From our stay atop Cape Engaño and having spent time in the lighthouse, we started our descent. On our way down, we had a quick detour to the Palaui Island sign which is a prominent fixture in the island, welcoming visitors who come in via Engaño Cove.

The island signage seemed a newer addition as the drying marks of the concrete used to erect the letters and the exposed soil where the signage base was placed were still visible.

The name of the island intrigues me, though I haven’t really stumbled upon an authoritative source as to why Palaui Island is called as such. If I try to connect the dots though, before the town of Santa Ana was founded in 1949, it was known as Palawig, which is now one of the barangays of the municipality. There are some source claiming that Palawig came from pasawig which means mouth of the river, which would not make sense for Palaui which is an island in the middle of the sea. If we talk of islands though, there is a sovereign island nation in western Pacific, Palau, which used to be administered by Spain from the Philippines. However, the Spanish presence and the same timeframe by which the islands were being administered as part of the East Indies is the only connection I can come-up with.

Our visit to the signage was a very quick segue since there is nothing much to really do there but to take a quick breather during the descent and to take photos, of course.

Pinauna ko na si Ran to goof with the letters.

I kinda got too comfy with the letters until Ran called me out. That was when I realized na sumobra ang harot ko.

Our guide then volunteered to take our photos.

We then resumed our descent and when we got back to the registration hut, we bought some items as souvenirs. We then got on to the boat again. We would temporarily leave Palaui Island to visit Anguib Beach along the northern coasts of Sta. Ana.

We were told that the waves around the island are usually high, and we would have a firsthand experience of the rough seas en route our next destination. It would definitely be an adventure at sea.