Paliton Beach, San Juan, Siquijor---A Sunny Surprise

Siquijor invited a handful of activities to do, but I thought I had to blog about this one separately. After going to a nature center, which I will include in my Siquijor entry soon, we started our quest for secluded beaches, somewhere less touristy, but a haven where we can truly relax and be one with nature---specifically the island's marine life. 

So while we scootered around the island and me still trying to get over the getting-to-know stage between my motorbike and I, we found Paliton Marine Sanctuary in San Juan, Siquijor. We drove ourselves down to the coast from the main road, thrilled of what we were about to see. And voila! we found the kind of beach we were looking for and we had it all to ourselves for an hour, I guess, until a French couple arrived. :-D

If you choose to take the main road from Siquijor, Siquijor, it might just take you 10 to 15 minutes to the town of San Juan. It took us longer to get there as we went to a nature center first somewhere in the mountains where most of the healers are located. I would recommend that you tour the island by a motorbike so you can visit as many spots as possible. The hotel where we stayed, Villa Marmarine, provides free map for guests and their motorbike for rent is at the cheapest rate, I think, at Php 300.00 for a whole day use. I will share more of the resort details soon in my Siquijor entry. 

Paliton beach I must say is one of Siquijor's best kept secrets. We've been to another secluded beach at some point in our tour, which was Kagusuan beach, but this one remains my favorite. Aside from being a white sand beach with waters that were so calm and clear that allowed us to swim with schools of small fish in the shallow part, we really loved that fact that the place was secluded, safe, and less touristy. Wished we had the guts though that the French guy had who came probably an hour after us as he snorkelled farther than where we were. :-D 

On the other side of the sanctuary was a longer white sand beach shown in the last two photos above. We weren't able to get to it from the main sanctuary as there was a private property dividing the two so we had to go back to the highway and look for another path that would lead us to the other side. There we met locals---fishermen who greeted us, called my buddy their 'idol' and a few others who were there to swim too. So you might want to figure this out when you get there as going to both sides of the sanctuary is really worth it. 

SALONGON BEACH

While we drove again to search for lunch, we spotted White Villas Resort along the way, located south of Paliton en route to downtown San Juan. When the staff was preparing for our lunch, we took some time to stroll around the beach fronting the resort's restaurant and there we found a long stretch of white sand shores that went on forever, which you can see in the photo below. We believe this is just a continuation of what we saw in Paliton. 

Don't forget to take some bottles of water with you as the sun's heat can really be draining or better yet some lunch too so you won't have to search for a restaurant where you can dine. Since I loved my meal from White Villas, I'd recommend you stop by at that resort too and satisfy your palates with some gastronomic options. Check the resort through this link WHITE VILLAS. 

If there's one reason for me to go back to La Isla del Fuego, it would definitely be Paliton beach. It was such a surprise for me, for us. Maybe because it was satisfying to find something like this in a journey to the unknown or maybe the place was just simply pretty. We still have a few days left before summer in the Philippines ends so book now and have your sunny surprise too!

XoXo,

Red Eye ;-)

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