March5, Day 3 of the Air Asia Philippines Media Tour and I can’t help but feel giddy and excited.
Woke up really early to have breakfast of toast coffee and omelette at Bill’s Tourist Inn. By 7AM we were picked up by our shuttle and dropped us at Ipil beach to do the island hopping tour. Island hopping is undoubtedly the most popular activity here in El Nido Palawan. To join any island hopping activity you need to pay the mandatory PHP200 environmental fee. The ticket entitles you up to 10day island hopping tour. Tour fees are to be paid separately.
What’s good with the environmental fee ticket is that once you got hold of it you are no longer required to pay entrance fees in islands you are visiting (like in Coron). .
Since we were on a media tour the LGU took care of all the fees. Yey!
Just before we boarded the large motorized banca we had a quick briefing on where to go, which islands to drop by what to do and what to expect.
Finally the banca slowly Made its way towards the middle of the sea. The water is a bit cold! Not a good time to swim, I think. But anyways. I would just enjoy the priceless sight of seeing the towering limestone karsts locally known as taraw popping out in the middle of the sea.
Our first stop was at the small lagoon. Still beautiful Just like in 2009 when i first went here. It was a Thursday morning yet the lagoon is already Crowded with banca waiting For tourists swimming inside the lagoon.
To fully enjoy the small lagoon, one must swim towards a small opening or take a kayak and paddle your way as you enter the lagoon.
I opted to just swim towards the lagoon. Good thing I brought with me my GoTravel underwater camera casing. This means I can safely swim without worrying much about my camera getting soaked in water.
It’s non stop photo op when we got at the middle of the lagoon. The place is spectacular. Beautiful is an understatement.
And we have just started our tour!
Our second stop was at the big lagoon, but since there were big waves at that time we opted not to go down. And just proceed to our next destination: the snake island.
This is my first time to visit the island and i love the place! . Beside the serpent shaped sandbar is a hill were one can hike to get a bird’s eye view of the Bacuit Bay and the nearby islands. Truly amazing. And the hike is all worth every sweat and effort! Haha
Our next stop was at the Dibuluan island where we had our buffet lunch care of El Nido resorts Palawan. The food is good! The place is packed with tourists mostly foreigners. For lunch I had the usual green salad, Grilled sausages and the traditional Batangueño beef soup: bulalo.
I finished off my hearty lunch meal with slices of watermelon.
After lunch we headed near the beach to take some snapshots. But it was scorching hot and only the foreigners Were obviously enjoying the sun while the rest of us are hiding under the tree. While at the island various activities can also be done like volleyball badminton. Kayak or sail to the nearby island via Hobie cat. I was itching to play badminton. But the wind is too strong so i decided to just skip it anyway. I went to a nearby cottage while waiting for our guide to signal us to leave, but I dozed off.
Zzzzzzzz
After a while we left the island. . Our next destination is the Pinagbuyutan island. The waves are geting bigger. Upon arrival at the island we were greeted by an ice cream vendor.
Oh crap. . Who wouldn’t want an Ice cream stick on a hot day? And hes got No competition ha! . Haha.
Pinagbuyutan island looks very interesting. The sand is very very fine. . Not much locals or tourists in this place (except for the ice cream vendor) the sand’s color is not pure white. But polvoron-ish in color. Even in texture!
Walking along the beach with bare foot seems a good idea.
After a while we sailed back to Ipil Beach for our afternoon refreshments and to finally catch the sunset.
Ipil beach is blessed with the stunning view of the fiery El Nido sunset. For afternoon snacks i asked for fresh buko juice. The tuna sandwich is so yummy and heavy. . Later I got to play table tennis. It was fun. But I guess I ‘d stick to badminton. Haha.
Our visit to the Ipil Beach is our last stop for our whole day island hopping tour with AirAsiaPhilippines.
This is my second time to be in El Nido. but I’ m still amazed at its beauty. The little surprises that we got to see while sailing from one island to another like seeing sea turtles swimming on the turquoise waters of Bacuit Bay is an experience in itself. . The water’s clean and devoid of any trash or signs of any human abuse.
We ended our tour just after sunset, we barely had enough time to wash up Change clothes and get ready for dinner.
By around 7PM we were picked up by our shuttle to Ipil Suites for our dinner hosted by Miss Bong Romero of Ipil Suites. We got seafood feast again! We had crunchy squid rings baked oysters, and mussels. We also had steamed fish chicken and pork. . I really enjoyed the baked oysters and steamed fish. It’s good. So yummy!
While having dinner we were also entertained by an acoustic band singing some popular 80’s and 90’s hits.
But the highlight of our dinner experience is the cooking demo of wakwak. Its a type of worm that grows on land, somewhat similar tamilok except thta the latter lives on dead trees and mangroves. Wakwak was also featured recently in Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho aired last March1 episode.
But since I was already too tired from all the island hopping we did all day, i felt sleepy that time and opted not to try the wakwak. Some say, though, that wakwak tastes like oysters. Or talaba. . Hmmmmmm
I feel so lantang gulay that moment. So after dinner. We went back to our hotel and slept immediately.
Zzzzzzzzzz
Many thanks to Air Asia Philippines. For inviting me to join the Palawan Media Tour. Follow Air Asia Philippines in Twitter and Instagram @airasiaph