It’s been a little over a year since I last went to go island hopping around the Island Garden City of Samal. I wasn’t too excited because my experience island hopping during habagat months is that the waves would be stronger than the usual calm of Davao Gulf.
Also, the weather would usually be overcast, and the gloom wasn’t that inviting for an adventure out at sea. I wouldn’t even get a proper tan from the last experience me and my sister had—plus it seemed like the jellyfish love this weather!
Weather and feeling aside, a commitment was a commitment. I promised my friend, Aj and my sister that I would go. I had nothing better to do anyway. There were no waves in the places I would have hoped to surf and also my surfboard was still in Dahican where it was flat as a lake.
As most people would schedule island hopping excursions, ours was on a Sunday so a lot more people could join. Twenty-six girls including my sister and me filled the boat and by 7:00am we were off to our first spot, Babu Santa in Talicud Island.
I’ll share with you a secret. I’ve never been to Babu Santa in Talicud Island ever. I’ve only been to Talicud Island once, and that was I think back in 2010 when we had a science elective class in college that had a field trip. The field trip was actually an overnight trip to the beach where we would each have a chance to do an introductory scuba dive.
I don’t remember much of the field trip if it was two nights or just one. I only remember my very first introductory scuba dive. It was phenomenal! I had a rare encounter with a banded sea krait, locally known as a “walo-walo”—a species of venomous sea snake we frequently see around in Indo-Pacific waters.
I was so scared when I saw it that I literally froze and stopped breathing! I didn’t know that it wasn’t aggressive back then and I watched too much Discovery Channel to remember that I wasn’t its prey. I should have just went on like normal, as my dive master said when we went up to the surface because it was so rare to see a sea snake devour its prey before divers in daylight and clear waters.
What I also remember was my dive master accidentally pulling my regulator, and I was gasping for oxygen under 15 feet of water. It’s a good thing I’m nerdy and love to listen to safety instructions or else I would never have remembered what to do when my regulator was pulled away from me and water started to enter my mask.
I was proud to note that I didn’t panic during those times, I was too excited and happy just to be underwater that I didn’t care what happened as long as I didn’t get eaten by any venomous sea creature.
The hour-long trip to Babu Santa in Talicud Island was enough to get me all reminiscent of yonder years. I was curious now. I wondered how the island has changed. I didn’t want to keep my hopes up because I know how bad the ocean temperature had been in the last recent years plus the last time I went island hopping, the dive sites in Samal were infested with crown-of-thorns starfish.
Arriving in Babu Santa, it was pretty much the standard Philippine beach tourist set-up where boats would dock on the shore, get the passengers out so they could either swim on the shallow waters or go around the island and take photos.
Of course, you’d have to pay a separate fee to be allowed to dock and use the huts. I think it cost our group PHP300 to be able to dock, use a hut and go around the island which only a few of us did. We wanted to enjoy swimming along the beach because the sun just came out and we needed warmth.
The waves were more prominent than usual and splashed our boat a lot, so the people who were at the front and sides got really wet. Add the cold sea breeze to the mix, and we were definitely feeling cold and in need of some tropical sunshine.
Here’s where things started to become unpleasant. The first time it was understandable but when our group, me in particular, was asked to get out of the way because “we might get hit” by another boat that was about to dock. I couldn’t believe it! The shoreline was filled with more boats than people. Where on the island would we feel safe enough to swim? Out in the deeper water where the boats weren’t docked?
It surprised me that the priority of whoever was managing the “boat parking system” of the property was not us beachgoers but the boats. I think the boats could park somewhere a little further like what other islands are doing so people could enjoy the beach and swim in peace and safety—which I think beaches are supposed to be for right?
It was like crossing on the pedestrian lane, which is initially designed for people to cross the road safely, but you were honked at and asked to get out of the way because a vehicle needs to pass. I was utterly disappointed that my friends and my beach wading experience had to be cut short after just a few minutes because we were asked to move out of the boats’ way.
I guessed when the boats were lesser and it wasn’t crowded, this free-for-all system might have worked but not anymore. There was to be a system where people can safely enjoy the beach that was supposed to be appreciated by the paying public, and the boats can park without harming the reef, coral and won’t be a nuisance to those who would have wanted to enjoy the beach.
There has to be something implemented and followed before accidents happen. Also, operators should remind their guests to bring their own trash back to the city, or if they have their private trash collection, it would be great. There’s already a growing garbage pile in the middle of the gulf, and it’s heartbreaking to see that we’re not escaping this plastic ocean nightmare.
If we want to see change, it should start with us. If you can say no, refuse single-use plastic, please. It may be a small change to your habit, but it’s a huge positive difference on a global scale. Would you rather stay in boats on your next island hopping because the beach is too dirty to swim in? This is a possibility that’s becoming more of a reality if we don’t do something.