Dominus Stance: Exploring Philippines 135 - Palawan (Post 2 - Starfish Island and Snake Island at Honda Bay)

The next day, right after our breakfast, we were on our way to Honda Bay. Actually, we had no idea how to get there. Since we don’t have a service, the easiest way would be to hire a tricycle. We paid 150 pesos for the long ride since Honda Bay is far away from the city and the tricycle would be empty upon its return to the city proper.

We reached the port towards Honda Bay in less than 30 minutes. The distance from the city proper is a bit far because it was a continuous ride with no traffic jam along the way. When we reached the port, we were the only visitors that time because most of the tourists were already on the islands enjoying their day in the sun. Hehe.

That time, there was a special promo on the rental of the boats. We asked for the cheapest boat to rent at 1500 pesos but they already ran out of it. The available boat that time was at 2000 pesos. It was a big one for us but we had no option but to go for it. There were the four of us in the boat, the two boatmen and Eric and me. Though the rental price was a bit heavy on the pocket, we had the boat to ourselves for the whole day. One thing I learned about this activity is that you can dictate your stay and you can move around at your own pace without worrying about other people if you are with a group.

The boat trips are regulated and controlled. Unlike other mode of transport on the street where you can hire one to your liking, you cannot select and hire one right away. The people at the tourism office assigned at Honday Bay are the ones designating which boat is listed and good to go.

By the way, it is always recommended that you bring your own food and drinks whenever possible. Though there are souvenir and food stalls in the area, it is always a common dilemma of tourists because the prices of the items are sky high. The notion of local folks about tourists is equivalent to a huge cash and they can always sell their stuff at a high price.

It was already 10 in the morning when we sailed. I always prefer and love to sail during the morning because the sea is calm. Since it was summer, I need not worry about the waves. And here at Honda Bay, the sea seemed to be perfectly still.

As we enjoy the morning ride and the breath of fresh air, we saw some structures along the way. There are sandbars and structures on the strips of larger sand bars. One of our boatmen told us that during high tide, the structures look like they are floating on the water. I asked our boatmen if it is possible to get into a sandbar for I was thinking of a cool wallpaper or portrait on it. Imagine yourself standing on a sandbar in the middle of the sea. That would be cool idea. But one of them told us that we will do that one upon our return. Since they were passive about the idea that moment, I no longer insisted my rush of excitement.

After 30 minutes, the starfish island was within our reach. From a distance, the island looks small and can be covered by walking in less than 30 minutes. The island is privately owned and there is a charge of 50 pesos per head. The cottages are free of charge on a first come first serve basis. Likewise, there is no imposed time limit of stay.

The island is called Starfish Island because of the large population star fishes on this part of Honda Bay. According to our boatman, there are plenty of star fishes on the other side of the island but it would be hard to go there since it is heavily populated with mangroves. On the clear side of the island where our boat docked, we already saw several star fish on the shallow part of the water. That time was my second chance to actually see a live starfish but I still haven’t touched one yet. At first, I thought that the star fish near the shore line were intentionally placed by the boatmen in order to vouch for the name of the island. But the moment I saw them moving, indeed, they were crawling at their own pace within the area. And yes, I was able to hold a live starfish that time around.

The water at Starfish Island is crystal clear. There were no algae or other foreign objects that would tarnish the clean surrounding of the island. At this time of the day where the sun was shining brightly, it would be a refreshing experience to take one nice dip to cool off. Unlucky, we were not able to bring some extra clothes for changing once we get wet. The water was really tempting and all we could do was to enjoy it until our shorts get wet.

After some time, we decided to further explore the island. We had to walk barefooted because the other parts of the shoreline have soft sands. We did not bother to explore the mangroves part because there was nothing special to see on that part. Instead, we simply covered the area where there are white sands. It was really a cool experience walking barefooted on Starfish Island because its sands are fine. Most probably, if we were not after for the time, we could have stayed much longer because it was so quiet and relaxing. And perhaps, we might be able to enjoy a good swim also.

We stayed on the Starfish Island for at least 30 minutes and our next island adventure would be the Snake Island. Upon hearing the name of the island, I was already picturing an island with high rise limestone or perhaps, an island with huge boulder of rocks where we need to hike or climb. I am not comfortable with snakes and I was thinking that it would not be a safe one to explore.

I still remember my first experience on a snake when I was in Tagaytay. I was able to hold a large Burmese python and wrapped it around my neck. The texture of its scale and being a cold-blooded animal bring shiver to me. But my continuous exposure to this kind of experience made me overcome my fear.

While I was imagining the Snake Island and my experience holding a snake, we happened to see a hawk with its morning catch. Guess what? The hawk was able to catch a large snake judging its appearance from our distance. Did the hawk just came from the Snake Island?

It was my first time to see a hawk this close carrying a snake at its catch. While the hawk was flying across our path, I was praying that it slows down and fly low so that I will be able to have some souvenir pics of our encounter. But with its prized catch that day, it looked like that it was so excited to get home right away. Maybe, it has a partner and some small ones waiting to be fed. Anyway, I was still thankful and blessed because of this rare encounter.

Since I could not help imagining our next destination, I asked our boatman why it is being called Snake Island. He told us that the reason why it is called Snake Island because it looks like a snake from up above. Oh well, I would no longer argue on that. Hehe.

After more than 10 minutes of sailing, we finally saw the Snake Island. From afar, it looks flat – far more different from what I was imagining. I thought I will be challenged for a good hike that day. It turned out to be another long flat island. At a distance, we saw several docked boats and some tourists enjoying their fun moments in the water even if it was high noon already. The Snake Island is a favorite picnic area because of its long shore line and it has no entrance fee.

The moment we landed on Snake Island, we noticed that all cottages were fully occupied by tourists who came ahead of us. Since it was already high noon, most of them were eating their lunch or dozing off. I guess those who were in the water simply want to enjoy their day.

There is a cordoned area for swimming and snorkeling. Maybe, if I had the chance, I would be joining those people who heartily enjoyed their day in the sun. As we walked on the shoreline of Snake Island, the bay was still and there were no waves to worry about. It was really a perfect time to swim and enjoy feeding the fishes.

Prior to landing on the Snake Island, we were asked by our boatman if we wanted to go snorkeling. They have their own snorkeling gear that can be rented for 100 pesos. The designated area for swimming and snorkeling has plenty of fishes to feed. Actually, I had a similar experience when I was in Coron, Palawan the year before and I must say that it was quite a good experience. We simply dropped the idea of snorkeling since we don’t have bread to feed the fishes and getting wet this early was not a good idea since we still plan to roam around for the entire day. We might not enjoy our sight-seeing adventure until the afternoon if we are shivering with our wet clothes on.

Anyway, we decided to roam around the island. The part where our boat docked can be considered as the head of the Snake Island. We jokingly tried to walk until perhaps reaching its tail. But as we walked on its shoreline towards the other end of the island, it looked like the island is far longer than we expected. It is not impossible to cover the whole island but we don’t have the whole day just for this activity. Since there is nothing spectacular to see, we decided to get back to our boat and move on to the next island.

Before going back to our boat, we spent an idle time on the part of the beach far away from the crowd. The people of Palawan are really lucky for this kind of pristine environment. No wonder tourists are flocking this area because of its prized water.

We only have one island left in our list. We were praying that the last island would offer something different and exciting compared with the previous two islands that we’d been to. If it is an exciting one, perhaps, we can stay a bit longer or until the afternoon since the boat was already paid for the whole day. Otherwise, we might go home right away and go somewhere else.

Honda Bay Station