Spentitall Travelling

May 13th – Started my day chatting with Sterling and catching up. Was good to hear his voice and find out how he’s doing. I managed to find another great coffee with a view. I’ve realized that I really need to prioritize staying in places that have early access to coffee and hopefully a view of the sunrise.

I met the island hoping group at 0900 and we soon boarded our tour boat. The whole excursion was great value, $20 CAD which included a really great traditional Philippino buffet lunch. The entrance to Crystal Cove was an additional 300php ($7).

Our first stop was at an “island” for snorkling. When we arrived we anchored in about 10ft of water. I guess the island was submerged, and if you’d asked the tour gude he would have said “high tide sir”. The snorkeling wasn’t great, so when a local arrived in a small paddle boat selling fresh coconuts, I decided to get back on board to enjoy one.

Next stop was Chrystal Cove which is a small island on the south end of Boracay. It is set up as a tourist resort and features two coves (caves) that can be accessed via a spiral staircase through a small opening in the rocks.

We then headed to Tabisaan Beach for a buffett lunch at Deo Anda Picnic House. The food and service was excellent, really enjoyed my lunch. The Philippino culture really loves sharing food and I was encouraged to try everything. The hostess lady was like..”there’s chicken soup…I think you need chicken soup…I will go get you chicken soup.” They are very hospitable and kind.

From there we travelled to the north end of the island to Puka Beach. Puka in Tagalog means shell, and it definately deserved it’s name. The beach was made up of mostly shell and coral particles. I walked to the north end and managed to swim into and around some more coves until I freaked myself out and decided to head back.

From Puka we headed back to White Sand Beach completing our circumnavigation of Boracay. On the tour I met Alex and his family. He was an interesting guy who told me lots about his family and life in the Philippines. His wife insisted I try their Banana Cue (deep fried banana in Brown sugar) which was delicous and Alex found it amusing to play match maker with me and a single Filipina during the the tour.

The hostel was organizing a bar hop that evening which was scheduled from 2230-0600. I really thought I should try and go, so after the Island Hop tour I went for a incredible massage before laying down for a nap. At 2100 I woke up and just wasn’t feeling it. I did go walk the White Beach strip, stopping for a late dinner and a few mojito’s at the Epic Bar & Night Club. The people watching was entertaining and I found myself walking back to the hostel at 0100. I should have just gone for the Bar Hop with the group. I need to start saying yes and not second guessing myself!