ESCAPISMS: Beach Trips

Back to Paradise

It is always quite the treat to travel with the family and spend a day or two with each other. With everyone so caught up with their busy schedules or simply just living their own lives, quality time spent together is hard to achieve these days. Thus, it has become a yearly tradition of ours to get-together every month of May.

As mentioned in my previous post, for this month's family reunion, we decided to go to Malapascua Island - the northern most tip island of Cebu. Since, all of us we're in Leyte, we hopped on a rented motor boat from our hometown - Villaba and spent an hour or two going to the island itself. Even though this isn't the first time we had spent our family reunion on this island - as it is one of my family's favorite places, Malapascua never loses its charms.

Aside from its white sand beaches and crystal clear blue waters, what I really love about Malapascua is how serene it is. One can just lay around on the beach, swim and snorkel, take endless photographs of postcard-worthy views, walk along the beach barefoot or mingling with the locals without minding the time. And unlike some beaches where life blooms after the sun sets, here in Malapascua, a raucous nightlife and beach parties is nothing but a nuisance. I first came here in 2012 and still nothing has changed. You wouldn't see any big establishments, no noise pollution, no crowd and instead of disco lights, the only light you would see at night (aside from the resorts') are the ones the local fishermen used to catch their goods.

Speaking of swimming and snorkeling, this trip was also a memorable one for me in the sense that it was my first time to see a Crown of Thorns starfish in its natural habitat while snorkeling. I was following a school of fish when out of the corner of my eyes, I saw something brown that moved. I thought nothing of it and dismissed it as just a seaweed but then it slowly moved towards me. So I took a closer look and almost had a heart attack when I saw it up close. To be honest, I didn't know what it was back then, all I know is that it's a strange looking starfish, quite larger than the regular brown ones I saw and with tentacles that looked like the ones from a brittle star - only larger. I had to google it after swimming to see what it was and that's when I knew its name and why it's a scary looking creature because it's a predator.

It's just sad that this beautiful paradise also received the wrath of super typhoon Yolanda back in 2013. When I first came here, I could still see quite a number of coconut trees along the beach front that would make a really great shade from the scorching heat of the sun. But today, most of them are nothing but a living evidence on how a natural disaster leaves its mark.

There's a reason why Malapascua holds a special place in my heart and to be back here again with my family is truly something special. What about you? Have you been on a recent family trip this summer?