We left Coron the next morning for our 3day 2night Paradise Adventure Snorkeling Tour. We went through hundreds of islands and beaches, and we will end up in El Nido. The other alternative was flying, and this sounded like much more fun.
I do believe those are my feet and legs :) Photo by Shari.
I'm not good at this... but you get the idea ..
This was posted ... and more accurate
It was a GREAT trip. We were a bit concerned that there were going to be 30 people on the boat; but it was fine. This was our ‘home’ for 3 days. (Photo by Shari, or Sylvia, actually many of these out of water photos are theirs)
The Tour Director, Joel, was amazing. Lots of energy, knowledgeable, and had a great crew what worked together like a well-oiled machine. I would highly recommend this trip with him. We had many stops along the way, for snorkeling, beautiful scenery, PERFECT weather. By the way, you have not heard me say anything about the weather so far….. NO RAIN. i hate to jinx myself; but its’ been great!
Back to the tour. The food, buffet style, was amazing. How our ‘very attractive young’ chef was able to prepare those meals in that tiny ‘kitchen’ on the boat is a mystery to everyone.
even going the extra distance to carve beautiful fruit displays.
The scenery was beautiful ... everything we hoped for.
We had 2 nights on 2 different ‘deserted’ islands. The first trip to shore was a bit unexpected, however. It’s the one thing i suggested in my review: we needed better communication on this part. The boat slowed and dropped anchor by a small white beach island, and Joel announced the it was time to go ashore……. and we saw the kayaks launched in the water….. We knew we were going to spend the night, and had ‘appropriate necessary stuff’ packed and ready to go … but in kayaks … tippy plastic kayaks ? I had stuff in zip-locks and dry bags…but in kayaks… They were loading 2 people AND their heavy bags, plus the ‘paddler’ into a kayak and taking off. Many were just above water level. I had 3 heavy bags, and i considered running back up the stairs and re-organizing, but there wasn’t time for me to think before it was my turn.
OK, back up …. I forgot to mention that there was UNLIMITED rum on the boat. Dennis, a rather large guy had been taking advantage of the free rum, and was drunk the entire day. On one of the snorkel stops, he had to be ‘rescued’, not seriously; but they picked him up, and eventually dumped him back in the water. We enjoyed watching that :)
Back to the kayak story. I reluctantly carefully got into the kayak, they handed me my bags, piled in front and on top of me … then the next person (young cute thankfully-small Ben) got on with his small bags. And with a prayer we were off, balancing, and doing ok. We were given the option of swimming to the island, and some opted to do that, … including Dennis. But part way out, he saw our kayak and decided to grab on to the rope and let our paddler DRAG him behind our kayak. I was LIVID! I continued to yell at him to let go; but he held on. We were barely moving through the water. I felt sorry for the paddler, plus i was sure we were going to dump. But we did not. Those kayaks are amazingly stable and can hold a lot of weight, in addition to a big drunk guy on the drag line.
We eventually beached on the shore and Ben graciously helped me with my bags and carried them to our ‘huts'
Sylvia and I at our 'hut' for the night
The evening meal was as amazing as the other meals, with lots of choices and lots of food .. and of course .. rum. Beautiful sunsets. Our boat and kayaks
We had 2 great ‘fire dancers’ … the kind that have fire at the ends of chains and they swing them around and up and over and in between. They were both good. And then a bon-fire. Again, lots of rum.
Sylvia and I retired to our hut, with twin 4” foam mattress, sheets, pillow, and a bug net. It was perfect.
It was a great evening and i loved the way they 'lit the way' for us ... magical
In the morning we packed up, kayaked back to the boat, and we were off again. I was the only one in my kayak this time :) But notice how many bags i had !!!!!!!
Touring through the most beautiful islands and beaches, …that you could ONLY see/experience on a trip like this. It would be impossible to get to these locations on a Day Trip. This was a good idea.
Snorkeling was always offered. There were lots and lots of clams: beautiful vibrant blue, turquoise, gold, and all colors in between.
I only snorkeled once, the rest of the times i just stayed on the boat and relaxed.
Day 2 we went ashore a small inhabited island for an education by Joel. First we helped the kids clean up the beach, trying to encourage their future care. There were probably 5 kids per family. There were lots of kids, one just as sweet as the next. They had an elementary school on the island, but if they wanted further education, had to go to another island, quite a distance away. The staple was fishing, for squid. They cleaned them, dried them, and sold them to the main islands.
Joel also showed us a DYI ‘canoe’ … made from whatever they could find: styrofoam, wood, and cord. The canoeo is his feet ! So they straddle the 'canoe', and have make-shift short fins (boards) on their feet. They have a mask, and bend over the look in the water, and then when they see something, they prepare to catch it.
And also 2 of the DIY ‘lures’ that they use for fishing, again from ‘stuff’ they found on the beach. This one is for catching small squid
and this one for the BIG guy ... all out of 'trash' picked up from the beach. Very smart and the essence of 'recycling' .... and survival ! I can't imagine living like that, ... of course i can't :(
the kids had prepared a little song and dance for us. Joel said many tours like ours come through here each day; so they knew the routine. But what was so endearing to me, was the Joel was right in there with them. Getting a kick out of it. i loved that!
I was prepared for the kayak ride to the island on the second night. Toothbrush, paste, pjs, water bottle, and ry pants/top in the dry bag. Some of you may remember George Carlin's skit on 'stuff' that you need. If not, YouTube it; and you'll understand my dilemma, and how true it is. Me in a bathing suit, b/c your butt gets wet in the kayak. Check out our one SMALL bag!
This night Joel organized several tug-o-wars. One with the tour guys against all the other guys on the boat. The tour guys are strong (i watch them pull that thick heavy rope with anchor, it takes at least 4 of them). Joel said they usually win, but they were WAY out numbered. A defeat for the tour guys :(
He also organized a fun competition. Two teams, each person had to put a small lime-like fruit (called a calamansi) on a spoon, which they held in their mouth. Carefully walk a distance to a pole and return without dropping it. I was impressed at how well they all did. Fun to watch and maybe a good idea for your next party.
Another amazing dinner, breathtaking sunset ...
another fire show, and bonfire
And i retired.
After about an hour, my tummy was feeling strange. Around 1am it was necessary to head to the ‘bathroom’. So, the bathroom has broken concrete floors, a toilet, with no seat, and a 50gal drum filled with water, and a scoop. You use the scoop to pour water in the toilet to flush it, the old fashioned way. And no light in the ‘ladies’ room, and at that point of the night…. no toilet paper either. I always have a small amount of paper with me… but it was obvious i was going to need more. I found a whole roll of TP, THANKFULLY ! I needed it. The men’s room had a light, again thankfully; so i used theirs. I don’t think i need to go into detail, but it was ‘both ends’ for the rest of the night. Some of you may know, that i REALLY don’t like throwing up; but sometimes you have no choice, and this was one of them. By the way, i only had 1 run and coke. Thankfully Sylvia and i had separate huts that night ! Ok, so maybe that was too much 'sharing' :)
Everyone was really nice to me in the morning, one girl even gave me one of her electrolyte tablets. I still was not feeling well, but the worst of it was over, again, thankful. Back on the boat, quite a few other people were also sick … i think something in the food … but it’s hard to tell … most of them had more than one drink the night before. Everyone else in my group was fine. I really missed the ceviche they had for lunch…. i love ceviche :(
The rest of the day we cruised and stopped at several more islands for snorkeling/swimming. I laid low, certainly not feeling great, but ok.
Ahhhh, i used to be one of these girls …
We arrived on land and they put us all in vans and drove to El Nido. town. We had a place reserved. South Anchorage Suites, yes we were still in the Philippines, not Alaska.
El Nido is far nicer than Coron. They had nicely paved streets, their food and store options were much better. It was quite festive on the streets, blocked off to traffic. I thought i was in New Orleans :) Sylvia and I stayed in the first night, I was still recovering. We really liked our room… this is the view from our room. A gigantic stone 'mountain', you probably can't see them... but there were coconut trees growing out the very top, on the right side.
Much better than in Coron, where our room had NO windows! We got out the next day and i was great from then on: walked the streets, shopped, ate.
Saw this sweet patient pup, waiting for someone to say 'ok'.
We ran into Joel and visited for a bit. By the way, Dennis, the guy who drank too much the first day, turned out to be a really nice guy the rest of the trip... that damn alcohol ! He was in El Nido also and took this photo of us visiting with Joel.
After 3 nights in ElNido, we got on an Air Swift plane and flew to Panglao. I stayed with Kevin, Nadia, and Viana. Unfortunately it was only 2 nights, and i felt bad about that; but my ‘normal’ trip was compressed, and i had to cut things out that i usually do, and shorten others. It was great to see them again, they always welcome me like the Prodigal Son ! Kevin shocked me again with all the work they had accomplished since last year. Including 2 apartments, and i got to christen one. Very nice, small kitchen, bedroom, big closet and bathroom. Everything was brand new… all shiny, bright, and clean. They also had a new Master Suite, and a new nice large kitchen. Nadia loves to cook, so she was very happy. They are doing well. Their gardens are really producing now. So many banana trees ... huge ones.
Kevin picked a papaya,
and Nadia made a Green Papaya Salad for dinner, along with Fried Chicken. It was amazingly yummy !! Kevin's business partner, Bengt, from Sweden was also visiting.
The rest of my group stayed in Panglao, to do some diving, and site seeing. Unfortunately, they took turns being sick, and didn’t do much.
After 2 nights, i got on Ocean Jet Ferry and headed for Dauin.
... for Muck Diving .... next up
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