Category Archives: Snorkeling

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El Nido-Island Hopping Tour B

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Today we went on Island Hopping Tour B. There were 5 other people with us.

The first stop they just let us jump off the boat and snorkel around. I believe it was Pangulasian Island. There were a lot of jellyfish here, but it was a good snorkeling site. There were a lot of fish and coral. I did feel like I was getting stung though but I didn’t think I got near a jellyfish, maybe it was all in my head.

The second location was Snake Island; this is also where we had lunch. There was a little trail you could take up to the top of Snake Island. It took about 5 minutes to get to the top. The view was so pretty.

Then we walked back down and got in the water. There wasn’t much to see, it was very clear but mostly grass and rocks. After swimming around for awhile we had our lunch. The island was really beautiful.

The next stop was Cudognon Cave. This was very cool. We started out by going through a small opening into the cave.

Once inside there were some really cool rock formations. I think there were bats but we didn’t actually see them…

After we came out of the cave we were able to snorkel. We saw a lot of fish here.

The 3rd stop on the tour was Cathedral Cave. We didn’t actually stop here we just floated by in it the boat very slowly. Unfortunately I didn’t get very good pictures of the interior of the cave. You could see it open up into a big room from the boat, but the pictures did not turn out.

We were able to see the the Lagen Resort on the way to the last stop. It is very expensive to stay here…maybe someday. We are more budget travelers right now…haha.

The last stop was Pinagbuyutan Island. This was probably one of the most beautiful islands/beaches I have ever seen. There were palm trees every where and some of the softest white sand I have ever seen and felt.
The island looked very cool. We were able to do some snorkeling here and there were some pretty cool fish. The snorkeling was pretty good and maybe my favorite spot in El Nido. It was a great way to end the trip to El Nido.

This fish was very aggressive. I followed it around for awhile. If I got too close to whatever it was protecting it would come at me. It was funny.
I loved this island….

I got a good photo of our resort, Stunning Vistas, on our way back.

They left us a nice design on our bed…

Tonight we decided to watch the sunset. I don’t know what it is about watching sunsets…I’ve never really done it or had an interest in it, but we did it in Santorini and Mykonos and it is quite relaxing. I think the sunset at El Nido was probably the most beautiful one we have seen…

While we were watching the sunset we talked with Alex and Yan. We talked about all the things we had done. They had rented a kayak one day and kayaked to one of the near islands. Yan snorkeled while Alex laid out on the beach. Later there was a man pointing a gun at her telling her the island was private. She got Yan’s attention and they told the guy the didn’t want any trouble. He said it was fine they just had to leave…they got a picture with him and left! hahaha crazy. They did recommend a place in El Nido town for dinner. It was a pizza place. Yan said it was some of the best pizza he ever had. Now we had ate pizza in the  Philippines and it had been absolutely disgusting so I was skeptical. Although it sounded really good by the way they were describing it.

So Don and I walked along the beach looking for a place to eat. After no success we decided to go into town and give this pizza place a try. We had some idea where it was so it wasn’t too hard to find. You could see them making the pizza dough right in front and you had to take off your shoes in the restaurant. We left our shoes downstairs and went up to the restaurant. It was awesome looking. Nice wooden floors, a good looking bar. A great atmosphere, unlike anything we had experienced in the Philippines. The food around us looked amazing. People were just ordering whole pizzas for themselves so that’s what we did. I ordered a Margarita Pizza. Don ordered the Prosciutto Pizza because Yan raved about it. We also got a calamari salad for an appetizer. It was so good! The pizzas were amazing. I think it was probably the best Italian style pizza I have ever had. Amazing…great way to end our stay in El Nido. The place was called Altrov’e. If you are in El Nido and craving pizza this is the place.

Bloggings, Snorkeling, Travel

El Nido-Island Hopping Tour A

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Today when we went to breakfast we were told not enough people signed up for Tour A so they had booked us with a tour group in town. This at first seemed fine but then we realized we would have to go to town to get on the tour. We decided to do a private tour and be picked up at the hotel. I’m glad we went with this option.

Our first stop was Big Lagoon or Small Lagoon I’m not really sure. It was kind of a downer that the tour guides did not talk at all. But anyway this location was pretty cool. It was mostly about seeing what was around you rather than snorkeling. There were cool rock formations and a little cave we swam in.

 The boat ride to the next location was very beautiful…

We ate lunch at Simizu Island. Before lunch we snorkeled while the tour guides prepared the food. The snorkeling was pretty good. We went out pretty far but it was a little rough. Our lunch was awesome. It was very secluded since we were on a private tour. 

After lunch we noticed the guides were fixing something on the boat.
Luckily, whatever they were fixing was a success.
We were able to see the Miniloc Resort on Miniloc Island.

I had heard about Miniloc from a coworker who is from the Philippines. She recommended staying here. The price was a little much though. I think for 3 nights it was around $500. We only paid around $50 a night at Stunning Vistas. I think it was a good decision not to go with Miniloc because it is an island by itself so it would be a pain to get to town. Maybe next time.

After lunch we went to Secret Lagoon. Here you had to go through a small rock opening to get to the lagoon.

After going in the lagoon we walked around the island a little bit before getting back on the boat.

The boat ride to our next location was very rough but it was okay…
Our last stop was 7 Commando Beach. It was a very nice beach. There was a place you could buy drinks but we wanted to get in the water. We did some snorkeling and then we dried on the beach for awhile.
When we got back we found a jellyfish on our walk back from the boat. The tide was very low so the boat had to park pretty far from shore. We had to walk in water about ankle deep, but it was a good walk.
After we got back to the hotel we got cleaned up and sat by the beach and read for a little bit. We wanted to try to watch the sunset but Don wanted to go into town. He thought maybe he was getting swimmer’s ear and so we wanted to go to a pharmacy. Eden at the hotel told us to go to the pharmacy by the church in town. So that’s where we told the tricycle to go. We asked for ear drops and they gave us prescription antibiotics haha. Not like the US where you need a Dr to get you anything. After getting the drops we walked around. We found the resort where Don and his dad had stayed about 5 years earlier. Don said it had changed a lot. We walked through it and came to the beach of El Nido. It was kind of like a small boardwalk. There were a handful of restaurants and shops. We chose a restaurant and ate while the sunset. We had traditional Filipino food and it was good. After we were done we walked back through the hotel and I saw the French and Denmark couple at the bar. He asked us if we wanted to have a beer so we did. We talked with them. They had been staying here, they said it wasn’t too hard to book a place once they got to El Nido. The next day they were going on a long boat ride and leaving Palawan. It was cool to see them again. When we were leaving we tried to pay but Denmark said, “I asked you if you wanted to have a beer, I didn’t ask you if you wanted to pay for a beer!” I don’t know why we didn’t get a picture with them…

Bloggings, Snorkeling, Travel

El Nido-Island Hopping Tour C

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We woke up around 7 am today to get ready for Island Hopping Tour C.  There are 4 main Island Hopping tours here in El Nido and they are just named A,B,C and D.

The boat picked us up right at our hotel beach, so we had breakfast here. I had an omelet it was very weird. It had what seemed to be canned carrots and potatoes in it with cubes of cheese and a bacon. Weirdest omelet I have ever had haha. It was okay though. Don had Filipino breakfast, it was bacon with rice and eggs.

Our tour left at 9 am and our first stop was Hidden Beach. We snorkeled a bit here but didn’t see much. We swam around the rocks to find the Hidden Beach then we swam through a little cave to go back to the boat. Here’s some pictures of Hidden Beach.

So at first we swam around some rocks to find the beach and on the other side of the beach there was a cave that brought us back to the boat. It was really cool.

I believe our lunch was at Star Beach which is part of the Tapiutan Island. We snorkeled here while the tour guides prepared our lunch. This location was in my opinion the best snorkeling site of the day. You had to swim out pretty far though. It was worth it because there was a shelf where the ocean floor dropped and the side of it was all coral. There were so many fish there. Our lunch consisted of grilled fish, grilled pork chop, rice, yellow melon and bananas. The pork chop was really good. I really enjoyed the yellow melon also. I am not sure if that was its official name. It tasted and looked pretty much like watermelon except it was yellow.

The next place was Secret Beach. There was a cave we swam through and when we got to the other side there was a small beach. People were snorkeling but there wasn’t much to see, just a bunch of rocks. I mostly just waded and relaxed on the beach. It was beautiful though because when you were in the beach you were surrounded by the rocks.

In the cave to get to Secret Beach

The next stop was Mantiloc Shrine. It was basically an abandoned church. We didn’t learn much about it, but we could walk around inside the church and it was very weird. There were rooms with old beds in them, kind of like a dorm. Some rooms had decorations all over. The place looked fairly new and it looked like whoever left here left in a hurry. We thought this was our last stop on the tour.

Then we made the final stop, Helicopter Island. I cut my toe on a rock here when I jumped out of the boat. It seemed pretty bad but I snorkeled anyway. When we were snorkeling one of the guys on our tour was just stepping on the coral and you could hear it all breaking. This was very sad. It was very disappointing that the tour guides didn’t convey to people how important it is to not touch and especially not to step on the coral. All around us on Tour C there was dead coral.

Here’s what my toe looked like at the end of the day…

Once we got back to Stunning Vistas we got cleaned up and headed into town by tricycle. I don’t think I have talked about the tricycles yet, they are basically motorcycles with a little cab hooked to the side. Usually 2-3 passengers can fit in a tricycle. It is kind of like a cab that travels short distances. We ate at a grille and I decided to take a try at a cheeseburger. Bad idea, it was really really horrible. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meat. Don had fried pork chop with rice and then we shared a dish called pork menudo. It was really good, it had potatoes and carrots with it. Then we walked around the town a bit and took a tricycle back.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

St. Kitts

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Today I had booked an excursion with Greg’s Safari.  This was the first booked thing we did that wasn’t through Carnival and I am thinking it was the best.  While we were waiting for Greg we were bombarded with guys with about 6 little monkeys.  The monkeys had diapers on and some had clothes.  Before we could discuss anything they were putting the monkeys on us and taking pictures with our camera.  Then they told us $20 a piece!  Don said he would give them $20 for both.  I think that was a rip off but we did get a lot of pictures.

We met Greg around 830 for our tour of Philip’s Rainforest.  Michael and Teresa came with us on this excursion.  I was excited because it looked like it was just going to be us 4 and then another couple but then 4 other people ran over to Greg and booked last minute.  Then when we got to the land rover there were already people in it. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, but turns out the vehicle was pretty spacious and we had a good amount of room.

The tour started with a drive to the rainforest that was about 45 minutes.  It was a cool drive, very scenic.  Then we got out and started our hike.  Along the way Greg would tell us about the plant life.  It would rain and then it would be sunny.  It was pretty awesome.  We came to a waterfall and put our feet in the water.  The hike was pretty good, some of it was a little rugged.  While hiking I got bit near my wrist by some kind of ant.  It was painful, but didn’t look too bad. At the end of it Greg gave us some local fruits.  Then it started pouring and we got back in the land rover and made our way back. I will post some pictures of some things we saw on our rainforest hike.

On our way back we asked Greg if he would be able to drop us off at Frigate Bay to go to the beach.  He told us earlier it was a good place for snorkeling. He said that would be fine. He told us about a good restaurant there and to ask for Greg’s Special.  He also told us to tell them we are with his tour and they would let us use their beach chairs for free.  Then he even offered us a ride back to the boat later because he was picking people up from the beach at 430.  That gave us plenty of time to eat and snorkel.

We ate at Sunset Cafe which was part of Timothy Beach Resort.  We got Greg’s Special which was Conch Fritters and Rum Punch.  The fritters were delicious but the rum punch not so much.  I kind of just wanted a cheeseburger and fries but then decided I had to get an authentic meal so I got Stewed Chicken with Macaroni Pie and a Salad.  It was pretty good.

Don got the fish and chips.  Both meals I would say were great. We mixed it up and had a little bit of each other’s meal.

After eating we got in the water.  It was raining off and on but it didn’t bother our snorkeling. I would have to say I thought this was the best location of snorkeling we did on the trip so far.  There was a lot of coral and sea life.  Of course we didn’t swim with turtles but it was a really cool place to explore.  It had a dock that had a lot of coral and rocks with sea life.  Then out further there were rocks and the water got a bit rougher. Don did not want to go out that far but I had to see it.  As I was swimming I saw something pretty big in the rocks so I looked and it was a sea turtle!! I was so excited to see a sea turtle on my own!  I told Don but when we looked back in the water I couldn’t find it. Don had the camera so we also didn’t get a picture.  But it was so cool!  It was a bit creepy in this area of the water for some reason and Don was getting annoyed because he didn’t have his fins so he made his way back to the beach.  I went behind him a little bit after. I wanted to see if I could find the turtle again but I never did.  So then I slowly made my way back up to the beach.  I saw a sea snake!  I was totally freaking out when I saw it but I had to get a picture. Then I swam away keeping my eye on it.

Here are some more pictures of the snorkeling…

Around 430 Greg picked us up along with some other people and gave us a ride back to the ship.  It was a great day.

Then we had dinner with Michael and Teresa in the dining room.  I had a Thai Chicken Appetizer. It was okay. Then I had Shrimp and Fries for my main course; it was probably one of my favorite meals on the ship so far. Don had Filet Mignon.  During dinner Mike and Teresa told us they got a notice that their excursion in St. Maarten was canceled due to weather. This got me bummed out because I was afraid of what the weather was going to do and how it would effect our day.  After dinner we went to a magic show and then to a comedy show.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

Barbados

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Today we got up early to go on our Tiami Sail, Turtles & Beach Excursion that I booked through Carnival. We took a bus to the catamaran.  It was a really nice boat.  It had a bar that actually had fountain soda and a beer on tap.

When we got to our first snorkeling site we learned it was more like a swimming site.  The crew didn’t want us to wear fins because it scared the turtles.  We have snorkeled with turtles before and they didn’t seem to be scared by fins, but whatever.  Basically we just got off the boat and swam with turtles.  Don’t get me wrong, swimming with turtles was awesome.  We got some really awesome pictures and they are just amazing.  But when I booked the excursion I was under the impression we would actually be snorkeling and seeing more.  You can’t really beat swimming with turtles but if you plan on booking this excursion for snorkeling there isn’t any of that really.

After the swimming with turtles we got back on the catamaran and went to a beach.  The beach had the most expensive resort on Barbados. I believe the guide said the least expensive room was $1500 a night and the the most expensive was around $10000 a night.  Ridiculous.  There was no snorkeling at this beach.  We just swam and enjoyed the rum punch that the crew made us.  Don even did a rum punch bong through his snorkel. It was crazy! The beach was beautiful.  We saw a guy with a monkey on his head. He wanted us to pay him for pictures but I snuck a few without him noticing.  A rain storm passed through while we were swimming but then it was back to being sunny immediately after the rain.

On the way back to the port we had more rum punch and did a little dancing.  Of course everyone got crazy when Gangnam Style came on.  That song is so fun.  Once we got back we didn’t want to go back to the ship because we wanted to experience Barbados as much as we could.  We saw Michael and Teresa getting ready to go the excursion right after us.  They booked the wrong time; they had the afternoon excursion.

So we decided to explore Pelican Village in Barbados because we knew it was pretty close to the port.  We ate at a place called Sylvester’s Restaurant.  It was a buffet style place and it was delicious.  I had macaroni pie, which had a little spice to it, fried chicken and a salad.

Don had fried chicken, pork chop and rice. He tried a little bit of everything.

Everything was very good at Sylvester’s.  It was a nice change of pace to have some authentic food rather than just the very Americanized cuisine on the cruise ship.

After lunch we just walked around the area.  We ended up at a market called Cheapside.  Or maybe the area was called Cheapside, I am unsure.  It was so hot in Barbados.  Just completely miserably hot.  We walked around for probably an hour then decided to walk back to the boat.  Once back to the boat we got cleaned up and then decided to go back off the boat to the port terminal to use the wifi. The wifi worked at first but it was really slow and we didn’t really get to use it much.

Then we came back to the ship and went to a trivia game at the coral cafe.  After trivia we ate at the grill. We then laid out on the top deck and kind of fell asleep for a bit. It wasn’t comfortable and we were tired so we went back to the room and took a 2 hour nap. Then we got up to go to some shows in the theater:  Battle of the sexes, Liars Club and a Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt was fun. We had to divide up into teams and find things in the audience like an empty purse, a bra, a girl who can doing the splits, etc.  And that was our day.