Enchanting Siquijor (Part 3): Tubod Marine Sanctuary

A visit to Siquijor is not complete without having a glimpse of the famous Tubod Marine Sanctuary, a 7-hectare protected enclave right in front of Coco Grove Beach Resort. 

When I went to the dive shop to borrow some lifevests, Rene, the staff from Coco Grove Resort, patiently answered my queries. I asked him where is the best spot to snorkel, and he undoubtedly pointed to this floating bar. Though technically this is beyond the buoyed area of Tubod Marine Sanctuary, he said that there are more corals here. So I asked him, how do I get there if do not know how to swim? He said take a kayak! The good thing is, the kayaks are for free! Yey!

So hubby patiently maneuvered our kayak while I hold on to Akisha, who obviously enjoyed her first ever kayak ride. While getting closer to the floating bar, we already saw blue starfishes and some corals along the way. The water was sooooo clear, and the waves were so tame.

When we finally reached the floating bar, hubby tied our kayak so that we can get off. 

The floating bar was so refreshing! It has beach beds where you could just lay down and enjoy the panoramic view around.

The best part of the floating bar is this…it has a ladder! Now I CAN snorkel! Just a brief background, I do not know how to swim, and even with a life jacket, I still get afraid of the water, except when I know there’s something I can hold on to just in case. So this ladder is a winner for me! Yey!

The water, as I have said, is so clear, but unfortunately, fishes were not abundant in that particular spot. And for the first time, we saw a blue starfish!

Here are some underwater shots at Tubod Marine Sanctuary. 

All for now. Ciao!

Survivor Series: Caramoan Underwater Adventure

Caramoan is often compared to Coron (Palawan) in terms of the beauty of its beaches, islands and reefs. So when we went to Caramoan, we couldn’t help but compare which is really better of the two.

If you are in for underwater adventure, then Caramoan is better than Coron. Though if you want to see both corals and different kinds of fishes, I must say Coron is the place to be.

According to my hubby, he finds the corals in Caramoan more colorful and have the most number of varieties than in Coron. Although, we both agree that there are fewer fish wherever we go in Caramoan.

In Coron, just throw a small piece of bread and you will see fishes crowding the clear waters. In Caramoan, it seems that they (the fishes) are not interested in bread, or rice, or anything for that matter. They just swim, swim and swim.

In Coron, even if you do not go to the snorkeling sites and just swim near the shore, you will see a bunch of fishes. In Caramoan, you need to go to a snorkeling site (this one is near Bag-ing) to see small fishes. I haven’t seen a fish bigger than my palms here.

There’s a snake! Now I’m scared. We even saw a stingray again. 

Sea urchins?