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The Queen's Escape

Travel Blog

  • Home
  • Travels
    • Travel Guides
      • Asia
        • China
        • Philippines
          • Luzon
          • Visayas
          • Mindanao
    • Travel Stories
    • Travel Hacks
  • Learn About Diving
    • Freediving
      • Dive Sites
      • Gear Review
    • SCUBA diving
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Travels
    • Travel Guides
      • Asia
        • China
        • Philippines
          • Luzon
          • Visayas
          • Mindanao
    • Travel Stories
    • Travel Hacks
  • Learn About Diving
    • Freediving
      • Dive Sites
      • Gear Review
    • SCUBA diving
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Privacy Policy

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  • APO REEF NATURAL PARK TRAVEL GUIDE 2025

    January 5, 2025 / 2 Comments

    For four years straight, the World Travel Awards has recognized the Philippines as the Asia’s Leading Dive Destination. Indeed, the country is a home to rich marine life not to mention that it’s a home to the center of center of Coral Triangle and the second largest contiguous atoll-type reef in the world. Among the dive sites that Philippines boasts and that you shouldn’t miss is that of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro’s Apo Reef Natural Park. About Apo Reef Natural Park Apo Reef Natural Park is considered to be the largest atoll-type reef system in the Philippines and second largest in the world next to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It is…

    read more
    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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    SSI Try Mermaid Experience with the Pinay Mermaid

    January 28, 2020 / 0 Comments

    I was around six when I first saw the Disney movie, the Little Mermaid. Since then, I have always had mermaid daydreams even as a grown up! I took a step to realizing my mermaid dreams in 2017 when I first learned how to freedive and skindive. I was so close to it; exploring the deep, swimming with the marine creatures and feeling the ocean envelope me except that I am wearing bi-fins. This year, I was able to take the closest step in making my mermaid dreams come true by finally wearing a mermaid tail during the SSI Try Mermaid with the Pinay Mermaid. Who is the Pinay Mermaid?…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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    Choosing the Right Dive Buddy

    August 8, 2021
  • Three Reasons Why You Should Start Diving Now

    December 5, 2019 / 0 Comments

    There is something about the ocean that will make you hold your breath and just be lost in its beauty and the reverie. The rays of sunlight piercing through the surface reveal the colors of the enthralling whole new world beneath. These very rays are hypnotic as it dance and shine though the surface to what seemed like a bottomless chasm. These were more than enough for me to keep me coming back to the ocean, enough to keep me diving into it. I don’t know if these are enough for you so I’m giving you three more reasons as to why you should also let the ocean cast its…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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  • The Differences between SCUBA Diving, Freediving and Skin Diving

    December 5, 2019 / 1 Comment

    The largest portion of this planet is covered with water bestowed with millions of creatures of different colors and species underneath. This also gives you millions of reasons to start diving now. Apparently, there are also lots of ways to explore it and among those are SCUBA diving, Freediving and Skin Diving. I was introduced to diving in the last quarter of 2017. I was extremely captivated by the life underwater that I craved for more. The desire to explore and enjoy  the ocean has lead me into trying SCUBA, skin diving and freediving. As I get frequently engaged into these, I have seen how each is different from the other.…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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  • Depth Training Experience with Ocean Limits PH

    October 13, 2019 / 0 Comments

    I was actually introduced to freediving in the last quarter of 2017. It was just a spontaneous trip with a few friends and never have I ever thought that I’ll take it seriously a year after. See, I’ve joined and did a lot of fun dives. There goes the one in Coron in Palawan, Apo Reef in Mindoro Occidental, Danjugan Island in Negros Occidental, a lot in Batangas including Summer Cruise and Danke Laia. Yet, I still never had a formal training and introduction. This year, I was invited by a friend who also freedive to do a line training for a weekend. I was hesitant for two reasons: one,…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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    November 24, 2020

    Best Underwater Photographers from the Philippines that You Should Follow: Freedivers Edition

    December 27, 2021
  • 10 BEST Things to Do in Camiguin Island, Philippines

    September 29, 2019 / 0 Comments

    The “Island Born of Fire” does not disappoint. This pear-shaped island located at the Northern Mindanao may be the second to the smallest island that is a province in the Philippines but it holds a great adventure for everyone. I marveled at the great wonders Camiguin offers and it truly got me in awe. With that, I am sharing with you the ten things that you can do if you visit the island that will surely make you feel Camiguin (come again). 1. SCUBA Diving The island of Camiguin is situated in Bohol sea and is surrounded with ocean bearing a rich marine life. There are also nearby marine sanctuaries…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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    Freediving in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

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  • Decathlon Philippines’ SUBEA Complete Freediving Gear – A Review

    September 3, 2019 / 1 Comment

    About SUBEA Previously known as Tribord, Decathlon‘s brand for underwater sports and activities was rebranded into SUBEA which means “SUBaquatic Experiences are Amazing!” in 2017. It continuously provide inexpensive yet good quality gear for underwater activities such as SCUBA, spearfishing, freediving and snorkeling. Recently, they have competitively stepped up in the game of underwater activity and adventure brands with their 2019 release. Enticed, I got myself these and here’s an honest review of their low-volume mask, long fins, neoprene diving socks and gloves. Low Volume Mask Decathlon’s low volume mask Masks let us see the beauty of the underwater world. With that, divers consider these factors that would give them the best diving experience like…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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  • Planet Dive Resort in Mabini, Batangas (Review + Travel Guide)

    August 28, 2019 / 2 Comments

    I filled my lungs with much air that it could possibly take in, held my breath and descended into the world beneath the blue swells, piercing through currents. For a moment, I was wrapped again in silence, calmness and saltwater; surrounded and fascinated by countless vibrant corals and fishes of different colors, species and size. I could only hear my resounding heartbeat and what seemed like crackling sounds underwater. I swam gracefully past the crevices and in between two large rocks that is richly wrapped with gaudy life that is beautifully undisturbed. My body was free falling – giving into the weights, defying buoyancy, sustaining it with my finning. My…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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  • Maris Coral Garden Dive Resort is a Diver’s Paradise! (Travel Guide + Review)

    June 14, 2019 / 0 Comments

    For the past years that I have been traveling around the Philippines and mostly from an island to another, I have developed a deep connection with the ocean. My reunion with the natural waters always gives me the feeling comparable to catharsis. Its sight is but entirely a purging of emotions; thus, allowing me to feel brand new and be able to feel again in the next chapter. Chapter One is pure bliss, the here and now with the brine and all the life it envelopes. There is something about it that just sets things right for me. Falling in love deeper with it has led me to skin diving…

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    Anne Elizabeth Gumiran

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  • Camp Raya Adventure Resort, Bauan, Batangas

    December 3, 2017 / 0 Comments

    Has spontaneity hit you so hard that you’re tucked in bed at 4:00 AM and that the next thing you know is that you are awake at 5 in the morning in a ride with your backpack going to a paradise? Well, this is what happened to us recently and I’d say it made us instant newbie freedivers. This ‘spontaneity’ took us to the underwater paradise of Bauan, Batangas. With no plans at all, we hit the road and crashed into Batangas’ very own version of bikini bottom – one of the most favorite freediving spots in Batangas.     This laid back place at the south looks plain and…

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THE QUEEN’S ESCAPE

lady sipping juice from a paper cup

Hi! I am Queenie Anne Gumiran, the queen who escapes; a firm believer of the line, ‘we all deserve a little wanderlust‘. I started the Queen’s Escape travel blog to tell people a thousandfold stories about my motherland – that Philippines is more than just its pristine beaches and breathtaking summits. It aims to make the readers know about the best places to explore – both the world-renowned and the off the beaten path, how rich and diverse its culture is, how delectable the food is and more. More than these stories of wanders on a budget, The Queen’s Escape also tells stories of adventure on freediving and its advocacy, sustainable traveling.

Recent Posts

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