Just the two of us | Malapascua Island, Cebu (Part 1)

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Our first out-of-town trip!

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My boyfriend and I have never been out of Cebu City on our own. My mother wouldn't allow it.

"If I travel in Zamboanga City alone, you're okay with it but if I travel with GB in Cebu you won't allow me?" I furiously exclaimed!

“No! You and your boyfriend couldn’t travel together,” her reply was a resounding noooooo! I’ve tried negotiating with Ma but still it’s a no! And it’s like those kinds of pageant results – final and irrevocable.

"But I’m safer if I travel with my boyfriend," I tried once more. Unfortunately, Ma never bought my excuse. GB will just tell me “It’s okay. She’ll give us permission one day” So for the first year in of our relationship, we’d only spend weekends on staycation in Cebu City or Mandaue City. Out-of-town trips should be with friends with constant communication with my mother about our whereabouts.

Then after working hard to win my Ma's trust (those visits at home and sitting down with my parents and talking with them) that one day came and we're finally free to travel on our own! Told you Ma, GB's trustworthy! 🥰

Malapascua has always been on my list but because my travel goals before the pandemic had been focused on visiting other places outside of Cebu, I never made it to this pristine island. Gladly, we're happy to realize that one weekend (two full days) will suffice to explore Malapascua. So we jumped in!

Malapascua is accessible via Maya Port in Daanbantayan, Cebu. I heard there's a new and old Maya Port but I really don't know which port we went into. We just rode Ceres from Mandaue City and it dropped us off right at the port.

After roughly 30 minutes of sea travel, we reached Malapascua Island. It was high tide when we arrived so part of their port is submerged in the water. Right there and then, I knew that we're about to explore a paradise because even in the port, the water was irresistibly inviting. You can look at the photo below and decide for yourself.

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DAKIT-DAKIT ISLETS

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Since we're only here for barely two days, we had to make the most of every minute. Upon arrival we checked in at our hotel and went back to the port to meet the island hopping operator we contacted days prior to the trip.

We kicked off our tour in Malapascua with the most obvious one you shouldn't miss, an island hopping tour. Okay let me correct that one tho, if you hear island hopping you'd probably expect hopping from one island into another as the name suggests but here in the Philippines,island hopping has become so general that it's now associated with exploring a single island's various tourist spots by boat.

A couple of minutes after departing from Malapascua's port, we reached our first destination, Dakit-dakit islets. It's not too far away from the shore but it's most accessible via boat. The islets are composed of ragged rock formations situated one after the other; there are small ones and big ones but since it was high tide only the bigger ones can be seen from the surface. We spent our time here trying to swim against the current but without our long fins, it was impossible to battle the ocean's raging force beneath the surface. It looks calm and collected in the surface but when we were in the water, the strong current swept us away.

Taking photos in between!

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CORALS GARDEN

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When we weren't happy by the strong current, we told the boatmen we can proceed to our next destination. Now, it's a shame I couldn't show any photos of the corals garden. I don't know what happened to my GoPro but I didn't bring it during this trip. 😕

By the way, we started our island hopping tour past 1 PM so it was scorching hot by the time we were doing the island hopping activities. Nonetheless, sunny is better than gloomy! And just look at the photos, the sky's perfectly clear and blue!

If you are a freediver, you'll love the corals garden. It might not be as beautiful as Moalboal's freediving spots but it has its own charm. In my case tho, swimming without my glasses equals being blind underwater. I couldn't see clearly what's in the ocean bed but trust me, I can see the various colors of the corals. Just seeing those colors, I'm convinced that it's every freediver's dream dive spot.

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LANGUB BEACH

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Our second to the last destination for today is Langub Beach. I was already having the best weekend that afternoon but when we arrived in Langub Beach, things got pretty more exciting!

Even from afar, it's impossible to miss the white sand shore line of Langub Beach. It's not that long compared to Baler's Sabang but trust me, it deserves a visit. Sadly, in our case, Langub Beach is just part of the island hopping tour that means we can't stay for too long here. But if I ever return to Mapascua, I'll make sure to spend more time here and the rest of the beaches in Malapascua.

For Day 1, I think this is where most of the photo sessions happened and below are the proofs. 😂

More photos at Langub Beach

After our visit at Langub Beach, we also went to the Japanese shipwreck. As I mentioned earlier, we didn't bring our long fins but even so, I managed to touch the wreck which is submerged under water. It's not scary at all because only the main frame of the ship remains and there are a lot of tourists freediving that afternoon.

Afterwhich, we headed back to the port where we stayed for sunset until early in the evening. I'll be sharing photos of the sunset in Malapascua in my next post!

Thank you for sticking until the end! You're awesome!😘

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