tablas and romblon islands

in my quest to find reef that has not been damaged by dynamite fishing, it has brought me to the romblon islands province. the two islands that i spent time on were tablas and romblon. in both i was greeted with so much kindness. whenever i would sit down, people would come up to me and just start talking. they were interested in why i have come to their town and where i came from. it was always very genuine. on more than one instance i was invited to homes for meals or coffee. the people alone are worth the trek to this island group.

on tablas i stayed in the towns on Looc and Santa Fe. in Looc is heard there was an excellent marine sanctuary. to get there i talked to the local tourist office and they organized a visit, which involved taking a pump boat to the reserve and docking up to a bamboo raft/lodge in the center of the reserve. when in the water i saw numerous giant clams, some as large as 3 feet wide! they told me that there is an estimated 500 clams within the reserve. there were also many smaller reef fish. they told me that some smaller sharks and rays frequent the area, but i was not lucky enough to be there at the same time to take a photo. Santa Fe was an unexpected surprise. i did not plan to stay there. i was planning on using it as a port to get to panay island. when arriving to the town, i found out that the boat to panay only leaves once a day at 10am, it was 1pm. there are no hotels there, but one concerned local took me in. her name was beth. she showed me to a home stay house, which many of the students use. she invited me over for lunch and dinner. in the morning i left to panay, but was very thankful to her.

on romblon island, i stayed in romblon town. the small island is surrounded by excellent reef and clear, calm water. the fish were still small, but were very colorful. the island is most famous for its marble production. i was everywhere, cheaper than hard wood. every building had it in its construction and it was even part of the roads. they have always had local exportation, but have just recently started shipping to europe and the rest of asia.

when there, i rented a boat to take me around the island and stopping at 4 marine sanctuaries. the coral was amazing. very different than hawaii. i was also lucky to make some good friends there. one was the governor of the whole province, who saw me and took me up to his home, where we had coffee and lunch and had a good conversation about his town. i also met a local graphic artist, JR, on my last night. his sister met me in the plaza and invited me to their home for drinks. he gave me an airbrushed shirt that he made as a present and gave me another reason to return to romblon. i hope i can come back before getting too old.

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