snorkeling at El Nido Palawan! alright!

The last scene in the Honda Bay tour post was the festive dinner. I think I got it wrong. That was supposed to be in our first trip to Palawan, when we missed everything on the first day. We went straight to El Nido from Honda Bay and arrived there maybe at around 9pm. We checked in to Hadefe Beach Cottages in a 3-bed, air-conditioned room with toilet, and went back to town to search for food.. the dinner's on us this time, the dinner's always on us in El Nido. Our cottage was located a bit far from the town; around 10 to 15 minutes walk depending on how fast you walk, passing a cemetery with no lights on the small road.. with dogs barking on us, and a snake which passed ahead of us. Thankfully it just passed, but we were told that snakes are normal in their place, so we're just like, okay!

Armed with flash lights (I'm glad my friends are always ready), we walked to the town to eat. We chose the first restaurant that we saw because it's already late and we're really hungry. The food was nice, though a bit expensive, actually, it was really expensive, so we went for the cheaper ones the next night, and asked them (the Hadefe crew) to cook for us the night after that. We just need to experience the town you know.

Our breakfasts in Hadefe were free; fried rice, eggs and ham, corned beef the other day, hot dogs.. danguit I think was also served, fruits and of course, coffee. Oh, did I mention how nice their place is? check them out here, and the people are so friendly, the dogs too!

@nevetessa and friends ☺ pic.twitter.com/z0h3SgQjt4
— Cristine M (@xtinem17) July 17, 2013

That puppy was playing on my feet and was joined by those 2 other dogs, then they played with each other. I don't know if they're asking for food, or they just want to play with me. After a few, I left them to prepare for our island hopping tour.

There were 3 tour packages, but originally there were 4, and we only were able to book for 2 tours which what we can only afford. And so we chose tour a and c.. which commonly what tourists choose, they say.

TOUR A : Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, lunch at Simizu Beach, Seven Commando
Sunset viewing and beach bumming, Inta lola Island.

TOUR C : Helicopter Island, Secret Beach,
Secret Lagoon, Matinloc Shrine, Tapiutan Island,
Star Beach, Lunch at Helicopter Island

We snorkeled all day.. and if you're wondering how I did it? Well, with the help of our awesome and macho tour guide, Loloy, and his donut, we survived and enjoyed every islands we visited. He's got tattoos too, and I advised him to stretch it up to his wrist, and color them. He's a very good diver, and a strong swimmer to pull us four girls everywhere.

I was actually a little worried that day.. it was my first day, and I asked Loloy if it's going to be okay? Because, you know, sharks could smell blood even from a far distance, and he told me, and I can't believe he knew that, that it will stop as soon as we get into the water. Still anxious of the sharks in my head, I put on the snorkeling gear and joined them in the donut.

And as soon as I put my head down the water, I felt like I was smiling up to the back of my head. The water is so clear. I could see everything; the corals, the fishes, Vicente, our second tour guide who's busy taking pictures of these beauties.

photo credit to Vanessa

And I even saw some plankton which they said were the reasons why it got a bit itchy.. indication that it's time to go back to the beach. And I remember they said to never scratch because it could irritate the skin. Well, I'm pretty sure I didn't. My hands are too busy holding tight on the donut. We were merely in a 20 feet deep.. or more.

We had lunch at the Simizu beach where everybody had their lunch, and went back to snorkeling and fed the fishes!