Banana Island also known as Dicalabuan Island is part of the Calamian Islands or the Calamianes in Coron. This is our second destination for our island hopping today coming from the pristine and amazing Bulog Dos Island.
What first greeted us were the colorful flags along the long stretch of creamy white and powdery sand. The island has a touch of little development because it has several nipa huts, picnic tables, and comfort rooms compared to Bulog Dos which was devoid of commercialism.
We met the owner of the island, Nanay Violeta Gallego who I guess was in her early sixties. According to her, Isla de Saging was the original name of Banana Island for it resembled the shape of this fruit as viewed from afar. She had a lot of buyers and offered her a tempting price but she declined the idea of selling the beautiful island which she bought for P35,000 only.
Later I asked her if we could have a photo together. She immediately removed her ponytail and strikes a sexy pose. Hahaha! Nice woman. We both laughed after our photoshoot. She urged us to explore the whole island to see its beauty. Nanay Violeta was good at entertaining guests.
My hubby, Froi, and Marie hastily immersed themselves in the water and snorkel. Since we were on an adventure, I decided to snorkel with no life jacket, only a snorkel mask. I was a bit nervous about this idea for I am always equipped with safety provisions. Swimming on the sea more than my height gives me a creep. But I really wanted to try this experience just like those foreigners with whom we got acquainted in our Coron Loop yesterday.
And so I braved the water all alone. Yipee!
The water was heavenly clear. Really clean. I got so excited as I mingled with those little fish with a long pointed nose. I tried wading farther, but the seafloor sinks down quickly.
We were warned before we leave the guest house by Ate Viring not to swim far because of the irregular formation of the seafloor of the island. But my buddies didn’t mind at all. I tried a bit deeper and teased those amazing fish. I was so overwhelmed by my wonderful underwater experience, and dear, with no life jacket. I told you I can do it. Haha!
After this activity, we explored around. We discovered there were many amazing spots on the island. Later we had the place exclusively for us. And we enjoyed more taking pictures and walking on the shoreline.
Same with Bulog Dos, Banana Island is also a perfect place for total relaxation. What we missed out on this meaningful adventure is the sunset and sunrise experience for we only have one day island hopping tour. I wanted to stay for a few more hours, but the call from our boatmen forced us to leave the island.
We headed to our next destination, into the famous Malcapuya Island.
Rates:
Php200 – Entrance fee for two islands/no charge for picnic table
Php1,000 – Overnight stay in a nipa hut