Another place for Germans...

Not to bad bad an island, although not the genuine paradise island either.
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Despite the very low season in most of the Philippines and so at Sabang Beach, I'm for a change not the only one looking like a tourist - i.e. having a white skin. Germans and Australians seem to like the place here either as tourists or even for living and working. The German guy running my hotel (owned by a Scottish-South African guy living in Australia) said "instead of going to the Philippines to holiday, I go to Germany for holiday. It's by far the better bet."

Snorkeling seems to be not so popular (scuba diving is the thing to do) and the opinions on the best place is related to the nationality of the person you ask. If I ask Germans living here then Sabang Beach is the best place. The Australian instead says I have to go to the White Beach and snorkel eastwards. Finally, the Philippino says either Coral Garden (because he has a boat to take me there...) or Halige Beach (because he has motorbikes to rent...). I tried snorkeling at Sabang and was disappointed. So I think I just move to the next island where they hopefully have a better reef and are more knowledgeable about snorkeling and the needs of snorkelers.

...Australians and typhoons

Walking on what was once a coral reef before the typhoon. All beaches here are more or less like this with some sand in between.
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By the way an American guy told me that he's disappointed too by the diving sites he has been to.

There has been a typhoon in December 2006 destroying most of the shallow corals here. My assumption is that the reduced reef area lead also to a reduction in underwater wildlife and consequently to our disappointment. As typhoons become more frequent with global warming this might has an earlier and more imminent effect on coral reefs than increasing sea level or water temperature  that are alsothreatening these ecosystems.