The Most Beautiful Island

There is a reason many people consider Palawan one of the most beautiful islands in the world. That reason is because it is. On our first full day on the island, we went on an 8-hour boat tour. The tour comprised a loop through the mountains in the sea surrounding El Nido. During the tour, we stopped to snorkel in the aquamarine waters, visited two isolated beaches, and waded along a white sandbar extending between two mountains in the sea.

The ocean water was quite warm—so warm, in fact, that we remained in the water up to our necks when a monsoon rain struck as we were on the sandbar. That kept us warm from the chill rain, but I joked, “I don’t want to get out of the water because I am going to get wet!”

I am sharing a few photographs from the tour. I am, thus far, quite impressed.

Framed by Palms

Our Tour Boat

Desiree, Her Daughters, Her Sister, and Me on the Boat

Our “Lunch Room”

Hibiscus (Gumamela)

—Mitchell Hegman