Never the less, Jessie and I then walked to the dive shop and rented some snorkeling gear. We out on our water shoes and headed out directly from our hotel. The sights were amazing! We only had to walk about 50ft before we came to gorgeous coral reefs with beautiful fish and marine life. This location was much better than Malapascua Island and was within walking distance. Jessie and I were both amazed that this was literally in our hotel’s ‘backyard’.
While snorkeling, we saw clownfish, starfish, pufferfish, and many other beautiful tropical fish that I cannot name. The one thing that scared me was when I saw a jellyfish. I have been stung before and know how much it hurts, so I was a little on edge after seeing it. Jessie couldn’t wear her glasses and therefore couldn’t see that well, so I had to watch out for jellyfish around her after that too. We also had to watch out for sea urchins because they’re also very painful if touched or stepped on.
After returning from our snorkeling adventure, Jessie and I went into town to get some cash from an ATM. Our tricycle driver Roger was quite friendly and encouraged Jessie to try motorcycling sometime. We also stopped to get some fruit.
We had plans to meet our friend John Paul at 2pm, but he was a bit late and arrived closer to 3. He brought with him 2 coconuts from his grandmother’s coconut tree. Jessie and I had been talking previously about how we wanted to try coconut juice and so he climbed up the tree and got it for us. He expertly carved around the fruit to open it properly and I was delighted when I got to drink the fresh juice. It was much more tangy than I expected and almost had a little bit of a bite to it. The flesh of the coconut was my favorite part because it had a smooth texture and just a subtle bit of flavor… so delicious! I thought it was so kind of John Paul to bring those for us, especially since it took him about 30 minutes to get to the hotel and the coconuts were very heavy.
After our little fruit picnic, we decided to get on a tricycle and head over to White Beach, which is famous for its brilliant white sand and bright blue waters. Our tricycle driver got us there in about 25 minutes and it was a very bumpy ride due to the fact that most of the roads were unpaved dirt roads with large potholes.
Our driver said he would wait for us to come back and give us a return ride to the hotel which was nice because there weren’t too many other transportation options available. For a total of $7USD we had our driver for the whole afternoon. We walked onto the sand and even though I knew what to expect, I was amazed by the tranquil beauty of the beach.
The sky overhead was dark with a storm approaching and we could see rain pouring in the distance. It created a very dramatic view. Despite the threat of oncoming rain, we went into the water which was especially entertaining because of the waves created by the weather. Jessie and I were quite happy with the warm temperature of the water (by Canadian standards) whereas John Paul complained that it was too cold.
We swam about for a little while and then decided to go out and throw the Frisbee around. The only problem about getting out of the water was that some of the local vendors had seen us go in and were now at the shore wait for us to emerge and buy all of their goods. There seems to be a strong pressure here to buy from the locals however our suitcases are already at the bursting point so that doesn’t leave a lot of room for souvenirs.
Throwing the Frisbee around was fun and John Paul really enjoyed it. I, however have seemed to lose my talent at throwing with aim, and it always seemed to end up in the bushes for me. Jessie was surprisingly good.
John Paul took some time to teach us about local customs. We learned that along with cock fights, the Filipinos also bet on spider fights. John Paul told us that he enjoyed playing with spiders and then proceeded to catch two large spiders and allow them to crawl all over his arms and hands; Jessie and I were horrified.
We finished our beach day with a long walk along the shore and we played with tiny hermit crabs and looked at all the different shells. The beach was so beautiful and the weather really held out for us; the storm blew over and we didn’t have a single drop of rain.
Upon returning to the hotel, we asked John Paul if he would join us for dinner. It would be our last time with him and we were so thankful for his friendship and help over the past few days. He agreed and we went to our favorite little restaurant called “The Little Corner”. It’s right on the shore and has beautiful views, although by now everything was dark.
We had a delicious dinner filled with great conversation. It’s nice for Jessie and I to meet new people because things get fairly routine with just the two of us. We ended the meal with everyone full and headed back along the beach.
As we were walking, a woman from the hotel’s dive shop came up to us and asked us why we didn’t attend the orientation. We had no idea about any orientation (it was for tomorrow’s whale shark adventure). We had never been told about it, but she was quite rude in her confrontation.
This made saying goodbye to John Paul a little awkward because things were a bit rushed. But we exchanged hugs and sent best wishes. I hope we can stay in contact. He was a very special part of our Moalboal experience.
After our goodbyes, Jessie and I went to the dive shop to get our equipment ready for our snorkeling adventure the following day. We were both excited to be swimming with Whale Sharks; however we were slightly agitated by the miscommunication between the staff and ourselves.
We went to bed shortly after that, knowing that we had to be awake by 5am (ouch!!)
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