DAY143: Palawan, El Nido, Corong Corong, Island Hopping tour A (Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, 7 Commando)

8pm: The breakfast buffet is directly on the beach. It's beautiful even though the food is consistent with what I consider Filipino food to be: between not good and terrible. There is tocino - you know, that dodgy pink greasy pork meat - that means a lot!

For this morning, I booked one of the tour packages for island hopping they have here. There are 4 options (A, B, C and D) and from what I've read, A and C should be the best ones. I'll go for A today and save C for tomorrow.

11.30am: First stop: Blue Lagoon. It's a beautiful place, a bit similar to Maya bay (Thailand) but just as crowded. Our boat even had a hard time finding a parking space. Went for some kayaking with Alex (US) and Stephanie (Singapore) and it was not a disaster for once! It's hard to enjoy it as it is so packed with people though.

1.30am: Second stop: Big Lagoon. Had a nice lunch and it was not too crowded this time. The food was really good! I can hardly believe it. We have a very cool group, all talkative and friendly: 2 gay couples from Maryland, 3 girls from the UK (one of them is French but lives in London), Stephanie and Alex. A group of 10 people is good I must say.

2.30pm: Third stop: Secret Lagoon. Which is not that secret anymore. It's hidden more like. There were many people when we arrived but they left 10 minutes later which was fortunate. You can only go there at low tide because you need to go through a small hole in the rocks to reach it. The rock formations are absolutely fantastic. Plus, the beach next to the lagoon is gorgeous.

3.30pm: Fourth stop: Shimizu Island. It's a nice snorkeling spot with colorful corals and many fishes. The current was quite strong so I was dragged away really fast. But it was pretty fun!

5.30pm: Last stop at 7 Commando island where there is a heavenly beach with hammocks and tyre swings. Good to chill a bit. It was really windy though so we ate a lot of sand haha. Then we came back to Corong Corong beach and arranged to have dinner with the 3 British girls and Alex.

7pm: To sum up the Island Hopping tour A: I was really scared in the beginning that all the boats would follow each other for the whole day and all the spots would be packed. But in the end it was really good, I had a great day! I'm excited to explore more of the area tomorrow.

10pm: Had dinner with Alex and the girls and it was perfect. Good food and interesting travel buddies. This is what traveling is all about: meeting people from all over the world you would never meet otherwise, spend the day together and be able to talk about many things, even those you would never think about talking with your closest friends. How exciting!