Last few days in Malapascua

After a long day on Sunday we decided we would spend the next day just exploring other areas of Malapascua. Sean saw the sandy roads as a perfect playground for him to learn to ride a motorbike, but seen as he's never driven one before I wasn't keen on jumping on the back. So we squeezed on the back of a locals bike and went up to the very north of the island, to Bantigue Cove. This side of the island doesn't get many tourists. It has a small village and some very secluded beaches, one of theses we were going to visit. It was so nice to be away from the main sites and to be able to sit on a beach without boats coming and going every 5 minutes. We were dropped as far as the driver could take us, but he pointed us in the direction we needed to go. We headed up over the hill and came across what we thought was a half built building of some kind, but as we carried on and looked in, it was fully fitted as a bathroom, and all of the steps and path ways surrounding it were decorated with shells and patterns. It then became clear that it was actually the remains of a resort that we were walking around. From what we can gather, it is damage from the 2013, super typhoon Yolanda. It passed directly over the island, causing a lot of damage, but it's well known that the locals recovered from the effects very quickly. Just apparently not in all areas.

(The host at the resort we're staying at since confirmed this to us, and explained it only lasted a couple of hours but the results were devastating)

We got down to the beach and saw only 2 other couples there. Coincidently, one of which were from the resort we were in. We snorkelled, sunbathed under the palm trees and Alex continued to practice her diving.

This was the poorly captured moment on camera of Alex diving under 10ft and touching the bottom for the first time haha. Small things.

We weren't quite prepared for exactly how remote it was up here and we were quite aware that we had only brought 2 flasks of water, so we walked along the beaches till we got to a village and managed to find a tiny wooden shop. It was clear the locals weren't as used to tourists here but they were so nice still. We bought the exact same bottles of water that we've been buying the whole time on the island, for almost half the price. But as expected in the more touristy places. The driver picked us up after a few hours and we got back, got ready and went for dinner. We then had the fun task of doing the washing. Sean's turn this time at least.

Today, we hadn't made any plans as such. The morning was spent booking accommodation for Cebu city for the night before we fly, accommodation for Vietnam, sorting out visas, and transferring funds etc. Enough fun tasks to do without the added poor WIFI which comes with the island. We were both getting really bored by early afternoon so we decided to hop on another motorbike back up north, but this time to the other end of the northern coast, where we were hoping the cliff jumping would be.

There was a small entrance fee to go up the top of the cliff, which involved walking through another resort ruined by the storm, now seemingly lived in by a man on his own with his dogs.

As we got to the top Alex was still unsure if she was going to do the 50ft jump or not. The view was great but standing over the edge looked high and unfortunately I have to admit I was unsure if I was going to do it. Getting undressed and sorting out the camera woman was my preparation time until I was stood looking down and trying to push myself to jump. After a couple of minutes I leaped off and it was such a thrill. Coming out of the water all I was bothered about was if Alex had got the picture. I started to swim back around the cliff to get out when Alex shouted that there were loads of fish around me. Although it may not come across, I'm really not good with being in the sea especially not on my own in deep sea (a little fear of mine). So the swim back was full of panic and fear that I was going to be eaten by something. (Thanks Alex!) haha. In the end she didn't fancy taking the leap. I think I put her off a bit by saying that I felt like I'd had a panic attack as soon as I got back haha.

Spot sean swimming back

Panic over we walked back to the shop we found yesterday in the nearby village, stocked up on water, then found a small shaded area by the beach. Turned out to be a good day.

Wednesday and Thursday there is a big fiesta happening on the island, so we're really gutted that we're going to miss it. People come from all the nearby islands and Cebu mainland to be apart of it. All the boats get decorated with bunting and flags, there are parades and performances and basically it's a big party for everyone.

We just managed to catch the beginning of it from a distance as we left on the boat.

:)