Our Short Trip
Malapascua island is located in the northernmost tip of Cebu, Philippines. Malapascua is a small island, only about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) long and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide, and has eight hamlets. This diving destination was recently discovered in the 90’s. It has numerous dive spots but it is most famous for its thresher shark and manta ray encounters in the Monad Shoal.
The 126.40 km bus ride from Cebu North Bus Terminal to Maya port took 4 hours. The airconditioned bus will be leaving in an hour so we opted to take the ordinary bus instead.
We got to Maya port just before noon. We can go to the island by renting our own outrigger boat or riding the local boat commute. There are trips to the island until late at night. If you decide to take this commute though, you will have to wait until they have the minimum number of passengers (26 people) before the boat leaves. This would be a relaxed 3-day trip and we were not in any hurry so we took the local commute for Php80.00 per person. We waited for 35 minutes and then we were off.
At 12:40 in the afternoon, we were in Malapascua! Our boat came through the back beach of the island. It was such a hot day…great for taking pictures but terrible for my nose bleeding! So far, it looked promising but I did not want to get my hopes too high until I actually walk on the sand, swim in their waters, interact with the locals and try their way of life.
Several men approached us offering to take us to several resorts. Apparently, they get a commission from resorts for every room booking. It was already past lunch and our stomachs were rumbling violently so our priority was not accommodations but FOOD!!!!!
A good 5-minute walk and I recognized one of the good restaurants that I had researched. Kokay’s Maldito Grill and Resto bar had good reviews so we tried it out.
The walls are painted yellow and orange and the whole place is tastefully decorated. It kind of has a Moroccan or Mexican feel. My verdict…relaxing ambience, tasteful design and there’s so much space to go around.
The food was not bad. They have a wide variety in their menu. Just be sure to go there and order when you’re not yet too hungry because it takes a while for them to cook and serve the food. Ours took 20 minutes. We ordered…
Chilli prawn salad which was well seasoned but the shrimps were small. I would have loved real prawns to go with the crunchy salad. No pictures for this because we were so hungry, we ate it all before we remembered to bring out the camera!
Chicken in puff pastry. I ordered a dish for one but when it came out I was surprised to see how big the portion was. It also comes with a side salad. The puff pastry is flavoured well, chicken and mushroom slices were plenty and big, and the cream sauce was rich and just right for my palate.
After lunch, we wanted to freshen up right away so we looked for a place to stay. It was not even summer but a lot of the places especially the cheaper rooms are booked. Boy it was hard to choose where to stay! We looked at the available rooms in resorts around the island and almost all were impressively clean, spacious and aesthetically pleasing.
We got a huge beachfront room with an equally huge patio because I love waking up to work early in the morning, just before sunrise, in islands with fantastic view of the beach and the sea. We’d have to live with no television for 3 days because all the tv rooms were booked but we did not mind. By then it was 2:30 in the afternoon. After napping for an hour, I went to the patio to read my marketing research articles while listening to reggae music.
Just before sunset, we walked along the white beach. We picked a spot and sat there while waiting for sunset. The place was so quiet and the wind was just right...not too cold and not to strong.
After dinner as we were stargazing, some young girls approached us and shyly offered to sell us some souvenirs. We bought two necklaces for Php80.00 each.
Our second day was planned for island hopping and laying at the beach until sunset, and that’s exactly what we did!
We went on an island hopping tour in reverse with our boat captain/tour guide Mang Cardo, starting with Daquit reef, the creepy Japanese shipwreck (something about wrecks creeps me out…probably the tragic story behind it and the thought of many dying along with it), the 50-feet cliff jump which gave me such a rush and the massive coral garden. The island is not populated by big fish but the coral reefs are magnificent. The locals have done a great job trying to revive their reefs.
We both loved swimming in the Malapascua waters because it is very clean. I must say this is one of my favorite beaches and body of water in the Philippines.
The Place
Balconies
Every room in every resort had a balcony or a patio. Most were big and perfect for hanging out with a group of friends, reading a book, writing your blog or just relaxing and enjoying the view.
Infrastructure
I might have written enough to say how much we loved the place. We’ve been to too many places in the Philippines, swam in too many beaches, and tried too many adventures but this is definitely one that we will go back to in the future.
The only thing additional that I’d like to say about Malapascua is how well the construction around the island is planned. Just a while ago, resort owners were required to push back their areas by 20 meters to widen the shoreline. The beach and the resorts are clearly separated by a walkway with concrete pavements on each side. No vehicle is allowed along this stretch to keep the sand clean and unspoiled. It reminds me of Boracay and Alona beach but MUCH MUCH cleaner and MUCH less populated.
I took this picture in mid-afternoon on a Saturday in March 2012…
The Food
Whenever we visit a new place, we try to sample the local’s way of life. In a short span of time, this can usually be done by eating what the locals eat.
During our first night, we had dinner at a local barbecue stand and mini store along the street where the local houses are. We paid only Php183.00 for 1 puso (steamed rice wrapped in leaves) 4 pork barbecue, 1 chicken barbecue, 2 isaw (chicken intestine), 1 grilled chorizo, 2 grilled chicken feet, 1 tanduay ice, 1 soda and 1 liter distilled water.
The store is stacked with all types of alcoholic drinks and other goods that suit the taste of foreign guests. It even sold white and red wine and Schwepps!
Other reasonably priced meals that we tried are…
Mixed fruit pancake (Php100.00), Omelette with tomatoes and onions (Php75.00) and Fried noodles with chicken and vegetables (Php65.00) at Ging-ging’s
Vegetable cooked in coconut milk, Sweet and sour fish, Fried chicken with garlic and onions and Mango sling (Php60.00), also at Ging-ging’s
While lying on the beach, we saw food vendors selling all sorts of snacks. We sampled…
Turon rolled in white sugar (Php5.00 each)
Fresh honey from the mountain (Php150.00 per bottle)
Maruya (banana fritters) for Php6.00 per piece and banana cake for Php10.00 per small loaf, which I forgot to take pictures of.
Lastly…my favorite…Grilled and Adobo shells or Saang in the local dialect…
One must-try restaurant for me is Angelina. This is located in the far side of the back beach but the walk from Bounty beach is worth it! The food portions were big and the service was excellent!
One very important thing to remember when dining in the island: NEVER RUSH. Wherever we went to eat, the food always took a long time to be served. This is probably because people are supposed to come here to unwind. Order your food before you’re hungry, savour it and dine slowly. This is the Malapascua way of eating.
The People
All throughout the island, I saw similar traits among the people that made me love my stay even more.
Guests
We got to the island on a Friday afternoon. The resorts are all fully booked. About 90% of the guests are Caucasians and mostly Europeans. On Saturday afternoon, Cebuano tourists came in groups but majority of the guests were still Caucasians.
Care for the Environment
The beach is clean. During our ocular inspection of each resort, I noticed that almost all segregates their trash and encourages all guests to do the same in the common areas. They also support the program to rebuild their reef and recover from over fishing by converting their livelihood to tourism instead of fishing.
Respect
Since fishing is banned in most areas to help recover from overfishing and dynamite fishing in the past, the locals rely on tourism for their source of living. Some are canvassers, island hopping boatmen, masseuse, food vendors, accessories and other souvenir vendor and many more. For the whole duration of my stay in the island, people would constantly approach to offer their merchandise or service. The difference with the other islands is that the place is not cramped with vendors and when we’re not interested, we only needed to say no once. They never insisted, they never followed us around and they always kept a certain distance to give us a sense of privacy.
Generosity
Everyone I have encountered was generous.
Generous with the food. The meal portions are big whether bought from the beach vendors, the town barbecue vendor or in the restaurants.
Generous with information…whenever we ask for information from anyone, they would willingly give out information without anything in return. One day we were looking for shells to eat. We asked one wood souvenir carver, the resort owners, the street vendors, a beach masseuse and several canvassers. All were very helpful without making us feel obliged to buy their product or give anything in return. One canvasser even went to the shell vendor’s house and brought her to where we were staying.
Generous with their place. The resort owners are not restrictive. One can choose a spot and lay on the sand anywhere.
They were generous with their warmth and their smiles. We particularly loved the smile of the young girls who sold us the souvenir necklaces. It is very rare that we go to a place where the people can be both shy and warm at the same time.
On the reception desk of Cocobana beach resort, the oldest resort in Malapascua, there is a card that is labelled smiling seashell that says “It doesn’t take a lot to make a person smile.”
I now end this article by giving you a smiling seashell from the island of Malapascua so you can experience the warm welcome of the beautiful people in this beautiful place.
