only 1,200 guests are allowed to tour the Underground River Cave per day. A "No Permit, No Entry" policy is strictly enforced. We waited for 2 hours for our slot to be called. There are lots of souvenir and refreshment stalls to enjoy while waiting.

We were taken to a motorised banka to go to the Entrance Beach. It is a beautiful forest area home to a number of endemic species. The canoe tour in the cave itself lasts approximately 45 minutes and took us into the first 1.5 kilometers of the Underground River Cave. I had a chance to experience the beauty of Stalagmites and Stalactites, which took thousands of years to form and the Swift and Bat populations that inhabit the cave.

We had our lunch at the local restaurant before we continued our journey to Puerto Princesa town. The van driver dropped me at the bus station. I then catched a van to El Nido. I could not remember what time I left Puerto Princesa. It was a hell of ride of six hours to El Nido. By the time I reached El Nido, it was almost 11PM. I quickly got myself a tricycle to OMP Hostel. Lucky me I managed to get a bed that night though no booking was made prior to my arrival.

06/03/2016

I woke up early and had my breakfast at the common area. Later, I went down to check which tour I could join for the day. I was recommended to do Tour C. Without hesitation, I joined Tour C with OMP Hostel. The tour was double the price with the one that in Coron. I spent 1,400 peso for the tour.

Helicopter Island was the first destination of the day. The island is called Helicopter because its limestone cliffs resemble the helicopter when it is viewed from a considerable distance. It has a beautiful white sand beach stretching to 300 meters. I was given approximately 45 minutes to swim and snorkel. 

Second stop was at Secret Beach. Matinloc Island is the longets slim island in El Nido that has a secret beach. It is a pocket of white sand beach at the corner of a sinkhole. To reach it, tourist must swim under the water through a narrow crevice in a rock wall.

Third destination was at Hidden Beach. This was where I lost my GoPro for 10 minutes. It was horrible experience for me to lose my one and only waterproof camera. Lucky there was one tour guide from another operator came to help and find my go pro. 

The final leg was visiting the Matinloc Shrine. The hidden among the lush forested island is the Matinloc Shrine a sacred monument built in 1982 to honor the blessed virgin mary. Matinloc is the local term for beautiful.

The tour finished quite early. When I was on the banka, I met diver who was keen to try the fluorescent diving as well. Thus, both of us went looking for the dive shop. The first dive shop got no available divemaster. We went further the street and managed to find Aquanaut Dive Centre which was available for fluorescent diving. So, I signed up for 3 dives a day and fluorescent diving with them.

07/03/2016

I dove with Eugen as my divemaster. I had one to one experience since they acknowledged the level of divers. I went to Nat-Nat for my first dive site. I managed to see big eye barracuda, raggy scorpionfish, trumpetfish, golden sweeper, shortnose pipefish, banded shrimp and bluespotted stingray. I dove for about 56 minutes and went as deep as 23.8 meters. However, the visibility was not that good. Overall, I did enjoy my first dive in El Nido.

The second divesite was at South Miniloc. I bumped into snapper, barracuda and cuttlefish while diving. The dive lasted for 48 minutes and went deep as 15 meters only.

The third divesite was at Twin Rocks. I saw ribbon eel, giant moray, anemone shrimp, gardiner's headshield slug and blue spotted stingray. The dive lasted for 44 minutes and went deep as 15.9 meters only.

The final dive of the day was fluorescent diving at Helicopter Island. It was my first experience to do a night dive in the middle of the ocean. Previously, I only did shore night diving. The experience was incredible. I had to admit I was afraid to jump off the banka. But boy, it was worth every fear. I no longer frightened the moment I saw the astonishing shiny coral and luminescent plankton. I would recommend every diver to experience the fluorescent diving at least once in their life-time. 

08/03/2016

I woke up late to maximise my check out time as I would be leaving El Nido at 2PM. OMP Hostel really caters the backpackers. They provide tour, transfer and laundry. The counter was available almost every hour. I made use of their service by booking my transfer to Puerto Princesa with them. The fare was the same as I got from Puerto Princesa to El Nido which was 500 peso. It was tiring journey but I was glad to be back at the city. The van driver dropped me at the Treehouse Inn Hostel instead of city centre. I was grateful to receive the kindness. I checked in around 7:10PM and this stay was merely a transit since I had early morning flight the next day. I went out to fulfil my tummy. I was blessed to find halal restaurant in the city; Palmalaysian Halal Restaurant.

09/03/2016

I took taxi to the airport at 6 o'clock in the morning and flew to Manila leaving the Palawan Island at approximately 07:55AM. I'm looking forward for my second visit in El Nido. I believe there are much more for me to explore.