Once our snorkeling time was up, our group climbed back on the boat to head off for the next island on our tour. This island goes by several names, most commonly known by Virgin Island or Isola di Francesco. Virgin Island is famous for the gorgeous white sand beach, shallow water, and the stunning sandbar leading out to the boat drop off. We were impressed by the sight even before we got off the boat.
Your boat will drop you off on the sandbar and let you walk to shore. We kicked off our slippers and left them in the boat so that we could enjoy the sandy beach to the maximum, and waded through the water to the shore as it was high tide when we arrived. At the entrance to the island, there is a guest book that you can sign and then on the other side of the structure, you will be greeted by various religious figures and structures.
One thing that remains a huge mystery to us is this display – “We are the victims of M.K.D.” it says, with a graveyard of shells next to the sign. We tried to research what this was all about when we got back home, but couldn’t find any information about it. If anyone knows, please leave a comment as we’re dying to have our curiosity satisfied as to what this eerie display represents.
After walking through the tiny island, we finally headed to the waters again.
The water was stunningly clear and shallow -only coming up to our shoulders at the deepest points.
What we noticed beneath the water was just as amazing as the beautiful waters themselves – there were starfish everywhere! As we peered into the water, we saw that these adorable little starfish littered the sands in which we were walking. We picked up a few to look at and take photos, and then returned them to the water, of course.
After exploring the Virgin Island for a little longer, we saw our boatmen signaling us. It was time to go back to Panglao Island – back to our hotel to pack up, then to the ferry to return us to Cebu where we would catch our plan back to Manila – and back to reality. This island adventure was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and I hope it was as memorable for my husband on his birthday as it was for me!
Writers in Tandem
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