The summer adventure continues! In my previous post, I shared about the journey to the island of Malapascua, where I was captivated by the waters of their port and was shocked to find a secluded yet romantic and colorful guest house.
One of the things to do in Malapascua Island is Island Hopping, where tourists ride a boat and go around the island hopping from one spot to another. It's not exactly the Island Hopping you would think where you go from one island to another. I've been to that kind of adventure, which will be for another post.
The first destination of our Island Hopping was Dakit-Dakit Island. We didn't actually go to the island. Our boat stopped near a group of rocks near the island where a coral reef was situated.
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The color of the water was this beautiful blue. My girlfriend and I brought our diving masks to view the scene underwater. A few weeks back, I was on another island trip when I almost drowned, which left me a bit traumatized about swimming in deep waters. I'm not a very confident swimmer, to begin with, and that incident shook me up.
The boatmen finished anchoring our boat, and my girlfriend told me to wear my diving mask and snorkel. I was a bit anxious, but I was determined to enjoy the water. My girlfriend went ahead of me, and she said that the current was so strong.
Indeed, I could see the ripples in the water, showing how strong the current was. There was no turning back, so I jumped into the water. I felt how strong the current was pulling me back away from the boat. I immediately held on to the katig or bamboo outrigger to prevent the current from sweeping me away. I tried swimming around the boat, but I could only move a few inches.
I decided not to risk it. I just stayed near the boat and held on to the katig. I tried looking down to see what was underwater. There were a few corals and some fish, but I couldn't enjoy myself because my fear immobilized me. My girlfriend, on the other hand, was a strong swimmer. She was able to swim against the current and did a few dives. She went under those rocks in the photo below and told me there was a small cave in it. I trusted her word since it was impossible for me to get there.
Soon, my girlfriend was getting tired, and the boatmen acknowledged that the current was too strong for regular swimming. So we decided to move on to the next location. The photo below shows the Daki-Dakit Island as we moved away from its current-ridden waters.
Our next destination was the Coral Garden, which was on the island's west side. The name sounded so grand and marvelous. I've seen the beautiful corals of Moalboal, and I was hoping to see an equally or more beautiful underwater world than what I've seen.
We passed by the southern beaches of the island where the more pricey resorts were located. We didn't know it yet, but Bounty Beach was also there, and it was going to be one of my favorite spots on the island.
We neared the other boats anchored around the same spot, and the boatmen told us that we were already in the Coral Garden. We paid for the environmental fee and strapped our snorkels again. I was happy to see that there were no indications of strong surface currents.
We jumped into the crystal blue waters, and sure enough, corals greeted us. I was able to relax because the water was calm. I enjoyed swimming around while marveling at the teeming life below.
We didn't bring an underwater camera so I couldn't show you the things we saw there. But comparing it to Moalboal, it's no match. Moalboal is by far the best coral reef I've seen, although I haven't seen a lot. The corals we saw in Malapascua had signs of bleaching. We saw a few Crown of Thorns, which is not good for coral reefs because they kill the corals. The boatmen also told us that the Coral Garden was slowly bleaching away, which was sad.
While swimming around, there was a rope tied to a rock at the bottom of the sea, and I told my girlfriend we could do line diving using it. She went ahead and pulled herself down. I was about to go next when I saw a sea snake swimming around the end of the rope. I told my girlfriend about it, and she got scared. We ended up going back to the boat and told our boatmen to move to the next location.
Our next stop was called Langob Beach or sometimes called North Beach, because it was located north of the island. Langob means cave in Cebuano, and I expected a beach and a cave. We passed by some rocks weathered by waves, and I thought I would see the cave. But we reached the beach, and I didn't see any prominent-looking caves.
The beach had a long stretch of shoreline, and when I saw it, I didn't care about any caves; I just wanted to go to the sand. It was the first beach I went to on the island, and I was impressed. It was clean, and the water was clear. The shore sloped too quickly, which meant the water was always deep enough for a good swim.
We didn't spend a lot of time swimming; we mostly took turns taking pictures of each other. The sun was so harsh, though, that I couldn't stand still without squinting my eyes against the light. We walked by the shore for a few minutes before cooling down in the water. I wanted to stay a bit longer, but I knew we still had one last destination for our island hopping. So we said goodbye to the beach, and I thought maybe we could return to it the next day. We didn't because it was too far and we discovered another beautiful beach on the island.
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The last destination was the Japanese Sunken Ship which was on the east side of the island, close to the port. The island hopping route really did take us around the whole island. There were eye-catching rock formations that we passed by.
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A standout was this weathered rock formation that formed a small cavern. I could imagine mermaids staying in that location, brushing their hair and singing sirens to lure the men in.
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We reached the other group of boats and stopped near a dark object below the water. It was the sunken ship. We wore our diving masks and got into the water. The shipwreck or what remained of it welcomed us when we hit the water. There wasn't much left of the ship, only the bow, keel, and support of the hull. Imagine the 'bones' of the bottom part of the ship, there are what remained. But it was big. I wasn't able to swim to the other end.
The tide was coming down, and the ship's bow was so close to the surface that some people stood on it with their heads popping out of the water.
There were also a lot of freedivers going to the bottom. My girlfriend was also having a got at it even though she wasn't wearing her fins. I was still a newbie freediver, and I just swam around the boat, marveling at how big the shipwreck was.
The afternoon light was starting to show, and we wanted to witness the sunset, so we decided to head back. The boatmen brought us back, and we saw a few more rock formations weathered by the waves. The sun's light turned softer as we reached the port once again.
The Island Hopping ended where it started. We were tired yet satisfied. I was able to get comfortable again in the water, and I enjoyed the underwater world offered by the island. My favorite was the sunken ship, and on my next visit, I was able to freedive to the bottom of the shipwreck without any fins.
I would highly recommend going on an Island Hopping trip to anyone who visits the island. Next time, I'll be sure to bring my freediving fins, my improved swimming skills, and get the most of what the island has to offer.
That is it! Thank you so much for taking the time to go through my post. I hope I was able to share how much I enjoyed my time on the island and the Island Hopping experience. This won't be the last of my blogs about Malapascua since I'll be sharing more of what we did next after our Island Hopping, and I also visited the island for a second time with a group of close friends. Be sure to check them out. See you in the one. Cheers!
