An outdated software engineer with the attention span of a fruit fly explores the Philippines.
It was already 37 minutes past three in the morning when I did a final check if all the plugged gadgets were charging, ensuring we have enough juice for our El Nido island hopping activity. Following firefly watching in Iwahig (where I have no proof of the sightings because I was too busy dramatically thinking if a croc was gonna attack our boat in the dark), we flew from Puerto Princesa to El Nido in a van. It was one of those moments where you get to be thankful for an nth life, where n > 1.
Bucas Grande has always been under my radar due to its proximity to my home province. When I fin’lly (wow, twang again) had the chance to visit it, what I actually had in mind was a typical island hopping activity. Apparently, you can also swim with stingless jellyfish in Sohoton Cove. (The use of “stingless” there may have been unnecessary. Who wants to get hurt, right?) My GoPro was still alive back then and the nasty little devils sure did a very good job in showcasing how much wonder there is beneath the surface.
Following our quickie (which didn’t feel like one, by the way) in Hinugtan Beach, we made our way from Alegria, Aklan to Sebaste, Antique in two tricycle rides and one bus ride within two hours. From there we hopped on one more tricycle and arrived at the jump-off point to Igpasungaw Falls around three o’clock.
If you haven’t heard the news, summer is basically upon us again. And before we know it, it could be almost over already. I already had a dose of Vitamin Sea so Bunker Dive Resort ain’t the first for this season but because I loved our quickie how quick and easy it was to get there, here I am, bragging about it first.
Ever since I tried going to Panay via 2GO Travel I’ve always thought that the island is easily accessible from Metro Manila for a quick weekend getaway. If you’re working on a day shift, you just have to work undertime on a Friday to catch the vessel in the evening and go half-day on Monday (the vessel may arrive early but there’s still the bus ride from the port and it’s a manic day). It wasn’t long until I did it again to bite a late summer escape in Hinugtan Beach in Aklan.
When I came across a blog post (which I can no longer find) on skydiving in Bantayan Island and saw that Skydive Greater Cebu was already accepting reservations, boy, the following day I found myself at the bank paying for the down payment amounting to ₱3,000. The activity cost ₱18,000 but they had an early bird promo which reduced the amount by ₱3,000. That meant I had ample time to save for the balance and my birthday. Very doable, if you ask me.