The only reason we came to Puerto Princesa was to do the underground river tour. It has been awarded as one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world, alongside Table mountain, Iguassu falls, Ha long bay, the Amazon rainforest, Jeju island and Komodo Island.
Unfortunately the weather nailed us again and since it had rained all night, we weren’t able to do the tour. We were gutted. We asked what the alternative was and were told Honda bay. Apparently Puerto Princesa’s answer to Island hopping.
We departed around 7:30 and picked up a group of young Filipinos and an African America ex GI with a Filipino wife and her daughter. We stopped at a place where we had the option to rent snorkeling gear and water shoes, and buy bread to feed the fish.
The bus took about 30 minutes to reach the port, where our guide Rey got a boat for us. At this point the weather was just cloudy. Our bangka was called “angel of the sea”, we were all given life jackets and were told the coast guard was only allowing the boats to visit two islands: Luli and Cowrie Island. There are 17 islands in Honda bay, but many are privately owned or owned by the government. A typical island hopping trip will visit three islands, often giving the passengers a choice.
We headed to Luli Island in the hopes we could snorkel in the nearby Pambato Reef, but Rey said it was too dark... so we arrived at Luli and were told we had an hour. Luli is named for two words, meaning sinking and floating, apparently at high tide the island all but disappears completely under water. We took what we needed and explored the small island, at this point it was even sunny for a few minutes.
We checked out the swimming area, then walked to the mangroves growing in the shallows. We saw starfish, small tentacled creatures in holes (no idea what they actually were), and bigger holes surrounded by coral (no idea what creature made that either!). We then took the bread we had bought to feed the fish. In no time, dozens of fish we swarming around it, a little nervous to grab the bread from our hands, but very quick to go for it when we let it go. I think our untanned legs must have looked too much like bread to some of the fish, and they occasionally nipped us, leaving red marks!
There was a diving board and a beach at Luli so we swam, jumped and relaxed for a while, but soon the heavens opened and all the tourists on the beach went looking for cover. There wasn’t that much cover on the small island so everyone crammed into a large hut on stilts. I seriously wondered whether it could support all those people. For a while the angel of the sea was nowhere to be seen, but eventually it showed up and we ran on board, not that the boat provided any more cover from the rain than the hut did! Luckily Rey had been smart enough to rescue our bags and keep them under cover!
Next we headed to Cowrie island for lunch. It was still pretty much pouring with rain, but this Island was much bigger, much busier and had more cover. We found seats at the long tables and then stacked our plates with the buffet offering: typical Philippino fare of rice, pancit noodles, chicken, soup, water spinach and salad. Dessert was green jelly in a kind of milk...
We could see some activities available on the island: massages, Banana and jet ski rides, etc, but the most popular activity seemed to be drinking so we joined in and and had a beer. By that time we were pretty tired of being cold and wet, so we all found our boat and headed back to the port.
Unfortunately the weather nailed us again and since it had rained all night, we weren’t able to do the tour. We were gutted. We asked what the alternative was and were told Honda bay. Apparently Puerto Princesa’s answer to Island hopping.
We departed around 7:30 and picked up a group of young Filipinos and an African America ex GI with a Filipino wife and her daughter. We stopped at a place where we had the option to rent snorkeling gear and water shoes, and buy bread to feed the fish.
The bus took about 30 minutes to reach the port, where our guide Rey got a boat for us. At this point the weather was just cloudy. Our bangka was called “angel of the sea”, we were all given life jackets and were told the coast guard was only allowing the boats to visit two islands: Luli and Cowrie Island. There are 17 islands in Honda bay, but many are privately owned or owned by the government. A typical island hopping trip will visit three islands, often giving the passengers a choice.
We checked out the swimming area, then walked to the mangroves growing in the shallows. We saw starfish, small tentacled creatures in holes (no idea what they actually were), and bigger holes surrounded by coral (no idea what creature made that either!). We then took the bread we had bought to feed the fish. In no time, dozens of fish we swarming around it, a little nervous to grab the bread from our hands, but very quick to go for it when we let it go. I think our untanned legs must have looked too much like bread to some of the fish, and they occasionally nipped us, leaving red marks!
There was a diving board and a beach at Luli so we swam, jumped and relaxed for a while, but soon the heavens opened and all the tourists on the beach went looking for cover. There wasn’t that much cover on the small island so everyone crammed into a large hut on stilts. I seriously wondered whether it could support all those people. For a while the angel of the sea was nowhere to be seen, but eventually it showed up and we ran on board, not that the boat provided any more cover from the rain than the hut did! Luckily Rey had been smart enough to rescue our bags and keep them under cover!
Next we headed to Cowrie island for lunch. It was still pretty much pouring with rain, but this Island was much bigger, much busier and had more cover. We found seats at the long tables and then stacked our plates with the buffet offering: typical Philippino fare of rice, pancit noodles, chicken, soup, water spinach and salad. Dessert was green jelly in a kind of milk...
We could see some activities available on the island: massages, Banana and jet ski rides, etc, but the most popular activity seemed to be drinking so we joined in and and had a beer. By that time we were pretty tired of being cold and wet, so we all found our boat and headed back to the port.
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