Day 345 - Beach Day at Emerald Playa

Monday, June 17th, 2019

Today we went to breakfast as usual, half an hour before they finish serving it! To be honest, no one is really excited about the buffet  because most of the food is meat, beef, fish, and pork. We, the only Westerners in the hotel, go for the eggs and toast. Daniel and Sunshine eat cornflakes with milk.

After breakfast, we spent some time in the dining room enjoying the brief moments of good wifi and then we got ready to go to the beach. I texted RJay, our driver, to pick us up at 11:00. As much as I prefer to go to the beach early, it's hard because no one likes to move fast in the morning.

The driver took us to Emerald Beach because we were told that the public one was dirty. It was a little farther away but not bad. When we arrived, we had to pay an entrance fee of 80 pesos per person, about $1.40 and if that’s what it takes to keep a place clean, we should do it everywhere!
The place was empty. There was one other family with three boys and a dog. We didn’t want to pay for a hut, but one of the resort staff told us that we could sit by the bar, under a gazebo with chairs and a table. The beach was so different from everything that we have seen. It was a mangrove beach, with trees in the water. The ocean extended for quite a way like a big clear pool, and we could see the seagrass and rocks underneath. It was so wide open that we didn’t see many fish swimming.

Gregory and the kids went to explore the trees in the water. There was a tree house with a bench and a swing! It was really sunny so I stayed behind with my book. I have to take advantage of all these uninterrupted moments. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. The tide went out and we were able to see a ton of sea life. It was amazing and beautiful. When I was walking out and Daniel pointed the sea stars, I stopped for a minute and saw so much movement around me. I ended up sitting down for an hour, admiring how much beauty and life there was around me. Of course, I woke up from my daydream when I started to feel my back burning and then decided it was time to go.

Our driver was waiting for us, perfect timing! We asked to take us to a local restaurant. He took us to: Noki Nocs which I do not recommend for foreigners. Poor Gregory twice ordered a soup which wasn’t supposed to have fish but was made with fish broth. He only ate the meat and some of the noodles. The food in the Philippines leaves a lot to be desired. After lunch, we went back to our hotel, we jumped in the pool, swam for a while and then just stayed in our room. Our TV still doesn’t work, which is probably a good thing because I got to read my book and Gregory advanced on his editing.


For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rbD4rRqqC6E7VntR8

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