I've been trying to think of words to use to describe my past few days and the only thing I can think of is "unreal".
Since my last post, I've left El Nido and made my way to Coron. Coron is a town in the same island region as El Nido but about 80 miles north of it. My last few days in El Nido were, well, unreal, and I'm already planning my way back there for next year. The day after I finished my scuba certification, I went island hopping for the day. We checked out some amazing lagoons, beaches, and snorkeling. The next day, I was going to go rock climbing up a cliff called Taraw Peak. My boat guide from the island hopping tour offered to guide me up the cliff. Unfortunately when we got there the next morning, we found out the cliff was closed for the season because of rain and dangerous conditions. I didn't know what to do instead so my guide suggested that I rent a motorbike and go see the waterfalls on the island. I've never driven a motorbike and I didn't really want that to be my first time so he said he would drive me (for a small fee). We made our way to the waterfalls and we were the only people there. There are 4 falls and I had them all to myself the whole time. It was really amazing. The air here is so humid it actually feels like you're just breathing water so being able to jump into a chilly waterfall pool was incredible. My full day private tour of the island from a local cost me a grand total of $18.
That evening I went to sign up for a different island hopping tour for my last day. I met a girl from Beijing at the booth who was also thinking of signing up so we decided to do it together, with her friend she's traveling with. The next morning, we left on tour Z. We started at Papaya beach and then went to a small island for lunch that had THE most perfect beach I have ever seen. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was my own personal dictionary definition of a perfect beach.
We then made our way to a sandbar for some beach volleyball and snorkeling. To end the day we went snorkeling at some unbelievable coral reefs and saw endless fish and coral. I'm really loving all of this underwater time.
The next morning, I got to the ferry port at 7am for my 8 hour ferry ride to Coron. It was the most beautiful ferry ride I have ever taken. Long, but beautiful. The ferry was basically a fishing boat. I made some friends on the ferry and when we settled in in Coron, we went to dinner together with some more friends they were meeting up with. This is the main reason I love traveling alone, it's so easy to make friends and I put myself out there a lot more when I'm not with a friend.
I splurged a little for my accommodation here because the hostels in the town of Coron are pretty shitty. I booked myself my own little bungalow at a dive resort on a small island off the town of Coron for $40 a night. (Yes, that is very much splurging for me.)
Today I did 3 scuba dives and 2 of them were to Japanese shipwrecks from WWII that the US bombed and sank. They were both around 500ft long and between 10 and 25 meters deep underwater (30-80ft). The 3rd dive was to an unbelievable reef where I saw probably thousands of different fish, most of which I can't identify yet. I already signed up to do another day of diving tomorrow which means I'll have done 9 dives in less than a week. I'm really in love with scuba diving.
So far, I couldn't have imagined this trip going any better than it is. I'm really having the time of my life right now and I am absolutely in love with the Philippines.
Since my last post, I've left El Nido and made my way to Coron. Coron is a town in the same island region as El Nido but about 80 miles north of it. My last few days in El Nido were, well, unreal, and I'm already planning my way back there for next year. The day after I finished my scuba certification, I went island hopping for the day. We checked out some amazing lagoons, beaches, and snorkeling. The next day, I was going to go rock climbing up a cliff called Taraw Peak. My boat guide from the island hopping tour offered to guide me up the cliff. Unfortunately when we got there the next morning, we found out the cliff was closed for the season because of rain and dangerous conditions. I didn't know what to do instead so my guide suggested that I rent a motorbike and go see the waterfalls on the island. I've never driven a motorbike and I didn't really want that to be my first time so he said he would drive me (for a small fee). We made our way to the waterfalls and we were the only people there. There are 4 falls and I had them all to myself the whole time. It was really amazing. The air here is so humid it actually feels like you're just breathing water so being able to jump into a chilly waterfall pool was incredible. My full day private tour of the island from a local cost me a grand total of $18.
That evening I went to sign up for a different island hopping tour for my last day. I met a girl from Beijing at the booth who was also thinking of signing up so we decided to do it together, with her friend she's traveling with. The next morning, we left on tour Z. We started at Papaya beach and then went to a small island for lunch that had THE most perfect beach I have ever seen. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was my own personal dictionary definition of a perfect beach.
We then made our way to a sandbar for some beach volleyball and snorkeling. To end the day we went snorkeling at some unbelievable coral reefs and saw endless fish and coral. I'm really loving all of this underwater time.
The next morning, I got to the ferry port at 7am for my 8 hour ferry ride to Coron. It was the most beautiful ferry ride I have ever taken. Long, but beautiful. The ferry was basically a fishing boat. I made some friends on the ferry and when we settled in in Coron, we went to dinner together with some more friends they were meeting up with. This is the main reason I love traveling alone, it's so easy to make friends and I put myself out there a lot more when I'm not with a friend.
I splurged a little for my accommodation here because the hostels in the town of Coron are pretty shitty. I booked myself my own little bungalow at a dive resort on a small island off the town of Coron for $40 a night. (Yes, that is very much splurging for me.)
Today I did 3 scuba dives and 2 of them were to Japanese shipwrecks from WWII that the US bombed and sank. They were both around 500ft long and between 10 and 25 meters deep underwater (30-80ft). The 3rd dive was to an unbelievable reef where I saw probably thousands of different fish, most of which I can't identify yet. I already signed up to do another day of diving tomorrow which means I'll have done 9 dives in less than a week. I'm really in love with scuba diving.
So far, I couldn't have imagined this trip going any better than it is. I'm really having the time of my life right now and I am absolutely in love with the Philippines.