Claire Bear's Thoughts

The Highbound Adventures Society, Inc. sponsored a Php300.00 worth island tour of Samal last May. Since Jed, an officemate, is a member of the group, we got tickets right away as early as April. I joined the tour with Dennis and Pia, some officemates and some close friends. Since meals are not included in the fee, we decided to bring food individually and just share it.

And so May 17 came…

The meeting place is at the Sta. Ana Wharf where we will be boarding a 150 capacity barge, our tour boat. There were a lot who joined the tour, I was kind of surprised about it, and since we boarded last, we were left with backseats but no complaints though. After some waiting for latecomers, the journey started off.

There was a tour guide in front who talks about every spots we passed. He was using this amplifier so everyone could hear but it wasn’t beneficial for us at all who are situated at the back. So instead of listening to him, we just let the tour map guide us. They gave out maps as well. In addition, as part of their gimmick, they raffled out our tickets and gave out simple but memorable tokens of all sorts, from keyholders, tumblers, bracelets, necklaces, hammocks, etc.

There were 3 dropoffs…first stop was on the Vanishing Island which I really loved. It was truly beautiful! They call it the Vanishing Island because it actually vanishes when the tide is high. They built a cottage there though for whatever purpose people may use it for. There aren’t many trees as well but I noticed that there are mangrove trees just planted so I guess, in the future, we’ll be able to see more trees on the island. The sands is so, so white!!! We spotted huge starfishes as well with different colors. The dropoff was just for 15 minutes so we took the chance of taking as many photos as we can on the place.

On the way to our next stop, we passed on many beach resorts, and I was amazed at how resorts has mushroomed the island of Samal. There were a lot!!! We were able to pass on Pearl Farm which, unfortunately, I still haven’t stepped on to, and there was also this zipline where you’ll land right on the beach. Cool! I’d like to try that one of these days.

Next stop is on our lunch dropoff which is in Kaputian Beach Resort. The place is also nice with its real blue waters and white sand. There were many people that time so we were not able to grab a cottage so what we did was just put some blankets on the grassy parts of the island and enjoyed a picnic-style lunch buffet. Lunch is only for an hour so we just lazed in the island for a while and then boarded again the boat.

Our last stop is at Babo Santa, Talikud Island for some quick swimming. On our way there, we passed by Isla Reta which I haven’t gone to as well, and which I would really love to go to. One of these days, I hope. Finally, our last dropoff, Babo Santa. It was kind of different compared to my last visit more than 2 years ago. It’s more crowded and the beach was flooded with boats. Sadly too, I was looking forward to enjoying fresh bukos which I was able the last time, but there weren’t any this time. So, to pass the time, I decided to just take pictures instead of swimming. I was able to capture some nice shots of the island with my models (Mishi and Val) in tail. After an hour, we were already getting ready on our way back.
In conclusion, it was a tiring but fun and educational day...