Reason #660 NOT to take the boat in the Philippines

You don’t  know when or if you’ll make it.

Kevin and I are spending the day today recovering from the traumatic boat ride that took us from El Nido to Coron. The whole thing was a two-day ordeal starting on Sunday when we were supposed to take off, until the glorious moment we finally arrived on land last night (Monday). We were supposed to leave El Nido on Sunday morning on a ferry bound for Coron. We thought it was a good day to travel since it was cloudy and there was no a/c on the boat.  After about an hour, the waves started crashing in and the boat was rocking feverishly from side to side. The boat crew, where the oldest person was around 18, started hammering up pieces of plywood and fastening tarp to block out the water that was gushing in. The engine died a few times and we were still nowhere close to or destination. After about 4 hours of being thrashed around in the waves, the crew decided that the best thing to do was to head back to El Nido. It took another 2 hours to get back. So, that was attempt number 1. It wasn’t until the next day when we found out that there was actually a huge hole (about 1 metre squared) on the front of the boat where water was actually gushing into the inside of the boat. Apparently, the woman that was from that boat company was quoted saying, “It would have been better if the boat had sank. At least we could have claimed insurance for it.”  

The next day, attempt number 2, we boarded a slightly different boat to try to get to Coron again. This time, the boat was slightly bigger, the crew was older, and there was no sign of any plywood lying around. The first couple hours were actually quite nice as we sailed past all the different islands around us. But it wasn’t long until the angry waves came and we found ourselves once again at the mercy of the ocean. Even though this boat was slightly in better shape than the last one, it still really isn’t in any condition to ferry around 50 people for 8 hours over these rough waters. It wasn’t the fact that there were no real seats – there were two rows of long benches facing each other. Nor was it the fact that when they said “buffet lunch” will be served on the boat, they meant a chicken wing and a scoop of dry rice. It was the indefinite arrival time that could drive any sane person crazy. Only once did the crew inform us of when we would arrive, which turned out to be twice as long in reality. It was supposed to be an eight hour trip, but eight turned into nine, and nine tuned into ten. And finally, after 11 gruelling hours out in the ocean on a little fishing boat, we finally arrived…alive.

Moral of the story: When in the Philippines, FLY! 

Reason #660: For all 660 hours we were tossed around at sea