Talikud Island : A must visit!

Labsy & me @ Isla Reta 2

Last November 26, 2011, we initially planned to visit Pearl Farm, but the turn of events made us change it to an island hopping escapade in Talikud Island, Samal, Davao del Norte. It wasn't our (me & Labsy) first time, but we never really get tired or bored w/ the beauty of the beach & everything it offers...

Jun & Labsy @ Kaputian Beach

So morning of that Saturday, we woke up early enough to catch the 7:30AM trip bound for Kaputian, Samal. Well, the bus actually arrived past 8:00am which made us stood at the sidewalk in front of Magsaysay Park waiting for quite awhile. Then eventually, the bus arrived and we joined the pushings of the crowd just to get inside and grab a seat. Luckily, we were able to secure seats for everyone and in about 3-4 minutes, the bus took off with all seats taken plus about 3-4 people standing and later some more picked-up along the way.

Labsy, Hilda, Jun & Pam
on Our boat ride

We arrived in Kaputian a little past 10:00am, went to their palengke (market) to buy some meat and fish for lunch, which Ate (the kind, island hopping contact person) cooked for us. Who later told us that the earliest trip is 5:30 am. If we wanted to start the activity earlier, we should catch that trip. Well, maybe next time, if we can get out of our very own time machine, our bed (I've read from a friend's wall post in facebook, "if u want to take a nap for five minutes, when you wake up, it's five hours later")... :P

Anyway, when everything was prepared and cooked, we went up to the boat and prepared for yet another adventure and perhaps another wish to strike-through in the list.

Isla Reta 1

We started heading to Isla Reta 2, where we stopped for lunch. We passed by Isla Reta 1, which is preferred for a day tour activity than Isla Reta 2. But, I find Isla Reta 2 a more secluded and private place, in addition to that, regular ferry only stops at Isla Reta 1. Isla Reta 1's entrance fee is Php 70, while Isla Reta 2 is only Php 20. Isla Reta 1 is way more expensive, but shore/place is much cleaner and facilities are a bit more maintained than 2.

Lunch @ Isla Reta 2

Our boat driver suggested Isla Reta 2 and so we did. We paid Php 100 for our entrance fee (for 5 people), and an additional Php 50 for the table we rented during our lunch. So, for Php 150, we get a good somewhat exclusive swim and a place to lay our "baons" (food packs) and enjoy a beachside dining with friends. And as expected, we enjoyed every bit of it! No one scheduled for a light diet, and everybody knows we need the energy for swimming! ;)

Isla Reta 2's mini cave

After a few swim, moment capturing, especially at their mini cave, & some food indulging, we went off to our next stop. We stopped by the area of the former, Isla Cristina, which has been closed for awhile already. But you can still see traces of the previous resort, which once was a beautiful place to stay and chill out.

We jumped off from our "banca" (boat) and enjoyed a good swim in a very clear waters of that part of Talikud Island. It was so clear, we saw two (2) big star fishes we took for a while for picture taking but took them back to the sea after. Preserve, preserve, preserve!!!

After being stars-strucked by the star fishes we somehow befriended, we went to the Coral Garden of Talikud Island, which according to our boat driver, is more or less 2-hectares.

At the Coral Garden

There were available life vest to use, but we opted not to use them to swim more comfortably. Unfortunately, we are not good swimmers that would last too long in the water. With the kindness of our boat driver/tour guide, he let us used his ringlife orange salbabida, with the rope connected to the boat, so we can swim and take a rest whenever and wherever we want and when we were too tired to swim back to the boat, he will just pull us through the rope. ;)

At Isla Reta 2

It was the most amazing and fascinating part of the trip. We stayed a little longer at the Coral Garden, feasting our eyes on the nicest and biggest corals in the Island.

I believe that was the highlight of our Talikud Island adventure, because after that, our day was made! We were supposed to make a stopover at Babu Santa Resort, but we just took a glimpse at the resort, and then decided to continue the boat ride back to Kaputian Beach, where we freshen up and then prepared to head back home.

Isla Cristina

It was another awesome ride and adventure, specially when we got the chance to swim with the fishes and visit their homes in the Coral Garden. It's the best way to capture anyone's heart and make them believe, there are still more beautiful things yet uncovered or unappreciated. It also made us more thankful to our creator, respectful to the nature we enjoyed, and wishing more generations will have the same chance that we had. Let Us Help Save the Ocean! :)

Note: In case you want to do this, you may contact this number 09187236996, and they will take you to the next best thing in your escapade/getaway list. ;)