Friday, February 17, 2012

One Rainy Day at Samal Island

The thought of venturing an island tour with your crew on a rainy day wasn't really a great idea. Juy and I were actually hoping that the tour will be called off due to the bad weather. Since everything's settled for the shoot,  we had no choice but to brave the cold and the big waves of Davao Gulf... or so we thought.




On my way to Sta. Ana Wharf, I was silently praying that the rain would stop and the ride wouldn't be that rough. Surprisingly, the weather cooperated and everything went well.

It even exceeded our expectations!

The rain had stopped but the weather was still gloomy when we left Sta. Ana Wharf. We then sailed to a secluded part of Talikud Island to scout for some driftwoods which will be collected by the two driftwood artists who were also with us. Driftwood Art sounds new to me and it's quite interesting. One wouldn't expect that a piece of junk would turn into a piece of art.


Decoration!

By 11 o'clock, we made our way to a resort in Talikud Island aptly named Babu Santa. What an interesting name!

Babu is... errr... well, a person's name while Santa, hmmm... Babu is a generous girl from Talikud Island who gives presents to everyone near her, hence the name, Santa... as in, Santa Clause!

Sir Alan was about to serve our lunch when all of the sudden, the dogs from nowhere came and encircled us. It was an uncomfortable sight, I tell you! I mean, seeing those dogs staring right before your eyes while eating? It was awkward. There was this bitch (yes, literally) who kept on poking me, asking for an extra food. Bitch certainly knew what she was doing!

Poke translation: Hey master, you know the drill. Feed me!


The beautiful beach line of Babu Santa Resort...

...and the not-so-beautiful bitch.


We then sailed to the northern part of the island and docked at Isla Reta Resort. One thing that I loved about Isla Reta was its cleanliness. The resort was indeed well maintained. Hurray!


Isla Reta Resort


And we all got 'suit' up! It was my first time to try SCUBA diving and it was an amazing experience. The dive was not that deep (only 20 feet), but at least I tried it for free! Oh, the perks of being a host of a travel show. Loljklangphoez! 

But seriously. It. Was. Amazing.


Suit up!


While we were busy exploring the underwater world, the crew caught some interesting ready-to-eat sea cucumbers. I have studied the biology of this marine invertebrate (Lol used to be my thesis) but I haven't had any chances to gobble it. Well, after slicing it, I took a bite and it actually tasted good. It felt like I was eating nata de coco sans the sweetness. Mmmm-mmmm.


Poor Holothuria!

The fun escalated as we sailed to our final destination: Maxima Aquafun Resort! 

This is the place where I screamed my heart out after I took a plunge from a 15-foot platform, slid all the way down to the 120-ft deep water, kayaked with Juy for 30 minutes whilst exerting 1,000,000 Newtons worth of force and zoomed 60 kilometers per hour through a jet-ski ride. It was aweeeesooooooome despite the gloomy weather. I never thought that we're going to enjoy that day.


Shut up and drive, drive, drive!
Kayaking has never been this fun... and tiring! (Photo courtesy of Juy)


But due to lack of time, we didn't finish our shoot. We are actually scheduled to go back there soon.

What to expect in our next Samal shoot: Parasailing and banana boat!


Oh, for the love of extreme adventures!

9 comments:

  1. We missed Samal na nuon :-(

    Looking forward for your parasailing adventure!

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  2. I miss Babusanta. :) that is my favorite beach haven in Samal. :)

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  3. Missed all those! Let's go back there na! lol.
    Parasailing and banana boat, FTW.

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    Replies
    1. LOOOOOOL. I would have hated myself kung nakapag chopper kayo! Chos. Buti nalang wala. hahahaha. pakk!

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  4. i love to try banana boating.. heheheh ^_^

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  5. Ang payat mo Renz! Eat more sea cucumbers!!! Hahaha.

    And I remember yung hinagis hagis mong sea cucuber dati sa Bantayan.

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