We booked this tour a few days ago. It seems like all tour companies have the same four tours, each known as A, B, C, and D. We did some rudimentary research on which to choose and went with A.

We set alarms for 7 but didn’t need them because our human alarm was up at 6:45. We had our huge hotel breakfasts and then hopped in a tricycle to get to the meeting point at 8:45. We were among about 100 tourists and shepherded over to our boat of 20. After we boarded, the guide asked everyone where they were from. Every group was from a different place. Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Nepal, Israel, Netherlands, England, and us.

Our first stop of the day was a large lagoon. We deboarded from the main boat into a kayak, and then paddled into the lagoon. Millie hates being on kayaks but had a pretty good attitude.

It was packed with people but that didn’t take away from the natural beauty. We entered through shallow crystal clear water and found ourselves in a dark blue lagoon surrounded by cliffs on all sides.

One everyone was back at the boat we sailed over to a beach for lunch. Our guide set up a buffet of delicious local things and we served ourselves. Millie got a coconut which really fit in with the vibe of the day.

She used our little travel towel and danced around with it as a cape. This kept her entertained for the whole lunch hour.

The stop after lunch was a snorkeling cove. Millie didn’t want to go and I’m always happy to skip snorkeling, so we hung out on the boat while Nick bobbed around.

The fourth stop was a “secret lagoon” that you crawl through a little hole in a cliff to get to. I didn’t bring my phone because I didn’t want to worry about keeping it dry, so no photos.

The fifth and final stop was a beautiful white sand beach. There was a little snack shop selling drinks. Nick and I got beers, Millie got a watermelon juice, and we got a plate of banana fritters to share. We sat on a bench and enjoyed our goods. The banana fritter was so delicious, I’m not sure if it was because of the exhausting day, the environment, or because they were actually phenomenal.

Nick looked at me and said “this is the perfect moment, I was worried the Philippines wouldn’t have one.” He has a theory that to really visit a place you have to have at least one perfect moment there. We got ours under the wire, right before we begin our journey away tomorrow.

We went back to the boat and returned to where we started in the morning. We all walked slowly to shore, peeing the whole way and laughing hysterically about it.

We took another tricycle back to our hotel and rinsed all the sand, sea, and sunscreen off. Unfortunately today I got my first sunburn of the trip. I applied sunscreen at least three times today so I’m not sure how it happened.

Millie got to choose dinner tonight. So of course we had pizza. It was on a rooftop and we watched the sun go down, so I can’t really complain.