Olango Island: Island Hopping

Island hopping is a common activity in Mactan, specifically in Olango Island. The island possesses nearby islets that boast abundant marine life and sparkling azure water. It is one of the main reasons why so many tourists visit the island all year round. As long as the weather isn't that bad, anyone can go diving, snorkeling, island hopping and swimming.

Personally, I have done several island hopping on this area despite the fact that I don't know how to swim. Never did I got tired of visiting these island hopping destinations. Why should I when every island/islet offers exciting experience? So when my former boss wanted to go on an island hopping, it was a landslide 'yes' from all of us. I was in-charge of the preparation for the activity, from searching and contacting the boatmen to the destinations.

Cordova Port

Cordova Port

The RoRo port in Cordova, Mactan is often the point of origin to most island hoppers. Meanwhile, some guests prefer to start the activity from the beach resort they're staying. The port is not that accessible by public transportation, lucky us we had our own service - courtesy of our office mates who owned cars. We parked the cars nearby the port, but we asked and paid someone to watch over the vehicles (just to be sure) though the people assured that it's safe. ;-) 

Off we go, it was almost noon when we started the activity. The sun was up and the rays were unforgiving, but the water was a bit playful. Yes there were tiny swells, nonetheless, we quite enjoyed the rough ride.

Caw-oy

Our first destination was Caw-oy. Actually Caw-oy is part of Olango Island, NOT a separate islet. The reason why we headed first to this area was because it was almost noon and we were so hungry. lol. 

Caw-oy gained such popularity due to the floating restaurants that serve fresh seafood. However, the restaurants don't really float rather they were just built above the water.

Just a few meters from the restaurants, we decided to enjoy first this part of the island. Hence my colleagues dived into the water. I tried to estimate how deep the water was. Yikes! It was deep. In fact, there were fishermen nearby. Arg.... I wore my life vest immediately 'cuz I might accidentally fall. lol

the team

After about 30 minutes, we docked at Dinah floating restaurant and ordered our food. Aside from the eating part, I enjoyed choosing what food to order. I have been to a lot of seafood restaurants but it was my first time to come face to face with a vast selection of "alive" sea creatures ready to be cooked, including fish, crab, shell, lobster, etc.  

We had a heavenly lunch. I swear it was one of the best meals I ever had. The fresh seafood tasted superb. Indeed Caw-oy floating restaurants are worth visiting. 

Lunch was served, we can now go home" - we joked around. But hey we just started the activity.  Along the way to our next destination, we saw a boat with an amazing design. We were astonished.

Sulpa Islet

Our next destination was the Sulpa Islet. From a far, we saw a white powdery shoreline (it was that visible). The water was crystal clear. And there were lots of guests. So we opted to berth a few meters from the shoreline, but we were close enough to walk to the islet. 

The water wasn't too deep, below 5 feet, so I dipped in. I enjoyed taking underwater photos, specially with the colorful fishes swimming around.

the girls without me... Image from Flickr

I guess Sulpa Islet was my favorite for the reason that it wasn't too deep. haha. I was able to enjoy the water without my vest. ;-)

Hilutungan Marine Sanctuary

The Hilutungan marine sanctuary wasn't new to me. I believed this spot was included in every island hopping I joined like.. ever since. Though there are plenty of species of fish found in the sanctuary it's not really a favorite of mine. *sad face* Why? Because it's deep! (probably deep for a non-swimmer like me) And oftentimes, the current is strong.

When we arrived, other hoppers were already having so much fun snorkeling. And so we did too. Later, we didn't noticed we were a bit far off the boat. Oh no! We swam back but the current was pulling us away. So the boatman tossed a rope for us to hold on to. Was I scared? y-e-s! Even though there were other boatmen in the area, I was scared I might sank and no one will notice (okay I was exaggerating). We just stayed nearby the boat until the time we had to go.

 We culminated the activity at around 4 PM. It took us another 30 - 45 minutes travel back to Cordova Port. T'was an exciting day on the water.

Exploring the life under the water is always a pleasurable thing to do. It's never boring or tiresome. I'll surely do this over and over again.


Want to go on an island hopping in Mactan? There are several island hopping packages and accommodation you can search. Have fun!





Feb. '15