Honda Bay Islands

Our very last day in Puerto Princesa!

And again, to avoid the hassle we opted a package tour going to the Honda Bay Islands.:) We were a bit disappointed because this time, we were joined by a family. So we don't have all the time in the world by ourselves.

Our driver and tour guide fetched us at around 7:30am, but because we had to prepare our stuff we left the house a little bit before 8pm. Sorry that they (by they I mean the other tourists) had to wait for us. No wonder they're giving us the "face".Hihi.

Then our adventure began.

We stopped by at a rental place to get some snorkeling gears and aqua shoes which we didn't bother to rent because we have our own. Then continued our journey to the port area.

The tour guide got the permit while we waited inside the lobby. This time, we don't have much energy for some photo ops so we just sat down and wait...and watch the other tourists taking a picture of themselves. Sad.

Then off we start with our island hopping.

First Island: Starfish Island

The island got its name because obviously there are many starfishes in this island. And oh! The funny thing is,  there are statues for photo ops in this island. Want to see Michael Jordan?

Told you, he's here!

The long strip of sand.:)

If you're looking for fine white sand, then this one's not for you. The sand is made up of broken pieces of shells and corals that's why it's not fine at all.

I don't know if it's the sand or what but we didn't feel like swimming that time so we just stayed inside the cottage and just had some little girl's talk while the boys went out for a swim.

Then, or boatman's assistant came to us and asked us if we want to have some artistic shots.  And this is what happened...

A few moments later, "Kuya tour guide' approached us and told us to board the boat so we can go to the next island.

Luli Island

Or short for "Lulubog-Lilitaw", because during high tide you will no longer see the island.

We spent 30 minutes here swimming and feeding fishes. And just before we leave this island, I had to make a decision!

It's whether to jump off the diving plank or not.

See: Plank Diving at Luli Island

After that daring adventure (or so I guess), we left the island to have our lunch at...

Cowrie Island

Again, this package tour includes buffet lunch.

We arrived there a little past 11am, that's why there are only a handful of people occupying the dining area. The tour guide told us that during lunch time this is mostly packed with people availing the package tour at Honda Bay Islands. It's better early than sorry!


Food at the buffet table consists of meat, veggies, seafoods and pancit plus drinks and desserts (coffee jelly & fruits).

I don't know how many times we went to the buffet table but the seafoods are so good! Especially their calamari! Yum yum!


After the feast, we continued relaxing at a nearby cottage only to find out that staying there isn't for free, so again we had to move to a nearby table.

We spent a few minutes talking and cracking jokes at each other...and planning for another out of town getaway!


But of course! For the last time we, the girls decided to enjoy the beach for a couple of minutes before we had back to the real world.:)

 

The entire trip lasted until 3:00pm then we prepared or stuff for our flight that day.


This sums up our Puerto Princesa-El Nido Trip.:)

Eat...Swim...Sleep...Repeat! El Nido Edition (Tour B)

Our last day in El Nido were spent doing (what else?) Island Hopping.

We got Tour B---- Pinagbuyutan Island/ Snake Island/ Cudognon Cave/ Cathedral Cave/ Entalula Island

Our first stop is at Pinagbuyutan Island. Again, "Kuya Tour Guide" gave us 20 minutes to swim/snorkel.

Nothing much special about the beach, but we saw many fishes here.:)

Pinagbuyutan Island

Fish-feeding at Pinagbuyutan Island

And then twenty minutes have passed, Kuya Tour Guide called us back to the boat, and off we went to Snake Island--- our lunch site!

I was so very excited to see this place! It's like Virgin Island (in Bohol) but longer, stretches from one island to another.:)

And it didn't fail me! This is awesome!!! Picture-perfect!

I literally did a few cart wheel on the sand.:) Need proof?

This island is also best for some yoga session!

And after a few more cart wheels and photo op, we decided to trek the view deck. (Rhyming?)

So, this is what you will see there...

View from the "View Deck" of Snake Island

We went down hungry starving, but Kuya Tour Guide is still not finished with his work of art.

And so we waited a few more minutes for lunch time. But Mother nature tested our patience, just before we started eating our lunch, the rain poured, so we had no choice but to move everything from the shore to the boat.

Feast at the boat...exciting! Everything is awesome except for the "soup" fresh from the rain.:)

But it didn't stop us from enjoying what our Tour Guide and boat man prepared for us. Simu't sarap!

The rain stopped as we were about to finish our lunch. Timing!

After the sumptuous feast, we swam for a few minutes then hopped to our boat for our next destination...The Cudognon Cave.

One must to pass through a hole by crawling...and it wasn't an easy task! It's so hard that everyone forgot to take a picture. (That hard!)

But as they say..."No pain, no gain...No guts, no glory!"

TRUE!

Inside Cudognon Cave.



Kuya Tour Guide that this cave used to be the hideout of the local during the war. Because the place is very strategic, with lots of secret passages.

Can you find the Hidden Mickey with Donald Duck?

(Please tell me when you do. Hehe)

We didn't stay that long, afraid that there's snakes and unknown creatures so we asked Kuya Tour Guide to bring us back to the boat.

Coming out of the cave is a different story. One had to pull himself up and roll to get out. Luckily! We all came out alive and kicking!

Off to our next destination!

Cathedral Cave, is called as such because the entrance looks like the entrance of the church. When you take a look on the inside, it's as if there's an altar.:)

 Entrance of the Cathedral Cave

It was still raining when we arrived there that's why as much as we all wanted to do snorkeling, we just opted to go to the final stop---- Entalula Island.

I noticed that there's a "Private sign" on the island but it's still open to tourists.

We later found out that our tour guide in Puerto Princesa owns the island. (There are some issues with the El Nido officials but we're all hoping that in the end, they can get their fair share of the island.)

Since it's our last day in El Nido and having been exploring a number of islands since yesterday, we, the girls just decided to do some "girl talk" while the boyfies went snorkeling.

A few minutes had passed and we were on our way back to our hotel to freshen up and prepare for a six-hour journey back to Puerto Princesa!

Goodbye, El Nido! Until next adventure!

Eat...Swim...Sleep...Repeat! El Nido Edition (Combination Tour A & C)

El Nido Day Two:

Our itinerary for the day--- Combination Tour A & C. One whole day of island-hopping...yes! 

They say that when you only have limited time in El Nido, never ever, as in NEVER EVER let go of the chance to see the beauty of Tour A & C.

In our case, we only had 2 days to explore El Nido so we opted for the Combination Tour A & C and Tour B (for our last day). Not all the travel agencies offer combination tours so we're really lucky that Northern Hope Travel & Tours have it. For a separate quotation, Tour A costs P1,200 per head and Tour C is at P1,400/head;  but if you opted for a Combination Tour, the cost would be P1,500 per head. All fees include lunch...buffet lunch!

You will also have to pay P200.00 for the environmental fee which will be valid the whole time you are staying in El Nido.

Tour C: Helicopter Island/ Matinloc Shrine/ Hidden Beach/ Talisay Beach/ Secret Beach

First stop! Helicopter Island.

This island's called as such because of it shape. (Though for some, they say it looked like Nemo!)

The tour guide gave us 20 minutes to explore the island...so we wasted no time and swam and took pictures like there's no tomorrow!:)

And then kuya called us to return to our boat so that we can go to the next destination...

Matinloc Shrine

According to our "Kuya Tour Guide" this island was a former resort (or house), owned by a Filipina and her foreigner husband. Too bad, the structure looks promising (though creepy, since it's already abandoned. We don't have much time to look around the place so we just climbed up the rock and look what we saw... (just be careful because the way up is very steep; one wrong move and I'm sure you'll not be able to enjoy your whole stay in El Nido).

The STUNNING View from the top of Matinloc Shrine

We also did some photo sesh at their mini port and some at infront of the shrine...and then off to the next island.

The Hidden Beach!

Since we're on a limited time, "Kuya Tour Guide" told us to just do a photo op...and so we did. Twenty minutes have passed and off we go to our next stop which also happen to be the lunch venue... Talisay Beach.

View from Talisay Beach

While our tour guides and boatman were busy preparing our lunch, we on the other hand were also busy enjoying the beach!:)

Buffet Lunch! 

I just want to commend "Kuya Tour Guide" for being the most artistic tour guide I've encountered. See the fruit and veggies on the picture? Yes, he did that! He also told us that every year, there's a food decoration competition between tour guides (that's why they're really dedicated on how they prepare the food.) Excellent!

The food was delectable! Everything was fresh, from the pork to fish, to crab, to fruits and veggies! No wonder after a few minutes everything was gone!:)

We spent another 10 minutes on the island, and then "Kuya Tour Guide" called us so that we can go to our next adventure.

Our last destination in Tour C is the Secret Beach.

You may reach the Secret Beach by swimming through a hole. If you happen to saw the movie "The Beach" then you'll have an idea of what I was about to show you.

I present to you, The "Secret Beach"...

According to other blogs, this is where Alex Garland got his inspiration in writing his book-turned movie, The Beach. They say that they just decided to film the movie in Phuket, Thailand for aesthetic purposes. I need some clarification here.   (After our trip, I watched the movie, and yes, it's kinda like it!

Again, we just stayed here for another 20 minutes, then swam back to our boat for the start of our Tour A.

Tour A: Big Lagoon/ Small Lagoon/Secret Lagoon/ Papaya Beach (instead of Commando Beach)

We began our Tour A with a trip to the Big Lagoon. You see, we were a bit disappointed with this one, because we didn't get to experience to swim in this area. This is just for photo op purposes only.

The Big Lagoon as the perfect backdrop for your "picture-perfect" profile pic.:)

(Excuse me for ruining the view)

After our "side trip" to the Big Lagoon, off we went to the Secret Lagoon. You may reach it through a keyhole again, but this time, minus the swimming.:)

Docking area to the Secret Lagoon.

How you will enter going to the Secret Lagoon.

Nothing much to see inside the Secret Lagoon, just a huge rock and body of water.

There's nothing much to see in this area, just a place for photo session. So after spending a few minutes we left the place and went to the Small Lagoon.

Again, if you want to go to the Small Lagoon, you will have to swim & walk (but in my case swim & swim), because the docking area is far from where the Secret Lagoon is located. No one told me that at some point the water is shallow so you can just walk your way. Kuya Tour Guide only told me when we were already on our way back to the boat.

Me: Kuya baket di mo sinabi na may mababaw na part pala dun? Todo langoy pa'ko.

Kuya Tour Guide: Ma'am akala ko po nakikita nyo yung ilalim kase naka-snorkeling mask po kayo.

So yeah, That's my fault after all.

Boyfie and I didn't get the chance to enjoy the Secret Lagoon, because we had or own misadventures. Let's leave it that way. *wink*



Group picture at the Small Lagoon.

*Credits to Jasper Franco for the picture

And for our final stop... Papaya Beach!

Kuya Tour Guide told us that instead of going to Commando Beach, he will just bring us to the beach beside it...Papaya Beach. According to him there's no shade in Commando Beach so we might not be able to enjoy there. Fair enough, kuya.:)

Exhausted from all the swimming and island hopping we opted not to swim this time and just enjoy the view and this wonderful feeling. Ahhhh...the beach life!

Papaya Beach

 You can buy beer, fresh buko juice or fruit shakes in this island, but be ready because the price isn't that cheap.:)

Beer: P60.00

Buko Juice: P50.00

Mango Shake: P150.00

I was really craving for mango shake that time but paying P150 bucks wasn't really that reasonable. Sigh.

We spent an hour more on the beach doing nothing but crazy stuff. At around 4-ish, we asked Kuya Tour Guide (who by the way was playing volleyball) to bring us back to our hotel.

Our Tour A & C is a wrap!!!