✨Haappppyyyyyyy weekend everyone!✨
After narrating to you the challenging journey going to the island and sharing the not-so-famous spots within the island. I don't want to leave you in suspense for a longer time. Hence, today you are finally going to have a virtual tour at Sumilon Island's crowning glory, its sandbar.
I've only been to a handful of sandbars all over my country. I mean if you have 7,600+ islands, you'd be needing uninterrupted travel for months or years to explore all. Just glad to tick off one more island on my travel list. I won't take moore of your time now, let's just proceed with out Lulinghayaw sa Cebu featuring Sumilon Island Sandbar.
Let's go! 😁
Walk or ride, it doesn't matter!
From the front desk/infinity pool area, one needs to walk almost half a kilometer to reach the southern side of Sumilon Island where the sandbar is located. We went to the sanbar twice. The first was right before lunch and the second one was right before we left the island. The first time I walked and enjoyed the forested pathway. The walk was around 5-8 minutes. It can get scary because no other tourist walked with me. The second time, GB and I rode the shuttle. I suggest you try both.
Sandbar now, sandbar later
🎵🎵See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me
And no one knows, how far it goes 🎵🎵
The moment I laid my eyes on the sandbar, I felt what Moana felt. I felt I couldn't resist the water, the seemingly unreal scenery right in front of me. I felt bursting in hymns and rhythms like a traveler finding her new favorite. And for the first few minutes of my arrival at the sandbar, I didn't immediately go down; I almost didn't move at all. The last thing I wanted to do at that moment was go down and swim. So I stood on top near the sandbar's signage and took my time absorbing the beauty that is the sandbar.
I told you earlier in my previous post that people flock to the island that holiday we were there. And the sandbar being the highlight of the highlights of the island, I expected a number of guests to spend most of their time at the sandbar. Well, you could say I was right for guests were already enjoying the sandbar when I arrived there. Some were swimming while others taking photos.
I insisted on staying at the elevated cliff where I could see the entire sandbar for a few more minutes. I saw a short, wooden boardwalk which looked like a docking area for boats. I walked towards it and explored. I was right there were boats on the side of the platform.
The view from this side was as spectacular as the one on the cliff. I felt closer to the sandbar without going to the sandbar; the boardwalk was a few meters away on the western side of the sandbar. If you're adventurous, you could jump here and swim to the sandbar! That would be fun! 😁
Without further ado
As I couldn't delay the descent to the sandbar forever, I finally climbed down the cliff through the cemented stairs.
I sat at the lifeguard's post because I tried to hide from the sun's burning rays. My boyfriend was already swimming at this point and I could him from where I sat. A few minutes later, I decided to stop hiding and just embrace the summer's scent and blaze.
I walked barefoot on the sandbar. You'd be making a huge mistake if you take your footwear with you. For the walk from end to end of the sandbar was therapeutic. I particularly like walking at the point where the water stops crawling further to the sand. My feet got to be wet while still enjoying the fine grains of the sand. If you've been to Boracay, you'd probably conclude that the sand here ain't as powdery and white as the ones in Boracay. But that doesn't mean it's less attractive, less worthy of a visit.
Based on my estimates, the sandbar during low tide (our morning visit) was about 10-15 meters wide and 40-55 meters long. Again, these are mere estimates by yours truly. If you're wondering how the sandbar will look like if its high tide, no need to imagine, I'll take you there later!
It was already lunchtime; we were hungy so we decided to eat our lunch first and just go back on the sandbar later in the afternoon.
We came back for more
After lunch, we stayed in the infinity pool most of the afternoon. It wasn't too hot there for it was surrounded by trees and the view was out of this world. My workmates also stayed in the infinity pool and we had great time taking group photos and of course, swimming in the infinity pool with the view of the mainland Oslob which was nothing short of perfection. Don't worry, I'll show you some other time!
Later in the afternoon we went back to the sandbar one last time before we depart back to the mainland. We rode a shuttle this time. When we arrive, the tide was starting to devour the sandbar. But that's when things get extra exciting.
Minute after minute, the waves from both sides of the sandbar kept rolling on the sandbar's surface until such a time that only the highest part of the sandbar could be seen. Everything else was submerged underneath.
We visited the wooden platform once again and from there, it was obvious that the sandbar's fading into the blue ocean. By this point, I was grateful to have witnessed both states of the sandbar. And both were beautiful that if I had to choose, I would've had a hard time choosing one over the other. Just glad I could experience both. 😁
Here are some photos showing the view of the submerged sandbar from the platform. Some guests where still in the sandbar enjoying it up to the very last minute. They even looked like they're floating in the water.
Playtime at the sandbar
I loved the view from the wooden platform a lot, but of course, there's a better way of enjoying things that just being a mere onlooker. Yup, we went down on the sandbar once again! It was one of the best thing that happened that day. 🌊🌊🌊
The waves came crashing from both sides of the sandbar. And from what you can see from our photos, it's what I wanted. It made me think nothing outside of my immediate surrounding. I could re-live the moment over and over in my head and I wouldn't even be tired! That's how fun it was.
Last glance
People departed one after the other and sooner there were less than 15 people on the sandbar including the two of us. It was peaceful, refreshing and magnificent. The cerulean water had never been inviting that day. I couldn't seem to get enough of it and despite the fact we're already leaving, I kept taking more and more and more photos! If you're there and have seen what I'm effortlessly trying to describe as a perfect day, you'd probably do the same even if that would leave your phones out of memory storage! 😅
We hurried back to the tent where we left our personal stuff (near Pulo Restaurant) but ended up trekking in the forest and we got lost. We only have 15 minutes before the last boat will leave the island back to Oslob. And when you thought that we've had the most exciting day of our lives, you are wrong! For we're still about to reach the most exciting and anxiety-inducing part of this trip! What happened to us? Did we catch the last boat trip? Let's find out in my next posts! 😂
While you think of what might have gone wrong during a perfect day, I hope you enjoy your weekend guys! Get some well-deserved rest and don't forget to do something your future self will thank you for, exercising and eating healthy for example!
See you when I see you! 😍
Living life intentionally every single day, she believes that there’s no limit to one’s potential. Right now, she’s on the loose for the pursuit of endless holistic self-growth and development. She wants to light the way for others. She believes there’s no better way to leave a legacy than to pay it forward.
Her ultimate goal in life is to reach the state of enlightenment where there’s nothing but peace, love, happiness, and contentment - nothing more, nothing less.
If you are captivated by what this girl just wrote here, an upvote is pretty appreciated. Follow her as she tells her stories full of positivities. The next story might be for you! ❤️