Port Barton: Beauty Underwater
The main thing that motivates me to
visit Port Barton is its beautiful and rich snorkeling sites! If you go to San
Vicente, it will be the same island tours as Port Barton, the only difference
is the price. It is much cheaper in Port Barton.
First things first, Port Barton is a
quiet and sophisticated place in Palawan. But little did people know, this
place offers beautiful underwater world comparable to El Nido's snorkeling
sites. This is a fishing village and also do pearl-farming, hence the abundant
fish and preserved corals. The advantage in this small village? Tour price is
relatively cheaper and the sea is SOOO CALM!
Love at first sight! The sea is soooo
quiet! No waves, no swinging. It is like a big swimming pool! First time I saw
this kind. I remember the days I have to stay away from swimming seas with
strong currents and waves even if it is a snorkeling site. Is it only me who
find it hard to snorkel in such? Anyway, I'm no good swimmer. Sooooooo, you
know it!
There are four tours available. Tour A,
B, C and D which when analyzed, contains one/two common destination - the Twin
Reef and German Island. I took tour A which was the most popular. It starts 8AM
or 9AM and ends at 4PM and it costs Php 700 in Port Barton (Php 800 in San
Vicente).
This tour was arranged by the owner of
the place where I stayed and it was originally sold to his boatman friend.
However, at the actual day I was transferred to another boatman who has
completed his desired number of guests. "Siningit lang ako" in
short. If I only had the bucks I would've taken the private tour. But I don't
mind it. No kaartehan. I'm the only Filipino guest BTW and if I was
quirky I would've played as their tour guide. Hahaha! Char!
First stop is at Twin Reef. It is located in the middle of the sea. With the quiet
sea you actually don't need a life vest. But since I'm no good swimmer, I still
use it.
Colorful, lots of its kind and not too
deep. If only I can swim better I'll dive near them!
I freaked out when I saw a Jellyfish!
Yay! It is a small yellow one with no tentacles. The guide said it does not
sting, it will only give you rashes.
"Ang ganda!" These are the
only words I kept saying until we left Twin Reef. I want more ..more swimming!
But I do not own the boat and I can't command, we have to leave. We went to Exotic Island where we had lunch.
Oh sooo white! All I see is white,
white sand, white sky and the clear blue water with small fishes nearby. I
didn't swim on this part because I'm hungry but I bet the view beneath is
gorgeous! There are fishes already on the docking area and I can grab them with
bare hands! A-huh! With few people on
the island, one can spend a quiet afternoon sleeping under shades of trees and
a book on his face.
I had regrets during the island
hopping. One is I realized I didn't bring my scarf, now I didn't have anything
to sit on. Second is I didn't bring a book or anything to keep myself
entertained, now I only stared nowhere far across the sea. Though it was
relaxing, I spent about an hour over nothing. "Tunganga" mode lang. So to keep myself moving and keep my eyes
open - (I'm so sleepy) - I took pictures.
Required skills as a boatman and
assistant in tours:
·
Knows
how to operate a boat
·
Knows
where to dock the boat
·
Knows
how to speak English
·
Skilled
in sales and obtaining guests
·
Knows
how to cook - grilling and cooking rice is a musts!
·
Skilled
in taking photos
Those are the few of the many abilities
of an assistant and boatman in many island hopping tours in the Philippines.
They are like 'all-around'. Amazing. Below is our lunch prepared by them:
- I love Papayas!
- The foreigners loved the mixture of soy sauce, onion and tomato
- Our main dish was the grilled fish..and it was the only dish that we had. No other meat.
After digging in on our food, we went
to German Island. It is another
popular island where one can had lunch. I already pictured this place because
of the iconic coconut trees lined up along the beach with lots of hammock that
I saw on the internet. The boatman said it was called German Island because a
German used to rent the whole island for more than 20 years but haven't really
lived on the island. Guess it was only used as a rest house.
Again I haven't swam that much because
of the jellyfish!!! I totally freaked out and failed many attempts on going
further because these jellyfishes are like cancer. They'll show unexpectedly
and you can't easily turn back. There are times when I kept my eyes close so
that I won't turn crazy when I see them. I just swim,.. And swim, then when I
opened my eyes, BOOM! I'm surrounded. I was already in the hunt for the turtles
but when I knew I can't handle them, I felt stuck at one point and just turn
around and go back to shore. Decision
made: Not this time.
Note: You'll only recognize them when
they are at your face.
For our last stop is another wonderful
snorkeling site, the Fantastic Reef.
Sea is much deeper but the corals are no less beautiful than the first one.
This time, I enjoyed it very much! And NO jellyfish in sight!
I can't say much more because the whole
tour is like meant for me. A non-swimmer who loves to be a mermaid. Char! I
just felt proud and I'm craving for more tours like this. I actually thought of
breaking my itinerary and have another round the next morning. But due to
schedule restrictions, it just can't be. Sad. Anyway, having this tour is
already enough to make my Port Barton trip a successful one!
Here's to ending this post: Nearing
sunset shot. I regret that I didn't catch any sunsets in Port Barton. Tsk!
Boatman Assistant that became my friend
and patient swimming teacher, he also does tours:
Jumong
0999 582 0483
Until my next hullahoos,
Glens
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