Diving through the Sardine run, The Philippines

For the past few years the sardines that formally swam around Pescador Island have packed their suitcases and moved to the drop-off just 30m offshore from Panagsama Beach in Moalboal. We found a friendly dive company that also happened to be the cheapest and headed out to House Reef where the sardine run takes place….

The blue Kawasan Waterfalls, The Philippines

Panagsama Beach in Moalboal was much smaller and more chilled than we’d anticipated. A dirt track led close to the shore of a rocky beach and was lined with bars and restaurants. We hired out a motorbike to visit some sights in the area as it was cheaper to do this than get public transport….

A boat trip to paradise ~ Sumilon Island

We had a Filipino breakfast right after snorkelling with the whale sharks and then looked around for a boatmen to take us to Sumilon Island. We were quoted more than we wanted to pay so walked up the road only to find the resort quoting the same price…so we went back to our original spot…

Swimming with Whale Sharks, The Philippines

After much contemplation about animal rights and whether or not it was right to swim with the hand fed whale sharks of Oslob, we decided to just head there and judge it for ourselves. We were unlucky not to see them while in Thailand and Honduras and I wanted to see how big these gentle…

Snorkelling with more turtles than humans at Apo Island

Negros island is much more rural than the others we’ve visited. We must’ve passed millions of palm trees along the road and small villages were all made from natural materials. It was a scenic drive with sea views and we soon made it to Malatapay Beach where boats head to Apo Island. It was a…

Finding our own hidden paradise in The Philippines

It takes a bit of effort to reach true paradise but we were certainly rewarded with a place that we will never forget. From Boracay we spent a whole day crossing Panay island and onto Negros island pitching up for the night and eating the local specialty of bbq chicken. When we asked the waitress…

Exploring Boracay’s other beaches

A tricycle took us all the way north to Puka, named after the abundant puka shells on the beach. The sea was rough but beautiful with every tone of blue shining in the sun. Some young lads played on skim boards and we enjoyed the breeze walking along the shores. It was too rough for…

Backpacking in Boracay

Plans can change last minute while travelling and we’d hoped to travel around Mindoro island, check out some of the loin-cloth wearing locals at the markets, visit Apo Reef and then get a ferry to Palawan. But upon calling the company we were told the ferry wasn’t running for another month or two. So, we…

Snorkelling in Puerto Galera, The Philippines

Puerto Galera is said to be one of the top dive sites in the Philippines so we decided to test out the waters with a snorkel. It was much cheaper for us to join a dive boat heading out and just snorkel around the shallow areas of the sites than hire a private Bangka. The…

Parasailing and beach life in Puerto Galera

Our first boat across to a tropical island wasn’t exactly the boat we’d expected. Instead of a sizeable ferry it was a brightly painted Bangka, basically a large wooden boat with bamboo stabilisers on each side tied together with fishing line. We were heading across to Puerto Galera on Mindoro Island and were so excited…