Today we made sure to set an alarm for 6:30 am as we had a private excursion booked at Puerto Princesa, Philippines as soon as the ship docked at 8 am. As has often been the case, we awoke early, so there was no need for the alarm. We were in line for the dining room at 6:50 am – and they opened the doors 5 minutes later. We could always eat in the buffet, but we generally choose to avoid the buffet whenever possible.
We had our snorkel bags packed and met our friends Lisa and Wes at 8 am to disembark the ship together. We were pleased to see our guide, Elvie was holding a sign with J’s name as we were about to exit the ship’s secured area. She walked us to our van and driver and we set off on our 30 minute drive to the marina of sorts.
On the way, we stopped at a local fruit stand.
We bought a mango and 8 rambutan (a spiky fruit, with flesh kind of like lychee). W & L bought a mango and 6 bananas. We enjoyed eating these throughout the course of the day.
When we arrived at the marina, Elvie went inside the office to pay our environmental fee (150 pesos per person) and whatever else she needed to do to get our boat. In the meantime, we were surrounded by people wanting to sell us their wares – mostly jewellery. We didn’t buy anything, but I gave some coins to a little old woman who was trying to sell a bag of fruit that looked like apples.
Once Elvie returned, we walked out to our boat that had a captain and a first mate.
We were the first boat to arrive at Starfish Island. First mate, Kenneth, walked us down the beach and indicated where we were allowed to snorkel. They had a buoy line to indicate where we were not to snorkel beyond. Rock shoes were needed to ensure foot health in walking out amongst the rocks. We snorkelled here for about 45 minutes – it wasn’t as spectacular as the marine park we visited. (Neither was our second stop of the day at Luli Island though J did spot three living cowries there).
The boat rides between the islands were idyllic, with dramatic scenery all around us.
Our third stop was at Cowrie Island – where J thought he would spot more Cowries here – but sadly there was no snorkelling at all here – just swimming. But Cowrie Island offered lunch!
What a delightful lunch it was - with a tremendous view. Cowrie Island felt like a cruise ship private island in the Bahamas where cruise ships bring all their passengers here – and have an extensive lunch set up.
Unusually, our guide was late boarding the boat. We were told to be aboard at 1:30 pm and the four of us were – but our guide Elvie didn’t appear for 15 minutes. That seemed odd to us.
We then boated back to the marina and met our driver, who got us back about 2:40 pm. All aboard time was 3:30 pm – so we had 50 minutes to spare!
Once aboard, we cleaned up, I wrote my blog and then we went for supper. Tonight nothing caught my fancy on the menu so I decided to order two lobster tails knowing there would be an upcharge. I think I liked the garlic mashed potatoes better than the lobster tails! A treat just the same.
For entertainment tonight there is the production show called Motor City Moves, that pays tribute to Detroit’s legendary Motown sound. Even J thought the show sounded exciting enough to join me!
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