Circumnavigating Eden: A Walk Around Malapascua

When it comes to diving-focused destinations like Koh Tao, or the Perhentian Islands, or Malapascua, I get a lot of questions about what there is to do for non scuba fans. Malapascua is still deliciously undeveloped, and so in this particular case, the answer might seem to be, well, not a lot. Unless of course you consider lazing in a hammock under the golden sun, floating in warm turquoise waters, and playing in golden sands to be something — which needless to say, I do.

Still, sometimes you do need a shot of adrenaline, or a little bit of physical activity, lest those muscles atrophy completely. Feeling restless one day, Heather and I set out to completely circumnavigate Malapascua, a journey that Lonely Planet Philippines told us would take about three hours.

Thus far, we had only really covered the small Southern side of Malapascua’s vaguely rectangular outline. The full roster of Malapascua’s tourism infrastructure — hotels, restaurants, and dive shops — is contained to that small 10% of the island, so we were eager to explore what lied beyond.

Of course, one barrier was that there was no map, per se, other than the vague outline in our guidebook. How hard could it be? We’d simply follow the coastline, and when that become impassable, we’d slip into the narrow roads and passages that made up the islands’ villages.

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

We marveled at how the small villages we passed showed only faint hints of the modern world. Fighting cocks crowed from under hand-weaved baskets, and half dressed children ran out to yell “hello!,” but karaoke music reverberated from thatch-roof huts with satellite dishes.

We had worried about feeling intrusive, especially as the lack of organized roads often meant we were practically tramping through someone’s front yard, but we were always met with smiles and friendly waves in the right direction.

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Of course the day we chose to complete this mission clocked in at about a billion degrees (scientific measurement), so we were thrilled when we came upon a beach that we were hoping to cool off in. Relief was nowhere to be found, however, as the bay felt like bathwater.

Still, we had a nice breather watching local kids amuse themselves by flinging seaweed at one another, and taking shadow pictures with the starfish that littered the sand.

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Soon we were rounding the corner on Guimbitayan, the opposite corner of the island from where we were staying. Due to the isolation of the village we were shocked when, mid conversation with three young sisters, the cheeky youngest one blurted out, “Give me money?” It was the only moment in an otherwise lovely day where I felt my heart constrict and I feared for the impact that tourism was going to have on the life of the many children we had so delighted in seeing play around the island.

Although I had spent almost three weeks in the Philippines at this point, I still wasn’t quite used to the sight of churches in Southeast Asia — especially considering they were often the most elaborate structure for miles.

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

We were trying to find a way to reach the lighthouse when two bold little boys appeared offering to show us the way. We hesitated, because we were worried about the etiquette of having to tip them (and I don’t like to give money to children), but they charged off into the bush — and we just shrugged our shoulders and followed them.

The lighthouse itself wasn’t anything special, but the views were.

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Once we had exhausted our picture-taking desires, we started to head back down the tiny hill we had ascended. But the boys weren’t done with us yet. “Cliff jumping?,” they asked, with smiling eyes.

When in the Philippines….

After that little adventure, which left me with a bruised ego (I wasn’t feeling quite as brave as I usually do) and Heather with a bruised knee (she jumped a bit far and smashed into a rock), we were more than ready for a quiet stroll back to our bungalow.

As I’ve said many times before, I’m so grateful to travel with Heather. We can both go camera wild and not worry hat we’re annoying our travel buddy by taking forty seven frames of the same bangka, and it challenges me creatively to be around another artistic spirit.

Though as you can see from the resulting images, inspiration was not in short supply on Malapascua.

Photos above and below by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

Photo by Heather Holt

This little island touched my heart, and remains one of my favorite destinations of my most recent five month stint in Southeast Asia! Which photo is your favorite?