Finally a whale shark, but .....

Day 6 - Derawan Island

A 4:30am start for an early trip to Talisayan to see the whale sharks, an animal K has been wanting to see for a long time, after missing out in Tofo, Mozambique when they all dived to the bottom just as she was about to jump in. K had arranged for our island stay to be at the time of the new moon, the best time to see the whale sharks that hang around the floating fishing pontoons.

We left at around 5:30am for a very rough trip in a small two engine boat, driven by what appeared to be a 14 year old. We were relieved that the bumping around was over when we arrived at the whale shark pontoon around 7am. Two other boats were there and six other tourists were already in the water snorkeling incredibly close to the lone whale shark. 

The fishermen were throwing buckets of dead sardines into the shark's cavernous mouth, it was almost like a dog begging for scraps at the table. The fish smell was overpowering and visibility in the water was only a couple of metres because of the amount of dead fish bits floating around. 

K dived while M snorkeled, at times we both had to scramble to get out of the way of the whale shark, and at one point he flicked one of K's legs as it swam past. Although it was good to finally see a whale shark, it felt too crowded and quite unethical, it wasn't quite what we'd expected. 

After 40 minutes or so we jumped back into the boat for the two hour return journey. Not quite as rough but still quite uncomfortable, and it had just started raining as we arrived back at the island, just making it inside before a massive storm with thunder and lightning, the wind and rain shaking our over water bungalow.

After a couple of hours the storm had passed so we could head out again for a second dive at Snapper Point, only 10 minutes away. K did a drift dive with the dive master, while M snorkeled around the boat. The divemaster had limited English and was generally uncommunicative, it was difficult to know what was happening without any briefing or explanation. The rain storm meant that visibility was poor but K still managed to see a large turtle and different sized moray eels. What was surprising was the dive master disturbing and handling a number of small sea creatures, since a key rule of diving is that divers shouldn't touch or disturb any sea creature.

We had another lovely dinner on the deck provided by our accommodation at Derawan Dive Lodge. It's shoulder season and we are the only ones staying here, and elsewhere around the island most of the tourists we've see have been Indonesian.

A boneshaker of a trip!

Day 5 - Berau (Tanjung Redep) to Derawan Island

A convoluted route today to get to Derawan Island off the east coast of Borneo.
We started with a two and a half hour drive on a very poor and windy road which followed the river to the port of Tanjung Batu. The trip was made worse by travelling in a tiny putt-putt car that couldn't hold all of our luggage in the boot, and had trouble making it up hills. On arrival at the port we hopped into a speed boat for a much smoother half hour trip to Derawan.

The boat dropped us right at the steps leading up to our over water villa, now that's door to door service! Lunch was waiting for us and we settled in and made arrangements with our hosts at Derawan Dive Lodge for our next few days of diving and snorkeling.

M went to explore the island, managing to get all the way around in about half an hour. It wasn't busy season so the cobbled streets were quiet, with few other tourists around, most of them being Indonesian. There were no cars, the main mode of transportation was motorbike, and there were shops full of electric bikes ready to hire. 

Further on the houses and shops were replaced by empty beaches and run down resorts. Presumably things get busier later in the year but for now it was all quiet and empty.

Just before dinner we took a walk up through the centre of the island, past families who smiled at us and kids who waved at us. Some of the small restaurants were getting food ready for later, with fish on display and in the process of being grilled over an open flame.

Dinner back at the lodge was plates of chicken, rice, fish, vegetables and fruit - a bit too much for us so we asked that they try not to over cater for us next time.

    

  

Nice place you have here

Day 4 -  Balikpapan to Berau (Tanjung Redeb)

A short flight today to the city of Berau (or Tanjung Redeb as the locals call it) in the northern part of East Kalimantan.

Balikpapan airport is large, new and modern, not what we expected in such a seemingly remote location, so it wasn't such a bad place to hang out for over four hours while we waited for our plane to depart. There was heavy rain in the morning which prevented the plane we were to travel on from landing, so we had to wait for it to return from where it was diverted to. 

On landing at Berau we took an airport taxi to the Mercure Hotel, in a new and very modern building which stood out amongst the more normal shops and houses surrounding it.  

This shopping mall looks like every other shopping mall

Day 3 - Jimbaran Beach to Balikpapan (Borneo / East Kalimantan)

The second flight of our trip today, to the world's third largest island, Borneo. The island is owned by three countries - Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. For now we are staying within Indonesia and taking a domestic flight (about an hour and 45 minutes) to Balikpapan on the south eastern coast of the island, in the region of East Kalimantan. Just one night here with no plans for tourist activities, Balikpapan is a domestic hub for East and North Kalimantan so it's a place we need to transit through to get to the islands off the coast of Borneo. 

Balikpapan is a modern looking city and the financial centre of Kalimantan. Our hotel was part of a new shopping mall right on the coast, with its own beach, water park and all the high end shops we have back home. Unfortunately the giant water slides were right outside our hotel room so we could hear screaming children for much of the day.

We had a quick look at the beach area, did a bit of shopping at the supermarket in the mall, then up to the rooftop bar by the relatively busy pool before dinner at the hotel. 

Bali again? I thought we decided were never going back!

Days 1 and 2 - Melbourne (Australia) to Jimbaran Beach (Bali, Indonesia)

Day 1

OK, here we go again. The main destination for this trip is Borneo, not too far from Australia though the logistics of getting to our planned destinations is a a little convoluted, meaning a flight to Bali is the most logical first hop, even though we had decided we didn't really want to go back there.

We ease into the trip with an early morning flight and a two night stay at Jimbaran Beach which is quite close to Denpasar airport, landing early afternoon local time.

The hotel was very nice, right across from the beach and a number of seafood restaurants with tables on the sand. First task after arriving was finding a shop and an ATM, we had heard that in Borneo "cash is king" so we needed to start securing funds for the rest of the trip. Ten minutes from the hotel we found what we needed, then headed back to the hotel rooftop bar to watch the sunset, followed by dinner at a beach restaurant. 

Day 2

After breakfast we went for a walk along the beach, planning to get back before it got too hot. We stopped at the fishermen's jetty for a while, watching as large ice blocks were carried to a small boat for transfer to a larger fishing boat further out. 

We then continued as far north along the beach as possible until we were stopped by the airport fence, where we stayed a while watching the planes taking off and landing. 

By the time we started heading back the cloud layer had thinned and it was getting hot, so we stopped at a very empty seaside restaurant for a drink before returning to the hotel. 

M had found two ATMs very close to the hotel so spent some time and multiple visits to make withdrawals until we had enough Indonesian rupiah. After that it was back to the hotel rooftop and dinner at a different restaurant. 

  

Are we going to make it?

Days 31 to 32 - Cebu to Singapore to Melbourne

Day 31

Last day in the Philippines! Our room had a nice view of the ocean and as we were getting ready we witnessed a waterspout, something neither of us had seen before.  

Our flight was leaving at 1:00pm and we were only 9km from the airport so we decided we had plenty of time for breakfast before heading to the airport. We had checked out by about 9:45am  and tried to book a ride to the airport using Grab, but for some reason there were no drivers in the area. We kept trying as we hadn't booked a hotel taxi, and while we were waiting there was a massive clap of thunder followed by very heavy rain. Fortunately a driver accepted our request and pulled up a few minutes later, dropping off a couple of passengers. 

Our driver told us the roads were flooded so the trip would take a while, and he wasn't wrong! Our 9km trip took us 86 minutes, as we had left early we were confident we would get to the airport on time though at times we did get a little worried.

We safely made it onto our flight, arriving in Singapore just before 5pm. We checked in to the airport hotel then visited the the Jewel light show, followed by dinner in the shopping plaza next door.

Day 32

Changi Airport is pretty easy to get through and our flight was at 10:50am. We woke early, checked out then hung out at one of the airport lounges for a while before our flight, eventually arriving in Melbourne around 10pm. Trip over ... time to start thinking about the next one.

Not much going on really

Days 29 to 30 - Mactan (Cebu)

Just a couple of lazy days at the Shangri-La resort on Mactan Island, so not much of note to write about.

Each morning we took advantage of the nice (though incredibly busy) buffet breakfast. The first day we ate in the main restaurant and had to queue for about 15 minutes just to get a table. The second day we went to the smaller breakfast in the Ocean wing, which was more relaxed and overall more pleasant.

M did a little bit of exploring, walking along the main road and then down to the Hilton ferry port where you can get a ferry to Olango Island, but when the sun was out it was very hot and humid so his exploring was limited.

We walked around the nicely manicured grounds and checked out the shops and cafes at the resort. We did notice that there were a lot of children around, also that 90 percent (or more) of the guests were Asian, and we had read that the Philippines is a major destination for South Koreans.

Each day we'd go to the beach bar for happy hour, it closed at 6pm which seemed a little on the early side to us, though as the sun was setting around 5:30pm it kind of made sense. 

$200 for "free" drinks?

Day 28 - Boracay to Mactan (Cebu)

Our flight wasn't until 12.30pm  but we were told we needed to leave by 9.30am, so after a leisurely breakfast right by the beach we jumped into a van followed by ferry followed by van,  the time taken to get to Caticlan airport was about 50 minutes.  

The airport wasn't much more than a big shed but we were grateful that it was air-conditioned, it actually wasn't too bad a wait. The boarding process started an hour before takeoff, we were loaded on to buses which sat there until given the all the clear to drive in a convoy along the only runaway to our plane. The plane taxied back down the runway past the holding shed and did a U turn to take off on the very short runway. 

It was only a 45 minute flight but there was enough time for the flight attendants to run a short trivia game complete with prizes.

We hopped in a Grab at Mactan airport and arrived at the Shangri-La resort, our home for the next three nights. The girl who checked us in tried very hard to upsell us, suggesting we purchase lounge access ("free" drinks and snacks for about $200 extra per night), or move from the Ocean wing to Main wing, but we'd done our homework and knew what was being offered wasn't worth it. We did accept a move to a better room, what was weird was that it cost us nothing extra, plus there was already a welcome card in that room with our name on it.

We settled in and explored, having a couple of drinks at the beach bar for happy hour, followed by a buffet dinner where the staff confused us with somebody else and almost gave us free drinks.    

Washed Out

Days 25 to 27 - Boracay

Day 25

Oh dear, this wind and rain doesn't look good! We had thought about visiting the Philippines in other years but were concerned about typhoons, this year we thought we'd be OK by the end of November, but climate change is bringing more frequent and stronger storms, extending the typhoon season.

It poured rain overnight but by the time we finished breakfast it had subsided a little. M decided this would be a good time to go for a walk ... two hours and one completely destroyed umbrella later he made it back to our hotel, though he did manage to walk the length of White Beach up to Lambros Point.

We both went for a walk later in the afternoon, but we were caught in another massive downpour and had to shelter at a coffee place and a bar on our way back. We had dinner at the hotel, there wasn't much point in going too far in this weather.

Day 26

We only found out this morning that all flights to Boracay yesterday had been cancelled and visitors had been stranded on the island and in Manila, we were fortunate we'd arrived the day before that.

The weather had improved so M went exploring along the beach to the south, stopping when rocks prevented further progress. That part of the beach was even quieter than where we were staying. 

The sun came out and the Filipinos are so used to cyclones it's as if it never happened. The sand near our hotel is lovely and soft and the sea was calm and a beautiful blue so it was a great day to swim in the warm water then relax on the island while sipping cocktails.

That evening we watched as yachts took people out on sunset cruises, all in a line along the horizon.

Day 27

Another sunny day, so M went off on another walk along White Beach (no umbrella required this time), while K decided on another swim. 

At breakfast we had seen people reserving sun lounges early by placing their towels but then not using them. It seems the stereotype that it's Germans that do it is somewhat true as it was a German man that demanded K move when she sat on a lounge that had been unoccupied for two hours! 

Sandy white beaches ... and lots of rain

Day 24 - Manila to Boracay

The flight from Manila to Caticlan airport was only 45 minutes, but our ultimate destination of Boracay was on a different island. We had arranged a transfer so we were met by some very helpful staff from My Boracay Guide who drove us to the Caticlan Jetty Port. They then gave us our ferry tickets and helped us with our luggage as far as the stairs to the ferry. There are a lot of porters offering to carry our luggage onto the ferry (for a fee) but M decided he'd do it himself, nearly tripping and dropping a case into the water along the way.  

The sky was dark and ominous, we were a little surprised by the wind and rain and was told it was due to a typhoon expected to arrive later today! This was news to us, we'd been keeping an eye on Cyclone Kalmaegi and the deadly Super Typhoon Fung-wong which hit the Philippines five days later. We'd been keeping our selfish fingers crossed that the worst would be over by the time we arrived. What we had missed was that Typhoon Verbena was on its way! It was due to pass over islands well south of us but Verbena's wide reach meant Boracay was also copping the rain.

It was a 15 minute boat ride to the island of Boracay, then at the other end it was more porters (which M avoided) to get the luggage back onto dry land, then another van for 10 or so minutes. We then parked on the road and our luggage was carried along the sand to our hotel Villa Caemilla. We had definitely done the right thing paying for the transfer, we could have done it on our own more cheaply but it would have been more stressful and taken a lot longer.

The west side of Boracay called White Beach is made up of three stations/sections. Station 1 is the luxury resorts, Station 2 is shopping and nightlife while Station 3 where we were staying is  quieter. 

A few doors down from us was a Thai restaurant facing right onto the beach which is where we had dinner. It reminded us a little of  the times we stayed at Bang Tao on Phuket, before the post-covid crowds changed the beach and it became crowded and commercialised.