Beyond Enchanted

I don't mean to bash or anything. But I think the Enchanted River is the most overrated and over-hyped summer destination this year. And the crowd really kills part of the whole enchanted-ness thing. I do understand why people can't help but flock to the place though. It's quite photogenic and social media did its magic.
I did the hyping thing last year too, wrote all about it in this post. And hurrah, not, we went back again this summer...but even the hinatuan crabs that I love so much were in short supply.  
But like I said, I'm not here to bash. Because actually there's a little bit of something more beyond the enchanted river that is actually worth checking out.

About the time I took this photo, there's a already a huge number of people along the shores of the famous river, yet you can hardly see anyone on this path.
And where does this path lead?
Well, ... here:
And eventually here:

Yey, boats! And one of these boats can take you to ...
the classic blue ocean.

Ok, I know I talked a little about this boat-hopping experience the last time, and I thought it wouldn't be as exciting the second time around. But this one came as a pleasant surprise.
And mainly, because of Pangasinan Island, also called Bagasin Island.

Isn't that a beauty? 
Well actually the whole point of writing this post is to make special mention of this place. When we were here, we were able to talk a little with the residences of the island and they expressed that they felt a little resentful because they don't get enough promotion. Specifically, the people at the enchanted river doesn't endorse them, so they get really few visitors.
And it's sad because this is really a beautiful place, and even the food and accommodation is cheaper, and people know nothing about it except when they actually go island-hopping.
Last year, when we went island-hopping, we didn't even stop at this place because our thought was it's just another "generic beach".
Wished we didn't though. Because we missed these:




my father's foot prints.

obligatory picture of me. I gained weight. Have you noticed?

Soil erosion exposing the coconut roots.



Our boat waiting for us.

Docking area. Too bad we had to leave early.
Next stop, the fish cage. We also visited that last year, but this time, we decided to swim with the fishes.

Kinda scary at first considering these fishes are HUGE.

But they know their place and don't bite humans.

You probably can't tell, but the water's really deep.

Oh, look! A baby shark.

And they swim quite near you.

And this is when I finally got to swim, because as always, the photographer gets to plunge into the water last.

By lunchtime, we were heading back to the mainland again.

Lovely estuary don't you think?

Back to mossy dry land!
#imnotatravelblogger#ijustlikeprettypictures#andtalkingaboutthem#lettingthehashtagsdothetalking
Thanks for reading!