I was up and ready early for today’s island tour. I had booked my tour for ₱700 (Rs. 1000/$16/€) and included in the price was a snorkel mask. The tour itinerary listed stops at Boracay’s Puka beach, a few coral reefs for snorkeling, the private Crystal Cove island and lunch at another beach on Boracay island. I was excited, because this time, I had an underwater camera with me. Nothing fancy, just a simple AGFAPhoto camera on loan from my friend Janet.
It looked perfectly sunny today morningI booked my tour here (only read about their cartel-like operation in Boracay much later)Scuba diving gear. One day I will try scuba diving and get myself PADI certified.I was then picked up by a staff, taken by a tricycle taxi to station 3We walked back to the beachThis was my tour groupThe boat was fullTime to leave. Alright boys, jump!Not too long after we set off, dark grey skies appeared in our direction. Dammit!None the less, a short ride later, we were at some coral garden not too far off the east end of White beachTime to go snorkeling… with an underwater camera 🙂The photos from the AGFAphoto camera produced a heavy green-ish hue. Instead the waters were very blue.I adjusted the colours on these photos as much as possible to bring out the bluesLots of fish! Even if the fish were mostly Scissortail SergeantsI followed the steps mentioned here to bring out the colours of the fish more accuratelyAlthough it wasn’t the brightest and sunniest of skies above water, I was still happy to capture all this on cameraUnderwater selfie!
Here’s a brief video I took underwater:
I went back on board the boat once it was time to leave.
Want ice cream at sea? They’ll come to you 🙂Next stop on the tour was the private Crystal Cove islandIt was here we were told there is an entry fee of ₱200 if we wish to enter the resort and check out the two covesI didn’t want to laze around on the beach, so I paid the ₱200 and went inI went to find Cove 1 firstCrystal Cove island may look like a resort, but they don’t have rooms to stay in. They offer camping though.
This is the entrance to Cove 1A cove is nothing but a small cave-like entry to an islandI decided to pack up my Canon 7D and take the underwater camera back outYou have minders/staff at the cove who will help you take photos and watch over your stuff while you go swimLooks calm, but we were told not to swim too farTime to go inImmediately saw this school of fish
Here’s a brief video I took:
Although it was very clear under water, not a whole lot of corals or fishParrotfishYou can tell it was getting sunnier
I left cove 1 and came back upThey had a few caged birds on displayNot sure how I feel about thisIt seems they have two islands
I went leftOur guide was resting here on this tree houseNice watersThis is how to get to Cove 2First you go downThen you go through this tiny tunnelAnd then you get to Cove 2I didn’t feel like getting in the water because it didn’t appear as though I would experience anything different. So the minder here just took this one photo and I left. (Kinda looks like I’m floating, doesn’t it?)
Each stop on this tour lasts around 45 minutes.
When we landed back on shore at another beach on the main Boracay island for lunch, this boy came along for the ride until we docked. I envy their swimming abilities :-/This was Tambisaan beachIt was time for lunchIt was your usual buffet lunch included in the price of the tour. Also included were free beer and soft drinks — although it was clear by what was on display they rather have you drink the (cheaper) soft drinks more.I ate light, as I intended to swim againThese boys jumped aboard the bamboo poles to ask for money when we left. I didn’t want to join the few who threw coins and see these kids dive down to collect them. Kinda sad.Our guide told us this was a bat caveBats were aplenty up in the trees (yes, I know the quality is shit; took this using the underwater camera)Our next stop was Puka beachPuka beach is on the western side of Boracay islandMost people from our group just sat under a shade as it got pretty hotPuka beach is pretty big, and yet, not crowded at allThe water looked amazingI just had to get inBut I couldn’t resist taking the underwater camera with me because I was having too much fun with it 😛Puka beach is one of the best swimming beaches I’ve been to. The water was warm, clear, relatively calm and for a good 200-300 metres from shore, not too deep.Definitely one of the best beaches I’ve been toI didn’t find many hotels or resorts on Puka beachMaybe that’s why Puka beach appears as beautiful as it does
Puka beach was the last stop on this short tour. At ₱700+₱200, this was priced quite high compared to past island tours I have taken before.
Our boat left Puka, and went around the island back to White beachThis is the impressive Shangri La Resort & SpaObviously very expensiveI forgot which resort this wasWhite beach is where you have several water-based activities on offerOn the opposite side of White beach is Bulabog beach, popular for wind-surfing and para-sailing. I planned to do all that tomorrow.Our tour officially came to an endThe boat dropped us at station 3 (Taken using the underwater camera)
Given I had to walk back, I chose to take photos of all the beachfront properties beginning from where I was standing, all the way up to the very end of station 1 and White beach. I’ll make a separate post for it as I feel it would be helpful for those seeking hotels right on the beach. (Because a lot of hotels claim online to be ‘very close’ to the beach or right on it — but aren’t)
After I took a quick shower and dumped my camera bag at the hostel, I went back to White Beach to resume my walk until I reached the end of the beach.
I resumed making a note of all the beachfront properties on White Beach as I headed north
That’s Willy’s RockNo, this dog wasn’t going to pounce on the otherI reached the end of White beachThere’s a narrow path to get to those stepsI used to think Filipinos love their corny poses, but they got nothing on some East European women and their ‘Diva’ poses! 🙂It was a fairly long walkway, and I wondered what was on the other sideWhat’s this hole in the cliff?Oh look, a mini-beachThis is Diniwid beachThis is what was inside the small cave/tunnelIt was time to go back:-/White beach getting ready for nightfall
It was getting dark, and I was getting hungry. I already had an eatery in mind back on station 1, but I passed by Boracay Terraces and one of their staff kept insisting I sit down for their happy hours. the restaurant wasn’t too crowded, but I was tired from the walk and was feeling thirsty.
I ordered some food as I figured I might as well have an early dinner. The service was not the greatest, but when the food came… ugh. It was terrible! The battered shrimps were obviously the frozen farmed prawns and tasted so artificial. And their chicken burger… I don’t know what the patty was made of! It was just bad!
The food sucked! The Red Horse beers, they didn’t make, so that was the only thing I enjoyed. To think I wasted ₱530 here!
I gave them my feedback and just left the place. I was upset over wasting money on a totally unsatisfactory meal, but alas, what’s done was done. Never again.
Completely dark, but they have lamp posts on the beachSome people were still going in to the water. Not the best idea.White beach was lighting upThese types of sand art are done by local boys who charge money for photographs if you wish to pose next to it
Although I told myself I would avoid as many early wake-ups as possible on this Philippines trip, I knew there would be certain days I would have no choice but to wake up at dawn. Today was one such day. Janet and I had to leave together at 6am. I had to be at NAIA Terminal 2 for my 11:45am PAL Express flight to Boracay, and Janet had to be in office by 7:30am.
Once we reached Manila, Janet and I took the MRT to Pasay.
Wow.
The morning rush. I barely had any space to stand, and was squeezed in an awkward position for much of the journey. I was sweating and just hoping Pasay would reach soon. When we did, I got out and stretched for a while to ease my aching back. Then I thanked Janet for hosting me and we said our goodbyes. She took a jeepney to office and I took a jeepney going to the airport.
I checked in and hung around upstairs as I still had plenty of timeWhen it was time to board the flight, I realized I would be flying one of these — a Bombardier DHC 8-300The take off was a bit rattlingBut the flight smoothed out laterPhilippines looks beautiful above ground just as it does down belowI played around with the camera’s shutter speedThis is shot at 1/8000th of a second 🙂I love island spottingIt’s barely an hour-long flight to Aklan provinceI was excited to visit Boracay
