After a long gap from blogging, here I am again. This time, I want to talk about my trip to the Philippines! So, why the Philippines? A friend and I wanted to become certified open water divers, and the Philippines is one of the most beautiful island nations, known for its pristine coral reefs. That’s why we decided to travel here.
A couple of things to note before traveling to the Philippines:
Please check the visa requirements before traveling. You need to register in an app called eGovPh, which will record your arrival details and capture more information about your itinerary. If you fill it out early, you will be issued a QR code that can help you cross immigration easily.
The Philippines is not very friendly for vegetarians or vegans, so try to find restaurants or supermarkets near where you plan to stay to ensure hassle-free meals according to your dietary requirements. If you are in an island, do inform the hotel staff for options that are available to you.
It’s better to exchange your currency in the Philippines, as the exchange rates are much better.
If you're traveling to an island, please note that most travel is via ferry or boat. Check the last boat timings and cross-reference them with your arrival time. If you're arriving too late or too early in the morning, reach out to your accommodation for help planning your travel.
Why Malapascua?
Malapascua was not our initial choice. A friend's friend had traveled there to complete her advanced diving course and had given a wonderful review of her stay.
Also, since El Nido and Palawan are more frequently visited, we felt this island would be less crowded. Malapascua is an island frequented by the diving community, and there’s not much to do besides diving and snorkeling. Water activities like paragliding and jet skiing are not available on the island, so if you're here, it's mostly for diving.
Definitely a must-visit if you just want to escape the hubbub of the city and are looking for a serene place by the ocean to unwind.
Apart from diving, there are other things you can do in Malapascua that we tried:
Visiting Kalanggaman Island – a sand beach
Snorkeling around different locations near Malapascua: Coral Garden, Japanese Shipwreck, Chocolate Island, and Baby Shark Lagoon
Exploring Malapascua: local eateries, the lighthouse, and spas
Diving School: Adventure Diving in Malapascua (you don’t need to be a certified diver for this).
Travelling to Malapascua
To get to the island, you need to travel from Cebu to Maya Port, which is about a 3-4 hour journey by car. We asked our hotel to arrange a car to pick us up from Cebu airport. Since we had a long journey to reach Cebu, it seemed easier to pre-plan our travel to Maya Port. The last boat leaves Maya Port at 5:30 pm. If you arrive later than that, you might need to ask your hotel to arrange a private boat for you.
Maya Port
There are plenty of resorts to stay at on the island, but we stayed at Angelina Hotel. It was one of the cheapest options and completely worth every buck we paid. The resort has an Italian restaurant where we had the best meals during our stay. This resort is also not in the central part of the island, so it’s peaceful and not too crowded in the evening. The owner of the hotel was extremely friendly and had adopted pretty much every cat in the area. Basically, all boxes were ticked: good stay, good food, and sweet little kitties to keep you company!
Our muse in Angelina Hotel
What we did on the Island
The only thing we had planned was to get our open water diving certification here, which is why we planned a 4-night stay on the island. The island is filled with diving schools, so there wasn’t much to worry about. After our confined water diving (day 1 of the course), things didn’t go as planned as we fell sick, the weather wasn’t great, and we had to improvise our itinerary.
Me trying to fit into the wet suit which was quite a challenge
Here are the list of the other activities we ended up doing on the island:
Visiting Kalanggaman Island
Kalanggaman Island is a beautiful island surrounded by white sand beaches. You can snorkel, take stunning pictures, or simply swim around the island. You can also pay to kayak here. There are two ends of the island. One has strong currents, and the locals will forbid you from swimming or snorkeling there. This is due to several fatalities caused by the strong currents, so please be cautious when choosing where to swim or snorkel.
We also had the priviledge to come across a super pod of dolphins when we left the island. I would say there was around 60-70 of them. They were swimming at such a speed, it was just in a blink of an eye that we saw them. I was so so happy to spot dolphins in the wild!
The travel time from Malapascua to Kalanggaman is around 2 hours, so consider this an all-day event as we returned around 4:30-5 pm. We paid 1,500 pesos for the day trip, which included a heavy lunch and a cool drink. Additionally, we had to pay 1,000 pesos as an island fee. You will be travelling with a group of 10-15 people, so you get to interact with other guests on the island.
Make sure to ask your hotel staff about the best rates for this day trip to avoid overpaying. We made good friends with the staff at Angelina, and they helped us plan and negotiate better rates.
Snorkeling around the Island
This was an impromptu plan, but it was completely worth it! We reached out to the hotel staff, who connected us to a local guide who took us to the best snorkeling spots. We paid 1,300 pesos per person and visited several locations: Coral Garden, Japanese Shipwreck, Chocolate Island, and Baby Shark Lagoon. Each place has its unique charm, so ask your guide for details. Our guide was super knowledgeable and helped us identify common marine species. Later, we visited our diving school to read up on the species we had spotted.
Exploring Malapascua
You can explore the island with a guide or on your own. My friend and I ventured out on our own to visit local eateries, small market shops, and spas. The island is quite small, so there’s not much to do, but you can rent a motorbike to ride around, visit the lighthouse, and try local snacks and drinks, which we did. We also went out early in the morning with the fishermen to learn about local fishing practices and interact with the fisherfolk community.
Don’t limit yourself to what others say—reach out to locals to see what more there is to explore. If you're super adventurous, remember to stay safe when venturing out on your own. Safety first!
Also, one last thing to remember. You are a guest in the island. Please be mindful about the trash you carry. If you happen to see any kind of litter around the island or in the water while swimming/diving/snorkeling, please do collect them and dispose them off properly. It is your duty to help protect these pristine coral reefs from any kind of marine litter. I guess the islanders would agree as well!
Toodaloo!
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