Snorkelling at Baclicasag Island

Up early for a quick breakfast before the hotel shuttle to the boat. Feeling excited about snorkeling at the famous Baclicasag Island of Panglao, though I was feeling a little nervous about being at sea – as someone who has been seasick on the Manly ferry and waterslides and on the very flat Derwent river, it wouldn’t have been surprising for me to spend the rest of the day feeling sick and not get to snorkel at all. With that in mind we had chosen to had a boat just for us, especially as it worked out to be only $10 more expensive than joining a group.

We walk across the shore to the catamaran and met our pilot Ron. 

He showed great skill and strength in pushing off and guiding our boat as we headed out to sea. 

We liked his captain's chair!

                                          

We headed off towards the dolphins, along with about 20 other boats. 

Every time a pod was spotted, the boats would zoom after them. 

My first time seeing dolphins from a boat.

Then we headed toward Balicasag Island -

 a small beautiful  island with one resort and a few hundred residents. 

Our pilot skillfully brought us close to shore and introduced us to our small boat pilot. 

Small is right – a traditional catamaran with just enough room for the 4 of us in a row. 

He paddled us out to the turtle sanctuary and invited us to hop in and snorkel. 

It was quite deep but immediately we saw a turtle on the sea bed (middle right).

After about 10 minutes here we had seen 2-3 turtles and Elijah had had enough of not being able to stand, so when the pilot said that the fish and coral sanctuary had both a shallow and a deep part, we happily agreed to move on.

As soon as looked down from the boat we were excited. Oodles of colourful fish swimming right below us. We eagerly clambered into the water with our snorkelling gear, though Elijah preferred just to use goggles. Surrounded by other boats and tourists, we were blown away by the number and variety and beauty of the fish.

We particularly loved the drop off, where we would often see the most beautiful fish against the background of the cliff and the deep blue waters. We even saw a turtle here as well. It was great to have the camera and we each enjoyed taking pictures.

   

                                          

After close to an hour our pilot suggested it was time to go. This time we asked for another 5 minutes, as we didn’t want to leave quite yet.

We stayed for another hour on the island – re-lathering in suncream, eating some snacks, and Elijah had yet another swim at the beach.

Then onto to Virgin Island, which we had heard nothing about but was included in the tour. It's basically a transient sandbar with plenty of sea-life in the surrounding water. With about 30 boats around the sand bar, we ‘parked’ quite a long way away, so we got to enjoy the myriad of starfish as we headed to the sandbar.

On the sand bar itself were about 30 locals who set up shop each day to cook and sell food and (slightly) cool drinks to the tourists.

By now it was midday and we could certainly feel the heat on our skin and knew it was time for all good Anglo-Saxons to be inside; even the water was like a very warm bath.

So we sailed back to Panglao, spotting starfish in the water on the way. An extraordinarily beautiful and fun morning enjoying God’s creativity. And He blessed us with gorgeous weather to be on the water – very still, almost no swell - and miraculously, no sea sickness for me. The only challenge was the sun and the heat. We arrived back feeling hot and bothered but delighted and satisfied. Certainly the best snorkelling I’ve ever experienced.

After we’d cleaned up and cooled down we were just beginning to think about our next outing when it started bucketing down. So we settled in for a game of Phase 10 by the pool; Elijah joined in once he had a swim in the rain.

The storm passed and it was time to head out.

I’d learnt my lesson from yesterday, so this time my first question about a beach to visit was ‘is it nice?’ followed by ‘Is it nice at low tide and high tide?’ and only then, ‘Are their places to eat’? The answer for all these questions about Dumaluan Beach was 'yes', so off we went in the shuttle.

This time the beach lived up to our expectations – a long stretch of white sand and beautiful water; and even though it didn’t face west, the sunset was gorgeous.

We enjoyed chatting as we walked up and down the beach, and then joined the locals for some good food at a permanent street food stall. Elijah and Hamish tried ribs for the first time – and were impressed.

What does tomorrow hold? That’s the question I’ll try to answer after finishing this blog.