Pandan Island, A Turtle Heaven.


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Asia » Philippines » Mindoro » Pandan Island
April 15th 2012
Published: April 23rd 2012
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After a good night’s sleep we woke refreshed and ready to start our laid back island life .



Picture this if you can:

A small island out in the South China Sea. No towns or villages or roads or even pathways. A collection of 15 bungalows constructed with raffia walls and thatched rooves, no glass in the windows and no locks on the flimsy doors. A restaurant and bar to serve the temporary residents of the bungalows, most of who visit for a few days to a few weeks, flowing in and out like the tide.



A white sand beach, sprinkled with remnants of sun bleached white coral, shelves gently into a pale blue ocean that changes to a deeper blue where the coral reef begins. Days can be spent relaxing in a shady spot on the beach taking in the breathtaking views across the water to the mountains on the mainland whose peaks are so high they’re rarely out of clouds.



When the heat of the day gets too much take a dip in the cool waters and snorkel with giant turtles grazing on sea grass or glide over the coral reef and be amazed at the colours of the coral and tropical fish. We swam with huge Green turtles, Hawksbill Turtles, blue spotted stingray, a family of lion fish and giant Trevally fish amongst many others but the highlight for me was the sea horse I came across in the shallow waters around the sea grass.



In the evening after dining on a three course buffet, sip a cold beer on the sand and gaze up at the stars twinkling in an inky black sky and the fireflies flashing in the tree tops. Watch as an orange glow on the horizon becomes the moon as it appears in the sky rising higher and higher every minute bathing the ocean in it’s golden light.

On one of the evenings we were entertained by soft music as a guitar/ vocalist played on the beach and everyone joined in with familiar tunes of Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel and the Beatles Love songs. The evening finished with dancing on the sand to ‘La bamba’ and Elvis’s rock and roll tunes.



Well that’s life on Pandan Island – who could not fall in love with this place?



We ended up spending seven days here instead of the planned five before taking the rocky road back to San Jose and then onto Malaysia via Manila.


Additional photos below
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Sea planeSea plane
Sea plane

Not our mode of transport unfortunately
The BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx

A collection of 5 very basic chalets where we stayed
Inside our chaletInside our chalet
Inside our chalet

No need for air-con, it's all open!


24th April 2012

Told you...
I told you you'd like it!!!

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