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Alarm goes off at 4:40am.
We leave bleary eyed and are picked up by a very chatty driver. I can barely make out what he's saying. Craig leaves the talking to me and we talk about Cambodia. Through his manic laugh I can hear "whatever you want - girls, temples, beaches". He mentions that there is a Starbucks at the airport as I say I'm looking forward to a coffee. Coffee is his number 2 drug. Opium being his first. Hopefully he's just had an espresso for this journey.
3 hour flight with tiger airways takes us to Cebu. We get a row each as the flight is half empty. Far beneath I can see Borneo and it looks huge compared to the smaller archipelagos.
Arriving at Cebu, it is slow getting through immigration but no where near the chaos of Siem Reap. We meet our driver and his wife at the airport. She kindly advises us to stop and pick up supplies at a supermarket as its expensive on Malapascua Island.
4 hours later we arrive at the dock. One thing I hate in South East Asia, is getting onto some boats. The sea is choppy and navigating down the moving plank holding onto a bamboo stick held by 2 guys is a hand in heart moment. Rucksack on back, daypack on shoulder, with 2 bags of shopping is enough to test anyone's sanity. The boats here are catamarans with little protection to deflect the water. Slowly getting soaked on the packed boat, as its the last ferry of the day. My bag kept dry with a wall of provisions blocking the way.
A local calls us over and we squeeze next to them sitting on bags of supplies smiling at her kindness.
We dump our bags at the Blue Coral, great sea view from the window and go check out the dive shops. We settle for Thresher Shark divers as it has a good reputation. The diveshop has a restaurant so we stay for dinner, watching 6 new dive masters participating in the dive shop tradition. Copious amounts of alcohol drank through the snorkal. First taste of Filipino food and I try the bellypork, (LT) spiced with rice and pickled salad. Liking the food here, meat lovers paradise. We meet an Indian girl called Sam who has seen some thresher sharks already. Great to hear positive sightings. Diving starts tomorrow and has been a long day. Time to sleep.
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