Moalboal Diving Trip

On the Island of Cebu
The Dolphin House Resort
April 25-28, 2014

When we found out that we could dive with thousands of sardines, we were definitely in.  We did a little research, found a place to stay, and booked our plane tickets.  Cebu Pacific really is a great airline with which to fly.  The flight was right at one hour, so it seemed once we were up in the air, it was time to come back down again.  Both flights going and coming were delayed due to President Obama’s visit to Manila.  On Monday when we landed, we passed right by the Presidential Plane and got off of our plane in plain view.  It really was kind of cool…

The Dolphin House was a great place to stay.  They had a driver waiting for us.  What should have taken one and a half hours took three – the drive through all those little towns takes forever.  Getting behind jeepneys, huge tour buses, bikes, bikes with side cars, scooters, scooters with side cars… you get the picture.  At one point in the ride we had to go over a mountain, pretty curvy.  Our driver had his driving music on, and at the curvy point King of the Mountain came on.  Believe me, he felt like the king of the mountain driving like crazy!  Once we were safely off the mountain, I asked him how often he made that particular drive.  He makes that drive two to three times a day!  I definitely do not have the patience for his job.  I tipped my hat to him…

The resort itself has a rustic feel to it; however, it is beautifully decorated.  When we arrived Edi and I received leis with beautiful, fragrant flowers.  They each had a small gift woven into the reeds.  Edi’s had a free drink voucher, and mine had a beautiful pearl necklace in it.  Our suite had a treehouse feel as the bedroom was upstairs in the loft with the seating area and bathroom downstairs.  We had a gecko friend that greeted us and hung out both inside and outside of our room…

The food was delicious.  The restaurant was open air and every meal we had was beautifully presented and quite nice on our palates.  I think my favorite meal was breakfast as the coffee was divine and the seaside table gave us a fabulous view…  They offered happy hour every day from 5:00-6:00 which is great after a day of diving.  On Sunday, during happy hour they had an informational seminar about crabs.  All of the dive masters were there and we just hung out with our cervezas, learning about crabs, and having good, fun conversation.  We had a side seminar about trigger fish as the dive master had to save me from getting attacked by one on our dive.  It turns out it is nesting season for the trigger fish, and they get quite territorial.  The particular fish that came after me got the dive master instead.  He had quite the bite mark in his fin!

All of this brings me to the diving.  The set up at the resort is convenient.  The boats make it easy to get out and in, and the dive masters are knowledgeable and approachable.  Our sardine dive was incredible!  I felt like I needed to be listening to Enya on this dive!  We also did an airplane wreck which was a lot of fun.  On both of these dives we saw two turtles – eating, swimming – it was awesome!  Our last dive was a shore dive on the house reef- we saw two turtles on this dive, as well!  It too was a beautiful dive.  The only thing is we should have gone diving at high tide instead of low tide.  We had to walk out in the water on this cement pathway until we could actually float in the water and put on our fins.  When we got back from the dive, the tide had gone down even more, and we couldn’t get to the pathway.  Thank heavens for fin booties!

It was a great weekend trip, and we had a great time.  Now, we just need to plan our next tropical destination J

Pier Uno Dive Resort, Anilao

Saturday, April 12, 2014

How nice it is to be able to go diving for the day!  We went with three of Edi’s co-workers, Justin, Rob, and Vincent to Anilao on Saturday, April 12.  Felix the driver picked us up and we were on our way.  With one stop at Starbuck’s it took us about 3 hours to get there because of traffic.  The traffic here in the little towns here always amazes me – jeepneys, cars, tricycles, scooters, bikes – it makes for a slow go.  The drive was worth it as the Pier Uno Resort is really nice.  We got all checked in and the dive guys took our gear to the dive station.  The resort is right on the water with an incredible view…

We got suited up, boarded the boat, and were off enjoying the wind in our faces and the sun on our skin.  The salt water always does something to me; it is soul cleansing.  The ride to the site was really nice, and we enjoyed seeing the sights and talking with the dive master, Jay, who was quite the comedian…

We had two great dives.  On the first dive, the dive master actually caught a puffer fish with his bare hands and held it up so Edi could take an underwater picture.  We also saw the biggest frog fish we have ever seen.  Edi got that on video!  On the second dive, I got the pleasure of feeding the fish underwater.  The dive master gave me a bag of bread to hold, and the fish had a field day.  It was so cool to be in the middle of all of those fish…

When we got back to the resort, we had a delicious lunch in the open air restaurant and then just hung out on the deck and relaxed.  We did a little snorkeling, enjoyed the pool and hot tub (which was really a warm tub) and experienced a fabulous sunset…

After a fun day of diving, it was time to head back to the city.  Great diving, beautiful scenery, delicious food, wonderful people – a fantastic day!

Bohol

March 14 - 17, 2014

We finally made it to the beach!  Thursday evening I walked Kona to Edi’s office and we continued to Pup Culture where Kona would spend the next four nights.  We opted for Mexican food at Salud for dinner – what a great way to begin our vacation weekend.

We flew Cebu Pacific, so we took a taxi to Terminal 1 (domestic airport) at 6:00 A.M.  Smooth sailing is what it was.  We got there in plenty of time, checked our luggage and had a muffin and some coffee at an airport café.  We boarded and were in Bohol one hour and fifteen minutes later.  Now, that is my kind of flight!  After retrieving our suitcase, we were guided to the South Palms Resort van, hopped in and enjoyed the forty minute ride.  Our driver was very knowledgeable and pointed out points of interest.  We drove by city hall and one of the historical churches, both of which had been badly damaged by the October earthquake.

Arriving at the resort was a breath of fresh air.  It is absolutely beautiful!  The lobby is open air; Oceanica Restaurant is also open air as well as the Palm Coast Pool Bar which sits next to the infinity pool.  Led to our room, we got settled and then suited up for the beach.  The aquamarine water, the white sandy beach, the nice beach chairs, tables, and umbrellas lined for our use…exactly what we needed after being in the city for so long.

We had a late lunch at Oceanica Restaurant and enjoyed the delicious food, excellent service and gorgeous view.  More time just beachin’ it made for the perfect day.  After a beautiful sunset and late evening on the beach we had a couple of Corona’s at Palm Coast Pool Bar and then headed to our unit for showers.  Not really wanting to get ready, we opted for room service for dinner – another delicious meal.

Saturday morning after a yummy breakfast we meandered around before heading back to get sunscreened up.  We set up camp and did some reading, snorkeling and sunbathing.  We had to call it a beach day early because we were scheduled for dinner at Bohol Bee Farm and the firefly tour up the Abatan River.  Our tour guide, Jessica, met us in the lobby at 6:00 and we drove about five minutes down the road to the bee farm.  What a unique place it is.  It began as an organic farm and has turned into an inn, restaurant and store.  I felt like I was in the top of a treehouse overlooking the sea.  All the food was organic and most was grown on the farm.  It was quite the spread – everything from soup, bread, squash muffins, colorful salad, seafood lasagna, chicken, spare ribs, fish, and lemon grass water to drink – delicious! For dessert we had ice cream, a scoop of ube (purple yam) and a scoop of malunggay (horseradish).  Yum!

The firefly tour was next.  We boarded the boat and were off down the river.  The fireflies are drawn to a particular type of tree in the mangroves.  It was amazing to see hundreds and hundreds of fireflies lighting up these trees. 

After a fabulous evening, we arrived back at South Palms just in time to hear the band on the beach sing their last two songs.  There had been a St. Patrick’s Day celebration that evening.

 

Sunday we had coffee on the terrace and then breakfasted in the restaurant.  We spent the entire day on the beach just hanging out – it was wonderful!  Another beautiful sunset followed closely by the moonrise sent us for showers and then to dinner at the Oceanica.

Monday morning we got up just in time to see the sunrise enjoying every second before we had to head to the airport and back to Manila.