Island Hopping: Pandanon Island & Hilutungan Marine Reserve

Date: 2018-12-09

---

Booking

Tour operator: All Blue, based at Vista Mar Beach Hotel on Mactan Island. Booked through VELTRA, a Japanese-language platform for overseas tours and activities.

Price: $82 per person, including lunch, unlimited soft drinks, and hotel transfers. An additional 2,000 pesos (~¥4,300) was charged at departure — for entrance fees and boat costs.

Our group: 11 people in total, all Japanese.

The Boat

A bankarboat — the traditional Philippine outrigger boat, with long bamboo arms extending from both sides of the hull for stability. The boat type used everywhere in the Visayas for inter-island transport, fishing, and tourism. Moves smoothly even in choppy water; the bamboo outriggers absorb most of the roll.

Stop 1: Hilutungan Marine Reserve

20 minutes by boat from the pier. Hilutungan is a protected marine reserve — no fishing, no anchoring on coral.

Snorkelling equipment provided: mask, snorkel, and buoyancy vest. No fins — the vest is enough to stay afloat without kicking. An instructor accompanied the group in the water.

The coral and fish life in the reserve were immediately apparent. The instructor had brought small pieces of sausage to attract fish, and within seconds of scattering them in the water, we were surrounded. A cloud of tropical fish — yellow, blue, striped — close enough to touch.

40 minutes in the water. Clear, warm, shallow enough to see the bottom in most areas. For anyone not confident in open water, the buoyancy vest and calm conditions made it accessible.

Stop 2: Pandanon Island

An hour's boat ride further out. Pandanon Island has a reputation locally — sometimes called "the island closest to heaven," a description the visual does support on a clear day.

Arrival: Fine white sand, water in three shades of emerald and turquoise. Shallow for a considerable distance from shore. The kind of sea photograph that looks filtered — except it isn't.

Facilities:

• 150 pesos entrance fee (included in the tour price)
• A palapa (thatched open-air gazebo) reserved for our group, 250 pesos (included)

Island vendors: Local Filipinos walking the beach selling fresh seafood — calling out to us in Japanese: "300円！ 300円！" (about 140 pesos at the time). The seafood was freshly caught, sold directly on the beach. Grilled on the spot if you want.

Lunch

BBQ chicken and pork, cooked on the island. Served with rice and garlic rice. Dessert: fresh pineapple and mango. Unlimited soft drinks throughout — cola, iced tea, juice.

The mango in Cebu is a different fruit from what's available in UK supermarkets — ripe, yellow, intensely sweet. Eaten on a white beach in 32°C heat, difficult to improve on.

The Afternoon

One hour on the beach and in the water after lunch. The sea was warm enough that no one wanted to leave.

Departed at 2:00pm. Back to the hotel mid-afternoon.

Our son fell asleep in the boat on the way back. By 8:00pm, all three of us were asleep — a day in the sea and sun takes it out of you completely, regardless of age.

Worth every peso.