B-Rod and I initially did our dive certification in Port Barton on Palawan. We did our first few dives in El Nido which is still some of the best diving we’ve ever done! We didn’t have a chance to go to Coron, but vowed that one day we would go back to dive there.
This has always been a topic of discussion for us, so we’re not quite sure how we ended up going to the Visayas instead. Maybe it was due to weather, or conditions, or the effects of various typhoons that have hit the region?! We were trying to remember the reason just the other day, but . . . . nada! 🤷🏽♀️😝
What we did end up doing was heading to an island called Negros which is where my mom is from. I had heard a couple years ago that there was good diving by Dumaguete and more recently was intrigued by an island called Siquijor which is accessible from Dumaguete. So . . . . off to Dumaguete we went.
Dumaguete
B-Rod and I managed to get on a flight from Manila but were in different boarding groups. I boarded earlier and while B was waiting he noticed someone who was getting on our flight that many people wanted to have pictures with. Of course B asked around and found out this man is a famous Christmas singer here in the Philippines . . . . we were flying with a celebrity!
We only had about an hour and a half after we landed before we got picked up to do what we had originally came here to do – a dive refresher course with a few dives. We were picked up and chucked in the back of a van (one of my fav parts of travel!) and headed to an area called Dauin.
I’ll be honest . . . . I was NERVOUS! We didn’t even realize that it’s been SEVEN years since our last dive! Our Dive Master was amazing and I felt well taken care of and supported. B slipped right back into diving as if no time had passed. I, however, struggled a bit. On our first dive, I had a slight panic attack, had trouble with equalization and questioned if I even wanted to do this. Looking back, this was a similar experience to when we first learned to dive.
Luckily, as I mentioned, our Dive Master was awesome and helped me work through my “stuff” and by the end, I was ready to check out some cool things in the seas!
We spent an additional day in Dumaguete to see what the city was about, and athough it’s not very close to where my mom grew up, I was contacted by family to see when I would be visiting 🙂 Though this isn’t in the cards this time, we did end up wandering around to some sites in Dumaguete that one of my cousins had recommended in our conversation.
Eventually it was time to catch the ferry to Siquijor. A few things appealed to me about this island – it’s smaller, my “research” pointed to it being quieter, it’s known for good diving and snorkelling, it appeared to have lots of beautiful natural spots to visit, and . . . . it has a reputation as a mystical island where witchcraft is practiced and healers are revered (one of us was very intrigued while the other didn’t really care about this last point 😝)
An hour and a half ferry ride in near perfect conditions and we arrived to Siquijor. The first thing we did was rent a scooter, so B-Rod could chauffeur me around the island! This was a good call as roads were well maintained and quieter, and it gave us easy access to the places we wanted to see while also letting us stop at some really beautiful spots along the way.
The only bummer was . . . . I DO like the experience of getting around by trike!
The next thing we did (because I spotted them the moment we got off the boat) was have some of my fav Filipino foods – budbud (my #1), empanadas and siopao. I say this with respect (knowing we all have different taste buds) . . . but Filipino food is not my favourite. So, to find the things I really do like right away was a bonus!
It also happened to be my birthday! 🎉 So of course, I had to top this off with some halo halo (my second favourite Filipino food!)
We split our time by staying a couple of nights on the hillside looking over the island towards the ocean, and a couple of nights at a place on the beach (another family recommend). It was cool to have those different vantage points and experiences.
We both marvelled at how pretty this island is!
We swam in pools by waterfalls.
We sat by a 400 year old tree and let fish eat our feet.
We went caving. And though we weren’t fully prepared clothes wise, shoe wise or expectation wise (we thought we could DIY explore, but we required guides from the village who grew up playing inside these caves and knew every stone and where to step at all times while we fumbled along feeling EXTRA awkward!), we were blown away by the beauty.
We hung out by cliffs where people used to be allowed to dive
And we did a couple of scuba dives which ended up being some of the most comfortable both of us have ever felt diving before. We saw some pretty cool things down there including turtles, one of which swam along past us. An added bonus was when a whole pile of dolphins were spotted when we all reached the surface. You know it’s special when even the staff who are out there every day get super excited! The whole experience was one of those times where neither of us took any pics as we were both so fully engrossed in the moments.
Our “plan” when we initially arrived was to do a loop after Siquijor to another couple islands for a few days each. But, before we left, something had come up with B-Rod’s work that not only shortened our time away, but also required him to study while on the road. This was proving to be a bit challenging for him to do, so after a lot of back and forth debating and discussions, we decided it would be best for him to go home early. I would stay (more about that next time), but we still had one more full day left that we got to spend together.
We ended up turning our last day into a beach day. Most of our time was spent at Tubod Marine Sanctuary to swim, snorkel and hang out. It surprised us by rating up there with some of the best snorkelling from the shore we’ve done so far.
Our supper was spent watching the sunset from our hotel balcony which seemed like a perfect way to end this latest adventure together.
The next morning B-Rod headed out bright and early in the hopes of catching a ferry and two flights that day to make it back to (what I’ve heard is) a very snowy 🇨🇦
Thanks for more good times B! ❤️