CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF AWESOME IN MALAPASCUA


Here are the main ingredients for a Great Beach Getaway: bright sun, inviting blue sea, hot sand under your back as you lounge around your island of choice. So color me surprised when none of this happened on my very first trip to that oft-bucketlisted island Malapascua.

 Malapascua Island---aptly named for the "unfortunate Christmas" the Spaniards experienced when they first arrived---is located at the northernmost part of Cebu. It's more or less a 4 hour trip from the city. Quite a journey that will test your bladder capacity. Hey, that rhymes! Anyway. Take off from the North Bus terminal where you can either hop on a bus, or ride a Vhire. Either of which are at around P180 and are airconditioned with free WIFI on board. Best to leave early as well. The friends and I took a few hours off our night shift work and were out of the city at around 5 in the morning. Talk about excited, yeah?

Now, here's what you never expect on your Great Beach Escapade: rain. Typhoon Ruby's (Hagupit) prelude, no less, greeted us as we made our way up north. It was rather daunting. And annoying, I admit.  I wanted to bitch slap the hell out of Ruby for prematurely ruining our long-belated trip to the beautiful island. *sad face* *sigh*



Thankfully, the friends and I arrived to the Maya port with finally a tiny teeny sliver of sun in the horizon. After green fields and mountains, we're seeing some body of water! Yes! But take a look at the clouds, though. They seem rather, er, forboding. But even that didn't stop us. We must, must go to Malapascua, boat safety be damned! LOL, just kidding. The boatmen still deemed it safe to cross the sea to the actual island, so all's cool. See, we even have a selfie to prove our bravery:



The sea travel was pleasant enough, if you like them full of waves and the occasional drizzle. It was like a roller coaster ride! Pearl and I made an in-case-we-don't-survive-this-boat-ride video which never served its purpose, thankfully! God was, as usual, amazing for getting us through the sea and the sun shone a tad bit brighter when we reached the prized destination:


This gave us a sense of hope! Also, whilst the weather was, uh, uncooperative, we were greeted by lovely tourist guides who were more than happy to assist us the moment we clambered off the boat.
Yey for friendly locals! This is one way for them to offer you day trips to make most of your Malapascua stay. These tourist guides slash boatmen offer packages for island hopping, snorkeling and even diving with the famed thresher sharks!




Malapascua is also lined with resorts, like literally. All across the beach front are hotels and backpacker inns, all of varying prices and amenities. The place is also crawling with foreigners! It was like being out in a different country altogether.



Malapascua is famed for its thresher sharks, since its one of the few places in the world where the sharks have taken permanent residence in. The island is full of dive shops, which are in turn full of foreign and local divers who wanna swim with the beautiful creatures. Check out the BBC feature about these cool babies right here.
After settling into our cute little inn, we headed out for some lunch. Lunch in Malapascua can be a tad bit pricey if you don't know where to look. Good thing some guides and the ever-trusty Mariel know about this cool place called Ging-Ging's where the food is as good as it's gonna get at P50. Quite an adventure since the place is located in the back alleys of the island.




Oh yum! Is it possible that this was the freshest fried fish I've ever had thus far? Ging-ging's has an awesome menu that has everything from fish and chips to your favorite Pinoy food. 

The afternoon was made for lounging around the island after such a long journey. The sun hid back in the thick curtain of clouds and we were treated to a nice cool drizzle whilst taking a dip in the beach.





The weather also called for some exploring aka Walking in the Rain Moments!






Look at how overcast the day was! Not your typical island get away.  Even then Malapascua proved to be hauntingly beautiful. I guess it has something to do with how far you are from the city and how, in this island miles away from home, you can find a certain sense of belongingness to it. Makes me think of adding quiet coves, rain-splattered sand, and warm locals to my list of ingredients for a Great Beach Escapade, now that I think about it. :)

After a nice shower and a great sinugba dinner, it was time to call it a day.  Because tomorrow, more magic was about to happen. We were hopping on a boat and going to see just what snorkeling in Malapascua was about!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Malapascua adventure! Til next time!




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2 comments

  1. Nice chana! Glad to see you in shadows. Lol

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  2. cheh hahahahaha wished u were here sah? :P :P

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