Bellarocca: Water, earth & sky

Because Bellarocca Island is a rock, the beach is quite small and the shoreline's incline is steep. The rough coral and rocks which the beach is composed of make me suspect that the island is young too, geologically speaking; the water has not had time to grind the pieces into fine powder. It's not very comfortable for bare feet, but I commend the resort management for not importing fine sand from other islands, a practice quite common among more environmentally-insensitive beach resorts in the Philippines.




When the tide is high, which is most of the day, the sea flows onto the lower steps of the stone stairs which lead from the seaside pavilion to the beach.




I love the beach and I'm a pretty good swimmer, but I have to confess that I have a great fear of being bodily in deep ocean water (I'm perfectly fine in boats), which means that I spent most of our water time in Bellarocca's infinity pool. I love how its deep blue tiles match the color of the deep sea, though it did make my heart race the first time I saw it. Quite deceiving really, since the deepest part of the pool is only four feet (1.2 meters).




This was my favorite poolside deck chair. I love the canopy and the chair can be swiveled to face either the pool or the ocean.




Mount Malindig on the main island of Marinduque dominates the view both from the pool and the beach. It is a potentially active volcano and its last eruption, whenever that was, is evident throughout the land trip, with large boulders made of volcanic rock strewn by the roadside. Bellarocca Resort maintains a 9-hole golf course at Malindig's foot—that little white dot is the clubhouse. I think that the volcano's deep rifts and craggy top make for a fascinating study. BELLAROCCA SERIES #3

Natural or man-made, take a refreshing dip in Watery Wednesday.