Nalusuan Island, Arrival Day

December 26th we headed to Pongo Marigundun Port to be picked up by boat to be taken to Nalusuan Island which is about a one hour boat ride from Mactan Island. No one seemed to know where Pongo Marigundun Port was, luckily Mactan Island isn't very big so it was not too difficult to find although at first we were not sure we would ever get there.  Our boat pick up time was scheduled for 3pm.  What we had already learned in our 1.5 days in the Philippines is that everyone is always late.  They are totally on island time.  Pick up time at the port was no exception.  I think we were finally picked up around 4:20PM.

The port at Pongo Marigundun was awesome!  We wish we had more time to check this out -  (if we had only known how late our boat was going to be...) - but it was fun talking to the locals and getting the scoop.  The huts below are for day rental for just a few dollars you can rent one for the day and just hang out and have a good time with your family.  Most of the people that frequent this area are locals.  This is a place we believe we would have LOVED to spend a day!!

On the other side of the port were hotels...again, most of the patrons are locals and the hotel didn't look all that great, but we would have happily stayed here for a little fun in the sun! There is always next time - right?

Our boat to Nalusuan was very small, just big enough for our family and the two crew members.
The island in the picture is Nalusuan.
It is a little big bigger than a football field.

We totally felt like VIP's when arriving to the island.
They really didn't want us to carry our own backpacks, but most of us insisted, they insisted more and ended up taking them from us and in return they gave us shell necklaces and orange juice upon arrival.

Feeling special.
I'm already in love with this place.

The rooms were very small, but ADORABLE even if Hubby and I had to sleep in separate beds.
Check out our balcony.
Our room was on stilts in the water.

We had 3 rooms, 2 kids on either side of our room.
The kids loved having their own space.
Even if there was no electricity from 8AM-6PM
and NO TV or internet AT ALL.

This place is magical.

The pier was longer than the entire island.

And this is what you could see with the naked eye from the side of the pier. 
How many star fish can you count?
Can you see the little nemo fish off to the right?
And the striped fish towards the bottom center?

2 of my precious boys.

There was an anemone below the sign with tons of clown fish and you could see it by just looking into the water!

The sky was amazing!
(Those are our rooms on the left side of the screen!)

And the water was so clear!

I had no idea blue star fish like this even existed!

I cannot tell you how peaceful this place is.
And my pictures do not do it justice.

This picture was taken from the front window in our room.

I've never seen such beautiful skies......

Our dining experience was just as amazing as our arrival.
We had our own private table.
In fact, we had our own private island for the first night as we were the only guest on the island.
When we went out for dinner our table was already set and waiting for us.
We started with sizzling squid - which was just as AMAZING as it looks.

Boy 1 had fish soup, with the head and all.
Aren't our kids awesome?
He didn't even flinch at having a fish head in his soup.
He even had to share the eyeballs with Boy 2.
True story.
(I know..they are weird and awesome all at the same time! But I wouldn't have them any other way!)

Girl and Boy 1 stuck to more traditional chicken on a stick.

Our first night on Nalusuan was awesome.
I couldn't wait to see what the morning would bring us.....