Bohol Trip - 2nd day Morning (10.19.08)

It was an early start for our day. We were all up by 4:30am and ready to meet our boatman (Ichem) for our dolphin watching and island hopping activities. As soon as we come out of our room, one of the resort attendant greeted us and informed us that our boatman was already waiting for us. We saw a lot of "white boats" on the beach. Ichem pointed our boat and told us that our boatman would be his cousin "Ben" and another guy (sorry, forgot the name).

After more than 15 minutes of travelling and right there in the middle of the sea, our boat stopped not once but twice. Ben had to fixed the motor to start it again. While

Ben was fixing the motor, we saw several boats heading to one direction. I guess they were all going to the "dolphin spot". At this point, we were becoming anxious to reach the "spot" to see the dolphins. Finally after the long wait and travel (maybe more than 30 minutes), we stopped and we saw Ben and his partner looking around. He then spotted a dolphin and pointed it out. At first, we couldn't see the dolphins, but after a few seconds, they re-surfaced. Wow! I was so amazed with what we saw!Ü There was even a group of dolphins who swam close to our boat.Ü After a few more sightings, we couldn't find any more dolphins. Ben explained "pag may araw na, wala na pong dolphins" - Baka ayaw umitim kaya ayaw magpa-araw.. hahaha!Ü He then asked if we want to go to Balicasag island already for our snorkeling. It took us at least 15-20 minutes to reach the island and there, he said we need to transfer to a smaller boat. Motor boats are not allowed near the fish santuary since they can destroy corals. The smaller boat costs Php150/head. Another guy approached us and asked us if we want to rent "shoes" for snorkeling. We asked why and if we really need it. He said "matatalim po ung mga corals, baka masugatan kayo pag wala kayong suot". He said the pair of shoes are Php150 each. At first we couldn't decide if we'll rent it or not. We bargained for Php100 each and he agreed. At the end of the day, we realized this was the best decision we made. Without the "rented shoes", we wouldn't have enjoyed our snorkeling activities because the guy was right - "matatalim ung corals and masakit sa paa".

I was the first out of the boat, excited ako eh!Ü hehehe!Ü As soon as I'm in the water, I can already see the fishes without the snorkeling gears. The water was so clear. I remembered not having the water-proof camera and I blaimed Tim for this. He didn't think it was really important. Hmmph! We all had fun in the water, even Coy who was at first hesitant to try snorkeling. One of the boat manong even flirted with her! hahaha!Ü Kakaiba talaga ang beauty ni coy!Ü

At around 9:30am, we decided we're done with snorkeling and asked our boat manong to take us back to the bigger boat. We have to go back to our resort and change outfits since we still had our Panglao tour in the afternoon.