It was a long way to Malapascua Island from the airport. We landed in Mandaue City in the wee hours of the morning and still completely dark. We had to travel to get to the bus station and from there, travel 4-5 hours to Maya port. From the port, we would take a boat ride (about 45 minutes to get to our destination). It was a bumpy travel if you could call it that because it was still typhoon season in the Philippines (June to October) - the waves were huge and we were aboard a smaller boat where only 2 tourists were aboard - me and my friend anna, a vendor who sold 'Suman malagkit' (glutenous rice cake). In total there were 6 of us including the boat captain. On board it felt to me like we were traveling forever because we couldn't go any faster.
We finally arrived on the island and noted that there were only a few people around. The tourists were all white people, which made me and my friend feel like foreigners to our own land :)
We would only spend one night here. We had an island hopping tour scheduled and so we went. Because there weren't so many tourists, we had the boat trip all to ourselves! It was fun. This was the first time I would snorkel without the life vest - a game changer for me. I would imagine this island had beautiful marine life because I saw many divers heading to the dive sites.
We would wait for the sunrise to snap photos and then do our last swim as it was time to leave. We would head back to the city and drop by the mall to have a proper meal.
Then we would head to our next destination, the Crimson Hotel. Fancy! We secured our booking deal months before and so this was really enjoyable. We would again only spend 1 night here and so we made the most out of it. We swam at the beach and at the pool, attended some evening activities and called it a night, enjoyed our buffet breakfast the next day and went ahead to our next destination.
We headed to our final destination, the Crown Regency Hotel. This is an old one but it was near many sights which is why we chose it. We bought some dried fish (danggit and pusit) and dried mangoes at the Tabuan market for pasalubong (treats to our loved ones and friends).
This trip also had us experience a very strong earthquake (magnitude 6.8) while in our 25th floor hotel room! I thought it was the end for me.
Luckily here I am, writing about this travel experience.
It was a fun trip, just not completely because of that natural calamity. But if given the chance, I would go back.