Island Hopping El Nido 25/11/11

Since the island hopping tours have fallen short on Malapacao island, we still had to check out more islands in the archipelago. We decided that Tour C to Matinloc Island, Secret Beach and Helicopter Island would cover most of the islands that we haven’t seen yet.

It was quite bumpy on the sea and after a 30-min boat ride we stopped on Matinloc Island. All you see is a massive limestone cliff and a tiny hole in it. The swell is quite big and I wonder if all the 12 passengers are capable of swimming through a hole with sharp edges. Some people seem to panic slightly and kick around with their legs and feet. The water quality is really good this time and I can see about 5 or more meters down. I watch the fish watching us human beings making it through the tiny hole and on the other side I find a coral garden in very shallow water. I glide above it, trying not to touch anything. When I turn around I see everyone walking on the coral. This is tourism. Shouldn’t the guides educate the tourists? I’m disappointed and wonder if I should say anything. How do you explain a Philippino guy that they need to look after their precious natural wonder, when they litter their town and all their waste water is going right out to the ocean.

Secret beach is nice but it would be a lot more beautiful and secret without the crowds and if the coral was still intact.

We swim back through the tiny hole in the wall and the nervous tour guides are relieved that no-one has been hurt. The next stop is a snorkeling spot. Another coral cemetery! A bit sad really but there are lots of sea urchins in all different colours and beautiful fish. Logan seems to enjoy himself diving down deeper and further each time. I wonder if he will pursue the carrier of a skin diver?

For lunch we stop at a small beach and get served a whole fish with rice and soy sauce and some watermelon for desert. Watermelon appears to be a great environment for E-Coli, so I just reduce it to the fish and rice.

On the way back we stop at helicopter island and everyone jumps in the water. The swell is so big that it lifts up the boat under the breaking waves on the shore and our guide is getting swallowed by one of the waves when he tries to get to the beach. The anchor just wouldn’t stay in place and we left soon thereafter.

Back in El Nido we just grab a burger from a local place and disappear in the room to work on our footage and blog.

Island Hopping Coron 18/11/11

4:30am: 136 Roosters (or about that) call out of the top of their lungs to let the world know that the sun should be up in an hour or so. I hear no break in between their calls. It reminds me of Tonga, but a lot worse.

 

We are getting a ride downtown to have breakfast. The bread at the bakery looks different; it tastes very sweet, almost like cake.
At 7:30 we are meeting our guide Romeo, a nice 19-year-old Philippino bloke. He takes us to the markets, so we can choose our own lunch: Parrot fish, rice and beans.

 

This is the first time I’m jumping onto a banka, a Philippino wooden boat with outriggers on each side. A warm breeze is blowing around us and in the background we can see majestic Coron island. Romeo and the other guy on board take us to a snorkelling spot first. The water has exactly air temperature; you feel no difference of being in, or out of the water. Fish is all around us and they try and eat my bracelet, which is made out of shells. The coral is plenty and colourful, we feel like a fish ourselves.
We are going through a beautiful blue and turquoise lagoon and anchor the boat at the end of it. After paying an entrance fee, Romeo takes us up over a cliff and back down on the other side; the beauty is taking my breath away.

Kayangan Lake sits on top of Coron Island, there actually are seven freshwater lakes and Kayangan is only a small one of them. The others are impossible to get to and can only be seen from the air.

Logan and I are in the water very quickly. There are cliffs all around the lake and with my snorkel and goggles on, I can follow them deep down the lake. It looks magic, like an underwater cathedral.

Logan is swimming all the way across the lake. I’m watching him from the distance climbing up cliffs. Back out of the water, he is bleeding on his foot and back, typical! I don’t even acknowledge these little cuts anymore; the guide is almost freaking out and pulls out the first aid kit. We start laughing.

On our way back we stop at the top of the cliff and enjoy the lookout over the lagoon.

 

Lunchtime! We are about to stop at a beach for lunch. There are two monkeys tied up to the tree, poor things! Romeo brings over our fish with rice and beans. The fish is literally black and he tells us, we need to peel the skin off. Underneath I find bones and the guts –Fish cooked Philippino way! It’s quite good actually and Logan makes the fish talk to me by opening and closing its mouth.

While the other tourists have lunch on the beach, we make our way to a snorkelling spot with a sunken Japanese warship. A little bit of snorkelling here but since it lies on an angle, only one end is visible.
Romeo tells us our next stop is Barracuda Lake. He points down into the water and we see it’s clear and all of a sudden it is becoming all blurry. How…?
Logan and I jump in the water and then I feel it! It’s thermal!! Hot water mixed in with warm water. I find it amazing to be able to see the hot water and keep looking at the changing clarity of water with my goggles. There is fish everywhere; the water is cobalt blue and the sand very white. Logan and I keep diving down to reach even warmer temperatures. Later I read, at the bottom of the lake temperatures reach about 38 degrees.

 

Litter everywhere! “CYC Beach”, does that stand for recycle here? Our last stop could have been a lot nicer, if it was a clean beach. There are also three residents on the island: two starving cats and a very lonely monkey. Some ignorant locals are hanging out in the filth while adding to it.

 

After our island hopping tour, Logan and I are waving down a tricycle to head to the Rocksteady Dive Centre where we book our discover scuba dive for tomorrow. We are excited!
Back at Kokosnuss, we are having dinner and are being served by one of those “lady boys”. They are boys or men dressed like girls, behaving like girls and talking like girls. Sometimes you can hardly tell their gender. Lady boys are accepted as every other Philippino person, more than we are with our semi-brown skin, blond or brown hair and dreadlocks!