The second day of our backpacking adventure in Port Barton was so full of surprises.
On the afternoon of our first day in Barton, we met a boatman who volunteered to arrange our island hopping adventure for the next day. The island hopping adventure Tour A costs P700 per person. But to avail that, there must be at least 3 persons who will avail of the said tour. Since there was only the two of us, the boatman said that he will look for a group that we could join. So we agreed on that, but there was still no assurance as to whether he could find us a group to join in or not.
So come the next day, April and I were feeling quite lazy and we just wanted to chill on the beach and just read a book or sleep and we planned not to go on an island hopping tour anymore. We were thinking on whether the boatman will show up or not. Since it was already 8:30 AM and he has not shown up yet, we thought that he wasn't able to find us a tour group. So we just decided to go out and look for a place where we could have some breakfast. But as we were about to go out of our accommodation, the boatman suddenly showed up! Unfortunately, he was able find us a tour group that we could join. We asked him if we could not join the island hopping tour anymore, but he said that whether we join or not, we should still pay them 'cause we're already included in the food. So we decided to push through with the previous plan and join the island hopping tour. The weather was also very nice so there was no reason for us not to push through with this activity.
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| (Took a selfie before boarding the boat) |
We didn't regret the decision we've made. It was a good idea that we joined the island hopping because the reefs and islands we visited were so beautiful and the people we've met are wonderful. The whole experience was worth it.
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| (Island Hopping time!) |
DESTINATIONS OF OUR ISLAND HOPPING ADVENTURE:
1. TWIN REEF
Approximately 20 minutes away from the town of Port Barton is this popular snorkeling site called "Twin Reef".
As the boat stopped in the middle of the sea, we hurried down the boat to see what twin reef has to offer.
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(Twin Reefs, Port Barton, (c) Jam de Guia.-- December 2014)
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Words are not enough to describe the beauty beneath me while i was snorkeling. The reefs in here is super nice! The visibility was great, the water is super clear, you will really enjoy snorkeling here because the corals are very much alive and there's a lot of fishes. The water is shallow that you can be able to touch some of the corals underneath. I really enjoyed snorkeling here cause the underwater view was spectacular. The coral reef is so beautiful! Too bad i don't have an underwater camera with me. But don't worry 'cause my friend Dave has a video of the underwater scenery of the Twin Reef click on these links to watch the videos
video 1 video 2 . (c) Dave Cabungan :)
2. WIDE REEF
Only Jaime and I were the ones who checked out the underwater scenery in our second destination, the wide reef. I don't know why the others didn't bother to check out what the place has to offer, maybe they're already tried or something. But hey, this is just our second stop, you guys! Haha. The marine life in Port Barton is really rich. The reef covers a wide area, maybe that's the reason why it was named as such. The water here is quite deep so you will appreciate the coral reefs here less as compared with the twin reef. The corals here are also less colorful as the ones in the twin reef. We just spent a few minutes here and we proceeded to our third destination.
3. GERMAN ISLAND
This was the third destination of our island hopping tour, the German Island.
(To read more about this island just click on the name of the island hyper linked above.)
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| (Upon arrival at German Island, Port Barto) |
The island is super nice. It has powdery white sand and crystal clear waters.
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| (We're the first group to arrive!) |
Our group was the first one to arrive in the island during that day. We had the privilege of enjoying the island for ourselves.
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| (German Island, 2014) |
This is also the place where we had our lunch. So while our boatman and tour guide prepares our lunch, we went around exploring the island. There were a lot of nice spots in the island which are post card perfect. After tiring ourselves from picture taking, April and I rested on the hammocks.
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| (Lunch is still being prepared!) |
When lunch was already prepared our guide called us and together with our companions we ate our scrumptious lunch composed of grilled fish, grilled pork chop and some veggies.
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| (Our scrumptious lunch) |
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| (Veggies!) |
After we finished eating our lunch, we went back on our hammocks to rest. During this time there were already a number of tourists who arrived in the island. It became a little bit too crowded, but it was okay because the place is still enough to accommodate us all.
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| (My view while chilling on a hammock) |
April and I just literally bummed around all afternoon. When we learned that Jaime and Dave went snorkeling to look for some sea turtles (and they did saw one), we regretted our laziness so much. We should've just joined them and we could have seen some turtles too. Watch this
video by my friend Dave Cabungan. :)
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| (photo courtesy of Jaime McIntosh) |
After three (3) hours of staying at this gorgeous island, it's now time to say goodbye.
We were supposed to visit another island but for safety purposes our guide and boatman asked us if we could skip visiting the exotic island because the boat ride going there will be quite dangerous already since there's a low pressure area during that time. So, we agreed. They will just drop us off our island accommodation for the night before they head back to the town.
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(German Island, Port Barton ---December 2014)
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We are now off to our home for the night, Palawan Camping! :)
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| (German Island, Port Barton ---December 2014) |
During that day, there's a forecast of an upcoming storm. It was quite a ride going to our last destination! That was so far, the scariest boat ride of my life. Haha.
The boat ride from German island going to Palawan Camping is quite an adventure. There was a low pressure area during that time, so the waves are really big. On board a small bangka (boat), we conquered the strong waves and the big splashes of salt water on our faces. After I think a 20 minute heart stopping boat ride we managed to arrive safely at our destination.The scary adventure against the waves was all worth it the moment i saw this beautiful beach.
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| (Palawan Camping Camp Site) |
Welcome to Palawan Camping!
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| (Palawan Camping Beach) |
This beautiful island is owned by the kind couple Mr. and Mrs. Clark.
(To read more about the island click
here.)
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(Palawan Camping, December 2014)
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When we were already in the island, that's the time we've only gotten to know our companions during the whole island hopping tour. Some of them were actually locals of Port Barton and they also know the owner of the island. They're such beautiful persons. They are so nice, genuine and cool, specially Dave and Lovely. April and I had a nice time getting to know this people. It was such a great privilege to meet such nice and awesome people, and it's an even greater privilege to become friends with them. We would definitely go back to Barton not only because of the beauty of this paradise, but also because of the nice people we've met there.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
Our tour group stayed with us in the island for more or less than a couple of hours and we spent the entire time exchanging stories with them.
Meet our new found friends:
This Dave and Jaime.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
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(Palawan Camping, December 2014)
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From left to right: Jham, me, April, Angela and Lovely.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
Just when the sun was about to set, they decided to go back to the town. Before our island hopping tour group headed back to the town, we had a group picture for remembrance. The island's owner, Mr. Clark, also joined us in the group picture (he's the one in white).
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(Palawan Camping, December 2014)
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April and I just sat at the shore while watching the group leave the island. We really enjoyed the whole island hopping experience and we were so happy to get to know those people.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
They left the island at around 6pm as the sun was about to set.
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(Palawan Camping, December 2014)
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It's been said that this island is one of the spots in Barton where you can see the most beautiful view of the sunset.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
The sight of the setting sun was spectacular indeed.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
This is really one of the most enjoyable trips that I've had.
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(Palawan Camping, December 2014)
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After watching the beautiful sunset, April and I explored the island. We checked out the bamboo shower on the other end of the island. But it was already dark during that time so we decided to head back the campsite to settle down and arrange our stuff.
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(Palawan Camping, December 2014)
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After being able to settle and rest for a while, we decided to hang out at the balcony of the room we're staying at.
This is the view from the balcony.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
After a few minutes one of the island's staff already called us for dinner. So, we went down and proceeded to the dining area for dinner. We chose to eat on the stone tables in front of the bonfire for a more island-feel dining experience.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
While having our dinner, one of our fellow guests sat beside us and started a conversation. It was really fun getting to know other people, specially in places such as this paradise.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
We learned that the guy we're talking to was the one we saw sailing that afternoon. He even asked us if we wanted to try sailing with him the next day, but unfortunately we'll be leaving the island the next day so we sadly said no. We wanted to try sailing so bad that April and I were once again heartbroken the moment we realized that we could go sailing but we don't have the leisure of time to do that for the next day. Ahhh, so sad. April and I need not to talk, by just looking at each other we already knew how the other one if feeling the moment we were asked to go sailing. We were so sad to miss the opportunity to try one of the things that we haven't tried before.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
Going back to our dinner, I enjoyed it so much, the food was super good and it's like your typical home made Filipino meal. The dinner is composed of white rice, grilled tuna, fried vegetable lumpia, caldereta and boiled squash. It was a buffet dinner and you can eat as much as you want. Mrs. Clark also gave us some stir-fried shrimps with veggies, it was delicious. She also made us try one of her specialty cocktails, the famous "Esther". It's a vodka mix which she named after one of their former guests who, according to her, looks like her eldest daughter, Rica.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
The aftermath. The food was so delicious i finished everything that's on my plate.
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
We really enjoyed our dinner by the beach. It's a very nice dining experience. What a paradise this place is!
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| (Palawan Camping, December 2014) |
After having our scrumptious dinner and an hour or so of chit-chatting with some of our fellow guests, April and I decided to call it a night.
HOW TO GET HERE:
Read the end of this post to know how to get to Port Barton
. And once you're already in Port Barton you can hire a boat which will bring you to Palawan Camping. But I think unlike us, you need to book in advance because Palawan Camping does not usually accept walk-in guests. :)
If you also want to experience what Palawan Camping has to offer, you can contact them thru:
E-mail: palawancamping@gmail.com
Cellphone: 09994863348
Landline: 011-63-48-434-8687
Visit their website at http://palawancamping.com/
ENJOY PARADISE AND ENJOY CAMPING!! :)
For Port Barton tours, you can contact a local tour guide friend of mine Dave Cabungan at 09479688904 or send him at e-mail at davzred008@gmail.com :)
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ADIOS!
-The Palawenya Explorer :)
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