It’s summer, and a long weekend because of Labor Day so what better way to spend an unplanned Monday than go island hopping?

Our first stop was to Gilutongan Island, a known marine sanctuary.  Before this, I always thought the island is called or rather, spelled Hilutungan (the G is pronounced as an H), as most websites spell it this way, but this restaurant sign says otherwise.

This was actually my third time here (my first two visits were in 2007 and 2012), but this was my first time to see the sign (our boatmen said the restaurant opened about 3 years ago).

Because it’s a known sanctuary, the designated snorkeling areas were teeming with fishes.  My friends happily swam and snorkeled, while I opted to enjoy the view because while I love the sight of the sea, I don’t like the taste of seawater.

The water looked so calm and there weren’t any waves.  Up ahead, the waters are a vivid dark blue, while it’s a clear blue-green on the opposite side.

We had the island for about thirty minutes before boatloads of tourists came rushing in.  By then, it wasn’t as much fun for us, so we decided to move to the next island.

Our next stop was Caohagan Island.  I already wrote a detailed post about this island HERE.  From afar, it looked the same.

But when we disembarked, I was disheartened to see that the island is now teeming with tourists.

The souvenir shops were still there, and they’re greater in number.  So were the seafood sellers.  Prices remain expensive.  (For souvenirs, I still recommend the shops at Lapu-Lapu Shrine.)

We bought some crabs (again, expensive at Php 250 each) and seashells (Php 250 for a pile when a colleague brings them to us for only Php 200 for triple the quantity) and had them for lunch.  Here’s my share.  Nom nom!

This was an impromptu lunch (we thought we’d be done island hopping before lunch) so we didn’t have plates, spoon, and fork.  Thankfully, they sell paper plates (at Php 2 apiece!) as well as canned goods in the island (the de lata was for our companion who’s allergic to seafood).

After our filling lunch, we departed for Talima, our last stop.  The island is popular snorkeling area, but the fishes here aren’t as diverse or big as the ones in Gilutongan.

At home, a friend asked me about my favorite among the three.  Hmm…  If it wasn’t as crowded, I would have answered Caohagan, so that left Gilutongan and Talima.  I wasn’t impressed with the latter, so yeah, among the three, I prefer Gilutongan Island.