The next day, All Saints Day, Jing again packed us some lunch (including beer) for our excursion to Pulong Laki (Big Island), one of the 3 Baco Islets, the others being Pulong Munti (Little Island) and Pulong Gitna (Middle Island).  All have white sand beaches.  We espied these beautiful islands during the ferry crossing from Batangas City to Calapan.  Ronnie also brought along his fishing rod.

On our way

Jing also chartered a boat very early in the morning for our use as, if there are no charters, their owners usually leave early in the morning to catch fish for a living.  From Ronnie’s home, we walked towards the nearby beach where our motorized outrigger boat and the boatmen where waiting for us.  Once on board, we were soon on our way.  The trip was smooth, usual for the morning and, after about an hour, we made landfall on the island.

The island’s coarse sand beach

The island had a broad, coarse sand beach, with vegetation and shade some distance away.  This didn’t matter much to us as we savored our first dip in a Mindoro Oriental beach.  From the beach, we also had a panoramic view of a couple of islands.  We were the only excursionists on the island that day.  I guess that most Calapenos were visiting their dead while most local and foreign tourists were in Puerto Galera.  We had this beach to ourselves.  

Doing some trick photography

Ronnie went fishing  and sunbathing while the rest went swimming or shell hunting.  Ronnie caught a couple of small fish that day which he cooked.  By mid afternoon, we all left the island, upon the boatman’s suggestion,  to avoid the high, late afternoon waves.  Back on the mainland, we again had supper at the house of Ronnie and Jing’s aunt.