www.Betsy and Terry.fun

Saturday, October 29. We live in a country made up of over 7000 islands, yet it is a feat to get to a really nice beach! We were up and at the airport at 5 AM for our 6AM flight to Palawan. When we arrived at the airport, we couldn't believe the number of people waiting in line just to get in the front door of the airport. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the front door. We were a little anxious, but the plane ended up leaving a little late so we made it easily with only 50 people on board. The flight had to leave early enough to get us to the boat that would take us to the island during high tide. At low tide, the waterways are not navigable.


Once we landed in Palawan on a gravel runway, we waited in the open air terminal with a dirt floor while our luggage was loaded onto a jeepney and all of the passengers were loaded onto a bus and another jeepney.

We ventured on to the river in a really old bus which ended up sliding off of the muddy road into the ditch. The good news is that we were very near to the boat launch and simply walked the last few yards.


We loaded into small boats that ferried us to the larger banca boat which took us on a 40 minute boat ride to the island

Club Noah Isabelle, is all that inhabits this island. There are accommodations for 150 people. It is very much like camping in comfort. The cabins are cabanas on stilts. Each has just enough room for a double bed and a great porch out over the water where we watched the fish and baby sharks swim.

We spent 2 days snorkeling, sunning, resting, reading, eating, drinking, fishing, having foot spas and massages. We all also tried a short scuba dive which took us down about 15 feet under water. I didn't really care for it. I felt claustrophobic and panic stricken, but I managed to stay down. I will probably try again sometime, but at this time I prefer snorkeling and breathing the air above water.
We finally got our hammock hung between two palm trees!