G's Travelogy (Uncut, Uncensored, Unrated): Survivor Philippines - Part 2/3 (The Good)

The best part about Malapascua Island, wasn't the waters, or the sand, it was what happens when dusk breaks - an undocumented intertidal walk that tops Singapore's very own Semakau Landfill. In terms of the clarify of the waters, there weren't very clear compared to Cambodia's Saracen Bay. It was rather "dirty" too, with sea ferns washing up the shore.

Also, the shore was very rocky, making swimming difficult. Especially the promised private beach of Tepanee Beach Resort. The waters there were much better, looked picturesque in photos, but not feasible when it came to relaxing along the beach or swimming it. The rocks were razorblade-like, it was a test of true grit waddling into the waters, fighting the strong currents (cos the resort is on the tip of the island, therefore the waves tend to be stronger) just to experience a bit of paradise.

If you ask me, it wasn't worth it. I came across Ocean Vida resort, and found it to be one of the best places to stay because your room will be facing Bounty Beach itself, unlike Tepanee Beach Resort which was so exclusive, even the pick up boat that dropped us off, the boat that belonged to the 3Js had to dock quite far out in the waters. We had to get our feets wet before we came onshore, to our resort.

Tepanee Beach Resort was #1 in Tripadvisor a few months back, only to be taken over by Ocean Vida recently, and its only fitting. While I didn't stay in Ocean Vida to assess how good it was, Tepanee Beach Resort shouldn't even be #2 in Tripadvisor. The bad hookups and the bad conditions of the rooms which they provided is a recipe for disaster... instead of boosting Malapascua tourism, it only serves to dampen it otherwise. I shall elaborate more on my accommodation reviews because this post is reserved for the good stuff.

The intertidal walk was a walk to remember, seeing locals searching for sea cucumbers and cockles, and waddling the shallow waters onto patches of raised grounds littered with seagrass, the marine biodiversity was "orgasmic". I don't wanna sound crude or rude here but it was such a euphoric experience that it made travelling 3.5 hours by plane, 3 hours by car and 45 mins by boat well worth it.

We saw hermit crabs, crabs, sea slugs, many different types and schools of fishes, sea plants, starfishes, even our favourite Knobbly sea star, sea urchins and many others unknown marine life good enough to take up an entire 2 hours. Even when the sun set, we weren't done yet, I wasn't done yet. Even though we wanted to go for another round of intertidal walk the next day, we were unable to because by the time we got back from Kelanggaman, the skies were already too dim to be able to spot anything.

We were out on one of the seagrass patches when this guy came up to us and asked if we wanted to sign up for the group tour to Kalanggaman. Because there were so many of them approaching us, I kinda mixed them up, the "good" and the "bad". I had kinda promised this 3 others folks that I'll sign up with them after considering and was what I wanted to do that evening but was caught up by this other guy who's perpetually wearing his rainbow colored sunglasses. He mentioned he was JR's cousin and I thought, oh no, not again. I don't want anything to do with JR.

I tried to shoo him off but he was rather persistent. It was until I told him that I kinda promised that I would sign up with this other company, "Fun & Sun", the other 3 guys whom we saw the previous night that he kinda backed off. Before going, I asked his name, and to my disbelief, it was the same freaking guy, one of the 3 guys whom I had "promised" from "Fun & Sun". I was extremely puzzled cos the guy standing right in front of me, Rudy, didn't even realise that I was talking about him, to him. It was quite comical, but I eventually signed up with him and told him that I want nothing to do with JR.

You see, the 3Js are from "5 Brothers 6". There are a couple of other companies, but they appear to be more specialised towards thresher shark watching. Rudy is a freelance for "Fun & Sun".

Rudy promised me that I won't be boarding with JR's crew but to my disbelief, the next morning, we met the 3Js yet again, Tong, another of JR's cousin was trying to leech us over to their boat. I was insisted about it, I rejected it and said that I was with Rudy. I kept throwing his name out like an immunity idol but circumstances resulted in us having to board... JR's pump boat yet again! W.T.F. A blindside!

But... but... Rudy did come on board the boat to apologise and explain to me that he was cropped up with this other group of tourists (think that was what he said cos his English wasn't very good) therefore he was unable to join us... ok, he's forgiven.

Thankfully, there were like about 15 other passengers on board which made the "cornering-pressure" con ineffective in that situation.

There was this other big group of Japanese which also stayed at Tepanee Beach Resort who joined us as well. I saw the guy giving some money to the cheater-pack and Tong pocketed it rather sneakily, which by then I realised they were gonna be ripped off. We didn't mingle with them much only until later that evening but the communication barrier wasn't conducive for exposing the cheat-pack.

When we reached Kalanggaman Islet, it was truly beautiful. The sand dunes though covered with water looked like a golden route to an island paradise.

Though the waters looked turquoisely inviting, the snorkelling site of the islet was so rocky we gave up halfway and decided to swim at the sandier portion. Even the sandier portion was rock-riddened. The only way to prevent his toes from hitting the rocks or landing onto some pokier ones, was to go further out into the ocean, which was kinda intimidating for us without a life jacket.

We were not strong swimmers because we don't swim often, and the tides were rather menacing. After lunch, we headed to the other side of the island where we saw yet another mini-beach. We were told not to swim there due to the strong currents. We had to walk through this palm-like plantation, well cleared for walking where we came across a half-completed altar, crossing birds (think they were quails), and a solitary tree at the extreme end of the islet.

We did a crazy number of jump shots at our "private beach", before heading back to the main site where the sand dune was. It wasn't only until later that we found out Kalanggaman Islet, meant somewhat like a bird, with the sand dunes representing the wings on each side, but the sand dune on the other side of the islet was destroyed during a recent massive typhoon, Typhoon Haiyan during last November (2013).

On the islet, JR came up to me and asked if I wanted to join his alliance (get him for the pick up back to Cebu; he told me all I had to do was to inform Tepanee that I want his services), I mean of course why in the world would I do that? So I told him that my vote goes to Rudy, that I had already signed up with him. And lo and behold... he actually had the cheek to "lecture" me about how Tepanee would be angry about my decision and that I should have stuck with Tepanee and requested for the "beloved" 3Js to be part of our "trusted" alliance. I got a bit irritated then and told him off but asking "Is there a problem?" To which, he finally backed off and to which the alliance was forever severed...

When the tides finally receded, we headed out to the sand dunes, by then some parts were already out of water. However, while it looked super gorgeous, it was an ordeal to walk on. The sand wasn't the powdery kind, but comprised of coral debris. But it was well worth enduring the pain to take what many would call a "postcard perfect virgin island".

We had befriended a local couple from Manila, Sarah and Paulo whom we eventually carpooled to Cebu/Mactan Island the next day. Sarah's a chef working with Jollibee (their local fast food chain specialising in Burgers and Wings), so she recommended many local delights, which my dear managed to write down in her notebook and told us there was this highly rated Italian restaurant by the name of Angelica which was near our resort. Little did we know that that restaurant was actually right at the foot of our resort, less than 2 metres away from our receptionist!

The food there was ggggooooodddd. Delish! My dear tried the best Chocolate Banana Shake (to quote her), while I tried the chewiest Squid Ink Pasta ever. I'm a fan of chewy stuff so the squid ink pasta, though not the most delicious, was highly memorable.

Together with Sarah and Paulo from Manila

The carpool to my next Resort destination in Mactan Island was 4,500pesos, while the 2 of us initially had to pay 3,500pesos for the private car. We made the deal with Rudy, though persistent, seemed like an honest chap. He was one of the 2 persons whom I think I could really trust on Malapascua Island, the other being Yogi from "Fun & Sun". Remember the 3 persons I told you about from Fun & Sun, there was Rudy, Yogi and Michael. Michael was yet another cousin of JR I think. See? They're all related.

Well he didn't seem such a bad person compared to the notorious JR, the "Fun & Sun" guys seemed more decent in comparison to "5 Brothers 6". So if you're making a trip down to Malapascua, you can try contacting Rudy, whose contact can be seen below. I believe the "Fun & Sun" guys would be able to give you a better value-for-money experience than the 3Js cheat-pack.

Contact: Rudy Rosales - 09194857441