The last stop of our island-hopping tour was on Starfish Island. And though there are starfishes that can easily be found on the white sands, this place is more known for its picture props. Yes, you heard me correctly. The island is full of props that help in taking great pictures.
Table of Contents
The Island
Starfish Island Sign
This is one of the 7,107 islands in the Philippines and it isn’t very big. In fact, you can walk around the perimeter is about an hour.
There are two distinct features about the island. The first is that it has a white-sanded beach where people can swim. The second is that it has a small Mangrove forest at the back. In between the main beach and the Mangrove forest is a small bay where the water rises and falls with the tide.
Beach
Of the three islands, this name is probably the one that was a no-brainier. But just to make sure the name was accurate, I checked out the beach for any Starfishes. It didn’t take long before I found one lying near the remains of the dock.
It was a small Starfish, being a little bigger than my hand. But it was one of those heavily armored varieties, which seems to be pretty common in the shallow waters of many of the beaches I’ve seen.
Photography Paradise
Picture Frame
Okay, let me clarify the title of this section. When I say that this is Photography Paradise, I mean that photographers will have many opportunities to take beautiful and even quirky pictures. In the case of the second word, this place really is a paradise.
[It’s pretty much a paradise like the rest of the Palawan islands.]
Of all the photographic props on the island, my favorite has to be the giant picture frame.
Props
Have you ever wondered how the moving people in the pictures of the Harry Potter movies felt like? Do Do they feel trapped, even if they can jump from one frame to another? Do they feel heat even if their backgrounds are summer meadows? Do they feel happy, even if they are merely snapshots of the real people?
Well, in Starfish Island you finally get the chance to feel like a picture. Standing taller than an average person, the picture frame on the island has the world’s best backdrop. Not only do the sand, wind, and waves change with every shot, it even includes sound if you decide to take a video instead of just a picture.
Grass Skirt
You can stand up, lie down, jump high, or even crouch low and you still get that perfect shot. And if you don’t get the perfect picture, it’s fun to try it all over again.
So how does it feel to be a picture?
Dock
Well, the sun is warm, the water is cool, and the sand if soft; so I’d say it feels great being a live picture.
Another favorite of photographers are the many shells on the island. With a little fiddling of one’s camera, a pair of shells the size of your hands can be made to look gigantic. So instead of a shot where you are cradling them in your palms, you can look like you are coming out of them like Venus or maybe even Poseidon.
The banceros have had some practice at this, so if you would like to entrust your camera to them, they can take you and your family carrying everything from a huge starfish to a monster bottle of beer.
Giant Starfish Shell Camera Trick
Another prop are the sets of wings and grass skirts hanging on a makeshift wooden arch. Put these together with a few of the friendly mini-totem poles and you might just be discovered for the remake of the old movie entitled The South Pacific.
Thor’s Hammer Mjölnir
Now if you are a little bit more adventurous, you can try taking pictures of the small crabs and fish in the Mangrove trees in the background. They’re are quite skittish so it will take a little bit of patience to get them immortalized.
And if you take the time to walk around and look around, you’ll even find Thor’s hammer, the Mjölnir, in the water.
[Good luck with lifting it!]
Final Thoughts
Cabaña
And there you have it, the last stop in our island-hopping trip of Honda Bay.
With the day winding down, it was time for us to board our banca and head on back to port. Then after a short ride, it was time to return the gear that our tour group rented out for the day.
By this time, everyone was tired. Imagine that; three islands in just one day.
So while everyone fell asleep on the way home, I was excited about our next adventure for dinner. Last night it was Kinabusch and tonight it would be Ka Lui.
Till next time, keep your cameras ready, your eyes peeled, and your minds open. You never know where your next adventure will take you!
Must Do’s
Mangroves
- Take lots and lots of pictures.
- Walk around the island.
- Try lifting Thor’s Hammer.
- Put on a healthy amount of sunblock.
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