April 11, 2013: Today started off with a dive down to the house reef at Club Paradise and ended off with a climb up to Hunter’s Peak behind El Rio Y Mar Resort.

We caught the shuttle boat to Club Paradise in the morning and rode over with a large group of Filipinos from Canada and the US who were on their way to a wedding at the resort. We thought it was cute that they were all wearing their life jackets. I guess they had heard just one too many reports of boats sinking in the Philippines.

At the island, we borrowed a couple of tanks from the Dugong Dive Centre for a shore dive on their house reef. After swimming for a bit over a sandy patch, we arrived at the reef. It’s not too deep, just 18 metres, so usually there is a lot of light. But today it was darkish because the surface was so rough. Still it made a nice dive to poke around and play with our cameras.

In the afternoon, back at El Rio Y Mar, we met up with Andy and Jenny at the pool and hatched a plan to climb up to Hunter’s Peak. The resort staff suggested proper footwear, so Andy and Jenny switched to trainers, but Chris and I decided we’d try it in flip flops.

The first part was really steep; partly steps made from rock, partly using tree roots as footholds but at least there was a very handy handrail (except in the places where it had broken away). The rest was a scramble up the slope on a well worn trail. It was certainly worth the effort for spectacular 360 degree views of Busuanga Island and Maricaban Bay right around to the South China Sea.

After the mandatory photo shoot, we scrambled back down the slope. As luck would have it, the trainers didn’t help as the only one of us to lose our footing was Andy. None too worse for wear, we all made a beeline for the pier bar where we enjoyed a refreshing beverage before dinner.

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