Balicasag Island

This is one of the islands i had planned on visiting for several days early-on in my visit.   The snorkeling and diving have both been highly recommended.   Unfortunately, bad weather, a head cold, and lack of response from the 'Resort' had prevented me from getting there; phones didn't work, email, and FaceBook requests went unanswered; and no one seemed to know how to reach them  :(

Finally, i decided to just take a day trip there, ($8), and visit the resort and see if i can book a room for a couple of days.   The day trip involved a very slow, extremely noisy (note to self to bring earplugs) 45min boat ride.   The boats they use here have tiny canoe-like bodies with long arms supporting them on each side, providing stability, i guess.    As you can see, i was lucky to have a partially blue-sky day.

as we finally approached the island, all i could see what boats, boats, and more boats.... tourism at it's finest !

our 'snorkel' lasted about 25min  :(    ... and there were LOTS of people ... there was absolutely no sense in trying to 'enforce' my Roatan Marine Park guidelines here.    i believe they have just designated this part of the reef as 'lost' to tourism.     At least they don't use the reef around the entire island; and just limit it to this area  :(

NOT my idea of a 'snorkel trip'  ... however, my intent really was to check out the island and see if i could get info on cost and availability.    I was guided to the Resort and was told they only had one 'standard' room available for the next night; and then 'fully booked' until mid-February; the did have some 'deluxe' rooms available  :)     Obviously, lots of somebodies have been able to reach them.     So i booked for the next 2 nights.

after 'snorkeling' they took us to shore where there was lots of opportunities to buy 'stuff' and buy food to eat ..... then back in the boat and on to Virgin Island.

It's just a little 'spit' of an island that is partially out of the water at low tide.    I tried to pretend it was my own private little island ...   That is Balicasag Island in the background.

but there were lots and lots of boats and people there too.    There is nothing to do; we were alotted 20min ... i was ready to leave after 10   :)

a sunny blue sky photo  :)

So i got home, robbed the ATM, and prepared to leave at 6am the next morning.

The easiest/cheapest way to get back there is to join another tour group.   this time it included a Dolphin Watch.    That involved another 45min ride out to the middle of the sea, where we joined 35-40 other boats who were waiting to see the Dolphins.    After about 5min, we saw a small pod of Dolphins cruizing along, about 50yds from us; at which point our Captain turned the boat around, and we headed for Balicasag Island, another 45min ride  :(     If i really wanted to see Dolphins, i would have been very disappointed and annoyed !

I checked into my room, #210 

nice !

view from my porch........

Lots of dogs and cats here, of course.   The dogs all look well fed and pretty healthy, these 2 happy ones, obviously litter mates.   The cats on the other hand, aren't very well cared for  :(

i never found out what a Motor Pool Area is ... but since i am an 'outsider' ... i did not investigate  :)

Passion Flower, always one of my favorites ...

Philippines is largely a Catholic country ...

my visit to the island continued to carry my 'bad weather luck' ... mostly cloudy, a few hours of sunshine, and about the time i decided to get into the water, it would start raining.    The seas were VERY rough ... not optimal for snorkeling .. but snorkel i did ...

Underwater snorkel photos in next post ...