Virgin Island

We were up at the crack of dawn to go dolphin watching. We were lucky enough to have seen at least 10 bottle nosed dolphins and it was a bit manic as there were at least 8 boats chasing after the school. It was quite exciting and the guides knew exactly where to find these cute marine mammals. The school frequented the area to feed and I learned that some of the guides used to be whale hunters and now they're using their skill for eco-tourism purposes, thank goodness!

Island hopping and snorkeling was the order of the day after we left the dolphins in peace. The day was beautiful and the Sun was out in full force. J&D ended up with red arms, back and faces after we finished snorkeling and I having a slightly darker skin just turned browner! Lol.

We checked out Balicasag and Virgin Islands. I've been to Balicasag before on a dive trip and it is a wonderful place. The people are friendly and fresh sea food is available at relatively cheaper prices compared to how much they cost in the mainland. Life is simple and slow in this beautiful place and they rely on a generator for power which is only available from 6PM until midnight. When I asked one of the locals what their favourite past time was, he replied "making babies in the dark" with a big grin on his face. Lol! The island is frequented both by foreign and local tourists for snorkeling and diving activities and the one and only resort on the island is run by the Phil. Tourism Authority.

Virgin Island on the other hand is uninhabited as the isle does not have a source of fresh water. Vendors come in their boats during the day to sell tourists souvenirs, coconut drinks, pearls and all sorts of stuff and go home when the last tourist for the day leaves. The island is shaped like a crescent moon where the white sands extend on both sides of the island and depending on whether it is high or low tide, tourists can walk from end to end. It was quite surreal and I could easily have spent hours lazing on the sand but the Sun was too hot even for me so we decided to head back to the mainland after lunch.

I finished my day with another massage as the knee was starting to really hurt. J&D were worse off and finished 2 bottles of Aloe to ease their sun burnt skin. All three of us happily ended our night early. Life is good and a few sore muscles and skin is such a small price to pay for the excellent week we've had so far. ;)

Apologies for the dusts on the image, I don't have my retouching tool handy so most of my images for the next 3 months will either be SOOC or minor editing done using Snapseed on my iPad. Come October I may have to lock myself in my room for a month to do some serious image clean up of the thousands of photos i'll surely be taking for the rest of this holiday! The hazard of constantly changing lenses is a dirty sensor. :( I hope you still like the images though. :)