ESCAPE FROM BORACAY… ON TO PANGLAO ISLAND

Boracay beach crowded with people!

ESCAPE FROM BORACAY… ON TO PANGLAO ISLAND

After an excruciating four months living on ramshackle, over-developed Boracay Island and scuba diving daily on devastated coral reefs while observing divers grabbing coral, fish and marine life, I was practically ready to lose my mind. I opted for the saner option: at lonnnng last, I finally and gratefully left Boracay, the worst island I’d ever lived at, on Wednesday, Feb. 13th to Cebu City.

That 24-hour trip entailed a tricycle ride in thick clouds of exhaust and heavy traffic across Boracay to the Boracay pier, a quick ferry to the mainland, a noisy 6-hour bus trip across Panay island, an over-priced taxi to IloIlo City pier, and an overnight ferry to Cebu City. It all went smoothly, with only one experience worth mentioning: a very unusual adventure at the  ferry dock before departing.

busy Ferry Port

Standing at the pier waiting to board the ferry, I was watching all the frenetic activity at the wharf with dock workers loading and unloading cargo by hand and with fork lifts. I started watching the fork lift whose particular job was packing up the ferry. The driver caught sight of me, waved a big hello and shouted “you want a ride?”  Hmmmm… that sure sounded tempting! In fact, I couldn’t resist.  Within minutes, I began climbing down the rod-iron workers’ ladder into the cargo hold of the boat. I walked over and jumped up onto the fork lift beside the driver. We grinned at each other, said hello, and proceeded to pick up loads of cargo from outside and stack them inside the ferry. Every time we went out for another load, a gang of dock workers were standing there gaping in disbelief and wonder as I sat grinning and waving to them from the fork lift. Ha ha ha, good fun!

The driver was a very outgoing, friendly guy named Beck Beck. We chatted away as we zoomed around inside and outside. Eventually, the novelty wore off so I bid goodbye and departed back up the service ladder.  And that concluded my brief ‘job’ as a cargo boat loader.

Cebu City- Philippines- by eutrophication&hypoxia

I boarded the overnight ferry the ‘proper way’ and settled in. The next morning we arrived in Cebu City.  Fortunately, I spent only a few hours there doing errands.  Then I caught another 2-hour ferry to the nearby island of Panglao, where I had originally planned to go look for diving work upon my arrival in the Philippines way back in October. With two spare days until my flight left the Philippines from Cebu City to Singapore, I had to at least see Panglao Island before leaving the Philippines.

panglao island- philippines- by Roberto Verzo at FLickr

I also had a lucky break: A diving friend from Thailand was currently working at a dive shop on Panglao. He gave me a great place to stay in a fantastic huge A-frame house in the countryside, just a few minutes’  bike ride from the beach and dive shops. Even better, he got me a great deal on diving for the day. We did 3 dives, for which I paid a mere $25. In exchange, I helped out loading, unloading, cleaning gear, and assisting customers. The diving was excellent: beautiful healthy corals and abundant fish life. It was far superior to diving at Boracay, that was certain.

Alona Beach, the main beach on Panglao, was also infinitely nicer than Boracay’s beaches. Alona is much smaller, less developed, quieter, and more natural. In fact, it was lovely.  I borrowed my pal’s bike to cycle around Panglao for a few hours. The entire island was utterly peaceful, natural, and quiet. It was exactly what I’d been missing at Boracay and just the kind of place I’d grown accustomed to living at in SE Asia.  DAG, to think I could’ve lived at Panglao for 4 months instead of horrid Boracay. I’d clearly made the wrong decision that time.

Ah well, at least I got to experience first hand one of the Philippines nicer places, if only briefly.  Otherwise, I might have left thinking the entire country was awful, like Cebu City and Boracay.  What a pity I only got to experience the nice spots for 2 days. But it reminded me, yet again, to follow my gut instincts rather than be guided by what someone else enthused over and recommended to me. Duly noted!

QUESTIONS:

Have you ever traveled to a place because of someone’s enthusiastic recommendations and then found the place to be horrible? If so, where and what was wrong with the place?

Have you ever ignored your gut instinct and ended up regretting it? Tell us about your experience!

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