Philippines: Sensastional Siquijor

Getting to our current island homebase of Siquijor (see-key-hor), wasn't a particularly easy journey from Palawan island. It took us two days of transport - a long minibus ride, two plane flights, and a cramped and humid boat ride to make it here, but the adventure was well worth the effort.

Siquijor is a smaller and less visited slice of heaven than are many more well-known Philippine destinations, and we are especially lucky to have found an awesome and perfect piece of beachfront to call ours for the week. 

We arrived on New Year's Eve day and instantly knew we were in exactly the right place to say farewell to 2013 and welcome in the new year. 

We're staying at the finest accomodation on the island, the Coco Grove Resort, a very affordable, mid-sized luxury hotel perched on a soft, wide white-sandy beach on the western edge of Siquijor. 

There's a marine sanctuary directly offshore where we can swim and snorkel with abundent sealife and colorful coral.

The resort has two first-class restaurants, two salt-water swimming pools (one with swim-up bar), a spa for massage and pampering right next to our private villa, and a super-friendly and attentive staff to take care our every need. Everyone addresses us by first name - and last, but not least, it is drop-dead gorgeous here!

The final evening of the year was extremely festive, featuring a banquet buffet on the sand with all of the hotel guests (about 125 fortunate travelers). 

We were entertained by a wild and wonderful local drum troupe, fire dancers, a 3-piece band, and past the night playing a host of fun games, capped off with a crazy group of happy revelers loudly blowing noise-makers as a firework display of impressive magnitute explosived offshore and into the dark, starry sky. 

We ate to our heart's content and sipped a bottle of sparkling wine, which somehow lasted for 5 hours - and met some lovely new friends as the evening progressed into 2014.

The past few days have been spent exploring nearby islands, beach lounging, being massaged, viewing unbelievable sunsets, kayaking, and swimming and playing in the tropical sunshine. 

An all-day boat trip to Apo island, about an hour offshore was a fantastic first day of fun in 2014. Apo is considered one of the best dive and snorkel spots of the world, and for good reason. 

The rock and sand island is beautiful and the undersea visibility is phenomenal. 

On Apo we swam with sea turtles that feed right along the shoreline, and then snorkeled and floated above an unsurpassed coral garden.

We had the opportunity to explore the sights and scenes of Siquijor on an all-day minivan excursion, with two new friends from England and a driver who took us around the island perimeter. 

We visited old Spanish churches, quiet beaches, villages and towns, and a spectacular 3-tiered waterfall where we swam in a warm, chalk-green pool below the lower cascade.

We absolutely love traveling here in the Philippines and we're already looking forward to accompanying good friends from home back to enjoy the spendor at some point in the future. The mangos are delectable, and even the cute geckos are friendly and welcoming. 

Although the culture isn't as exotic as some other Asian destinations we've been lucky enough to experience, everyone we've met has been so kind, always genuinely smiling and laughing - it's truly a tropical wonderland.