Monday, December 19, 2011

Day 1: Start the Year-end Trip at Malapascua Island

As the plane started to gain altitude, I looked at the window for a while and took some photos of the clouds before going to sleep. It was rather a smooth flight, thanks to the sunny weather. An hour later, I was awakened by the loud thump of the plane. Touchdown Cebu. I honestly do not know what was in store for us in the next four days, knowing that the places that we were about to visit were at least three and a half hours away from Metro Cebu.

But nonetheless, we remained optimistic in the entire trip, hoping that we will enjoy and have a great time.


Beautiful sunset at Malapascua Island, Cebu

Cebu has been blessed with wide ranges of beaches, Spanish fortresses and historical landmarks. On our first day, we drove our way north to Malapascua Island.

As a diving destination, Malapascua was "discovered" fairly recently, only in the early 90s. The island was first known for its wide white sand beach, known as Bounty Beach; it has also become known for its beautiful coral gardens and excellent local dive spots, as well as further-out sites including Gato Island, Monad Shoal, and Kemod Shoal. Monad Shoal is an underwater plateau where thresher sharks and manta rays can be sighted on a regular basis.

We decided to ride a van instead of bus, believing that the former is faster than the latter. But actually, it wasn't. Groggy from last night's party, I decided to sleep. I woke up and noticed that we were still on the road, so I went back to sleep. Repeat the process five times. In short, the trip took forever before reaching Maya Port!

Upon reaching Maya Port, we rode a boat to Malapascua Island and the estimated duration of the trip was one hour. But no, it took two hours before reaching the island because THE BOAT BROKE DOWN HALFWAY TO THE ISLAND! We were stranded right in the middle of the deep blue sea. And oh, I should add the fact that the Malapascua strait is infested with thresher sharks! Damn it! The boatmen tried to find solutions as we drifted further away from our destination. The weather was sunny and that was already a BIG BLESSING for us, thank God.

Fortunately the boatmen successfully revived the dying boat. As we neared the island, we were greeted by the natural rock formations of the island, as if they were just floating in the sea. I call them tropical icebergs, by the way.







As we set foot on the sandy shore of the island, a local named Mark greeted us and offered us a cheap accommodation. We were so exhausted because we haven't had eaten lunch yet and it's almost 5PM. We just need to settle our things, freshen up and eat somewhere. It was a short walk to our small cottage aptly named K1.

The sunset was really beautiful and dramatic and I was able to capture it as the sun sunk below the western horizon. 

Beach + sunset = perfection.




We decided to try Kokay's Maldito restaurant. It wasn't that bad.

Dinner: PART 1


We tried the Pineapple Beignet, Thai chicken ginger, the complementary food, Bruschetta and spaghetti marinara (which tasted like carbonara). Because we weren't satisfied with our meals (yes, we were THAT hungry), we strolled along the quaint beach line of Malapascua and found a restaurant with comfy bean bags and throw pillows scattered along the beach.

According to Andrew, Malapascua looked pretty much like Boracay thirty years ago, when foreign and local tourists haven't started to flock the island and long before high end hotels and restaurants sprung to life. The place was quiet (but not eerily quiet). There were lots of foreigners strolling along the beach line and the whole island had this laid-back night life. 


Dinner PART 2.

Surprisingly, the place has a strong wi-fi signal! Amazing and ironic at the same time.


Gibbous moon over Malapascua Island.

The night life at Malapascua Island wasn't really stressful and noisy. It's indeed a perfect place to hang out with your family and friends. Basically, we just enjoyed the rest of the night.

But wait, the fun doesn't end here! The next day's more exciting!


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2011 Year-end Trip Series:

Day 1: Start the Year-end Trip at Malapascua Island
Day 2: Island Hopping at Malapascua
Day 3: Sojourn in Bantayan Island
Day 4: Where to Eat at IT Park, Cebu City
Day 5: Conquering Mount Samat of Bataan
Day 6: The Giant Lanterns of Pampanga

18 comments:

  1. wiiii.. nakakamiss!! buti pa kayo nagsimula na.. hehe

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  2. Oh my... yun ang mahirap eh, pag nasiraan sa gitna ng dagat... di mo na alam kung mag-o-overnight ba kayo sa gitna ng dagat or what... at infested pa ng sharks ah... nakakatakot...

    Wow! good to know that wifi is available in an island such as Malapascua...

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  3. wow , now i miss malapascua . Namimiss ko na kayo...dami ko pa backlogs eh..

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  4. @Ivan - Super, miss ko na talaga! Parang kailan lang. Ang sarap balikan tung trip na to!

    @Pinoy Adventurista - Buti nalang the weather was fine pero kinabahan talaga kami big time!!!

    And oh, in fairness mabilis ang wi-fi sa Malapascua!

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  5. malapascua is boracay 30 years ago. I thought I heard 20 years ago. hahaha. It doesnt matter. miss ko na kayo

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  6. @Chino Miss ko na rin mga hirit mo!!! HAHAHA. Wo men tue la fang! =))

    Kaya nga as much as possible, kung nasa bahay na ako, I write it agad. Mahirap na kung maraming backlogs, nakakatamad eventually.

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  7. Ang ganda ng pictures mo dude :D Sayang hindi ako nakasama sa Malapascua. Bantayan na, dali! :))

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  8. Thanks Mica!!! Hahaha teka lang, May Island hopping pa sa Malapascua!!! After niyan, Bantayan Island na :D

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  9. Super like the moon photo! Sabihan mo ako pagmay plano kayong bumalik jan, sasama na ako!! at may WiFi talaga ha. :D

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  10. Not that I saw Boracay 30 years ago hehe! I just imagined it to be so. Ganda ng photos talaga Renz!

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  11. @Mark: Sure! Babalik talaga ako ng Malapascua para mag cliff day, dapat sama na kayo ni Juy!!!\

    @Drew: Hahaha! But I've read a lot of articles, claiming na Bora's very quiet 20-30 yrs ago... parang Malapascua ngayon. :D Salamuch drew!

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  12. pabalik balik lang ako sa post na ito , ganda kasi talaga ng malapascua

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  13. Adik ka Chino! Wait until I published my next Malapascua post! :D

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  14. Next time sasama na ako haha. Very nice photos!

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  15. Will definitely go back there. Hehehe. Salamat!

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  16. wowww... murag gusto najud nua naq maka anhi ani na place! very interesting blog!

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  17. Nasayang talaga oras natin dun sa papuntang Malapascua. We could've had a lot of photos already with the beach front ng Malditos!

    I would come back here, definitely.

    Ang rinig ko rin kay Drew 20 years ago. Hahaha.

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  18. @deehan1914: Anhi na kay nindot jud sa Malapascua!

    @Robbie: Parang 30 ata? Kasi kung 20, edi mga early 90s na yan, mejo nagsstart na mag commercialized ang Bora eh, unlike kung early 80s. Aba ewan, doesn't really matter. BASTA BABALIK AKO JAN AND SPEND AT LEAST 2-3 DAYS THERE!

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