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| Not as cool as the fish I saw underwater:D |
On one of these long weekends we took off with Andrea who was soon after this vacation going to end her two years service in Peace Corps where she served in a LGU working for coastal resource management. She was placed in Bayawan city a bit far away from Dumaguete but I was lucky to have spent these and other never to forget moments with her.
We started getting ready for vacation the night before in Dumaguete when I also experienced my first time in karaoke in the Philippines. Note to self: at this age, don't stay up until early morning hours and think you can travel without feeling it in your body!
Our trip started 9AM from Dumaguete Ceres terminal where enjoyed my filipino style breakfast - rice and mungo soup while waiting for Andrea. We took a Ceres bus going to Amlan where we took a ferry from Tampi pier going to Cebu Island, Bato pier. Bus ride was probably not more than 30 minutes and the fare was close to 20PHP but of course, can't remember exact price. Ferry fare was 75 PHP and it took about an hour to get to our destination.
In Bato we waited for bus going Moalboal town and after about 30 minutes of waiting we hopped on. We almost missed our bus since we first thought it was going somewhere else but luckily we were still able to stop the bus. Bus ride was probably about two hours but felt longer because of these two girls already getting tired, hungry and anxious of getting to our destination. When finally in Moalboal town we decided to change the plan and have lunch in town to make us both smile again. We found a nice karinderia close to market and enjoyed a good lunch that was probably just a bit more expensive than in Dumaguete.
Andrea impressed me again with her bisaya, she was able to negotiate a good price with a tricycle driver who took us to the resort area, Panagsama Beach. Driver was also wowed and he even took us around when we searched for available and reasonably priced room for two. We found a few options and decided to stay in Rosita's Cottages (500PHP/room for two) which is by the way a good choice for anyone who plans to stay longer because you can cook your own food there. Opportunity we didn't really take advantage of...
Excited to see where we had arrived we left our bags in room and headed to see what this beach had to offer. Andrea was planning to dive the next day so we inquired the prices and dive sites from four different dive shops and were lucky to find one we were pleased with. While still looking for other choices for accomodation we befriended with another traveler and went snorkeling. What an awsome spot for snorkeling! This made me very happy because as I was still recovering from stubborn flu and couldn't dive safely, snorkeling was going to be my thing for next two days. Reef was absolutely beautiful (I will share later the pictures Andrea took underwater) and lots and lots of fish! The next day the dive group went to Pescador Island and that was also my site for snorkeling. Amazing coral again, great wall (though couldn't really go down to explore the wall because I find it even more difficult to equalize while snorkeling. During my last snorkeling (shore) I was able to collect a whole bags of trash. Coastal cleaning is a must whenever there's a need for that, snorkeling, diving or swimming and usually small amount can be carried in a pocket or hand but since I was lucky enough to find a big plastic bag, I did my share and fill it.
What can I say - again moments to remember and great memories to go home with.
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| Advantage of staying in resort areas is that there are breakfasts and meals for needy Europeans:D |
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| Happy after a fun and relaxing weekend! - Pepsodent, interested in using this pic for commercial purposes? |
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