Palawan - Day 3: Beaching around

It's day 3 of my reunion with Coron, Palawan and after the 9-destination-island-hopping the previous day my body's aching and also my foot that was cut by a coral and also I was still itching from the plankton attack. Nevertheless, I got up from my sweaty sleep (you know, the 6 hour electricity of Palawan in my previous blog).

We arrived at the port again at around 9AM and boarded, this day was "beach hopping" day for us since we went to 9 destinations, this way was laid back relaxation to three beaches.

It was getting late so the bankeros (boatmen) decided to go first at the farthest destination so by the time we get there, we would have our lunch there.

Two hours after we were stunned at what we saw...

Welcome to Malcapuya Island

Malcapuya island boasts its Boracay like beach. Although Boracay has the sand that is like powdered milk, Malcapuya is around a few decades of having the same sand texture. We settled at the beach front small cottages and so as the others went to the beach, I wandered around with my bare feet. The island is relatively small so you can go around it in less than 30 minutes.

As I was doing my mini "solo travel" around the island, I saw a sign saying "Peak Here" and so I thought that they misspelled "PEEK" as "PEAK". But then a couple with a camera started climbing down the rocky hill and then I realized that there was a viewing peak at the top, so I started climbing and the guy said to me in Filipino "Hey! why are you on your bare feet?! The rocks are sharp, be careful cause it's gonna hurt". I just smiled and continued my climb.

He was right, my feet was being scratched by the sharp rocks but once I got at the top, I forgot all the pain as the strong cold breeze and the astounding view of the ocean is right in front of my eyes. I didn't say this to them but I'll say it here, while I was on top, I shed a tear because I couldn't believe that I got back to Palawan with my own expenses! I shouted at the top of my lungs "I LOVE YOU PALAWAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!". The view is more like a painting that has its elements moving.

The other face of Malcapuya island at the top of the peak.

While on top and after shedding a tear getting so dramatic together with my shouting scene to Palawan, I sat down, hiding in the shade and wrote in my little notebook.

"Malcapuya the serene, only few sounds I hear.

Waves crashing to the shore, some blasting thru island walls.

This place is supreme, Malcapuya the serene."

When I got down and returned to my group, the food was already there and I was again in for a beach lunch treat! We feasted on Fish (Salagisi if I'm not mistaken) Crabs which the shells are so hard I was thinking if they were drinking milk for calcium and pork chops. To quench the thirst, we bought fresh coconuts for just PhP30.00 (less than $1.00). A so called "fresh" coconut drink in Manila would cost around $2-$4 each!

Every food becomes extraordinary when eaten at the Beach.

After pigging out at our lunch, we said our goodbye to this one of a kind beach and headed out for our second destination where they said we will be staying for more than an hour and they promised that there will be lots of fish encounters at the said beach.

Few minutes of "bumpy" rides as what friend Mikki told me, we reached the famous Banana Island. One thing puzzled me, if it's called Banana island, then where are the Banana trees? All I see are coconut tree lines, then our boatman explained to us that the island's shape was like a banana and that's where the name came from.

If Malcapuya boasts its close-to-Boracay-sands, Banana island is different, because it's part sand and part coral beach and that amazes me. At one side it's all sand but on the other side it's all coral rocks, just amazing and I have no words to describe its rarity.

The sandy side of Banana Island

The waves are a little rough than the usual calm beaches of Palawan, we got our snorkeling gear and after looking around the land for a while and seeing that there is actually a Bar that I'm guessing that's only open during night time.

I went out in the open with balls of bread in my hands and I wondered why there was no fish around, I looked at the landscape and I learned that there were no corals around and the beach was only a couple of meters long and then the beach drops to the abyss.

Then suddenly out of the dark blue waters from below I saw movement and little fishes started ascending and it might be the bread that was spreading around. Then like a sweet orchestra played thru my ears as schools of fishes gathered around us!

Here's a video:

I'm seen at the 12-14 second mark trying to unpack the bread from the plastic as the fishes swarm me.

I headed back to shore to grab more bread as it was the closest fish encounter I have been into in Palawan. The fish feeding program we did lasted more than 20 minutes and it was just astounding to be in the center of a school of fish that's trying to grab the bread right off my hand! Miko then took wonderful photos of me while feeding the fishes.

My left hand is closed so that the bread won't be wasted.

"HELLO FISH-LINGS! I BRING BREAD TO YOUR WORLD"

Because we enjoyed the encounter so much, we were running a bit late so we had to hurry to go to the last destination that we were set to go as the Sun is slowly losing its ground over the land.

Bangkeros (boatmen) Pulling us ashore the islet of Bulog.

Bulog islet is so small that 20 persons would have a hard time finding space and move around. We were given like just 15-20 minutes to have our photos taken so that we'll be at the city before moon rise!

This is an awesome photo of me, it's like saying that "I overcame all the currents against me and here I am, back in Coron!"

This is the cast from my "Return to Palawan" journey, from right to left:
Faith, Tommy, JP, Nadine, Mikki, Celine, Miko, ME, Mark, Camille.

When we reached the city, I looked at the horizon for it was the last night of my trip to the place I loved the most, the dream to come back in this place was four years in the making. But still, I told the waters of Palawan that I shall return to once again be one with them.