Unlike Sumilon Island, there was no fee or permit needed for me to do aerial videos of Malapascua Island: our resort’s host cheerfully said go right ahead and have fun when I asked. I guess this is in good part because the island is not the usual tourist spot, and even fewer international visitors would stay overnight even if they were doing a day trip for the island’s snorkeling spots. So, there weren’t municipal authority types patrolling the area wanting money for hobbyists to take aerial videos, unlike the nickel and dime type of permit I had to apply for at Sumilon Island.
I did two drone sessions: one in the late afternoon of Day 05 yesterday, and another for the sunrise on Day 06. There were several very interested islander kids in what I was doing too! From my chatting with them, it seems there have been guests before on their island also flying drones, but apparently not common.
Aside from small groups of ang mo visitors who were mainly here to dive and a pair of Chinese nationals that didn’t look like the diving types, there did not seem to be any other tourists on our side of the island. This has been a lovely island and I’m glad we opted to stay a night on it!
We’ll be checking out of our resort in the mid-morning, boating back to the mainland, then starting on the long drive + ferry to Bohol where we’d be spending three days. To be continued!