CARAMOAN ISLANDS ADVENTURE [part 1]

[side trip to Naga – CWC - Legaspi]

March 6-9, 2013

DAY 1

I had an early summer getaway. My aim was to avoid the crowd of the peak season. The result was an unforgettable escapade with matching rain, huge waves and cancelled flights.  But most of all, a fun, liberating experience at one of the most beautiful places in the Philippines.

My destination was the picturesque Caramoan Islands, found in Camarines Sur, Philippines. From Manila, my friend and I boarded a plane (Cebu pacific air) to Pili (also known as Naga) Airport in Naga. From there we rented a taxi (our fare was 250 pesos) that brought us to the van terminal where we rode the van that brought us to Sabang. The van fare was 100 pesos. It was a one and a half hour (sometimes two hours) land trip.

Supposedly from Sabang, there will be a big boat that you have to ride for you to reach Guijalo Port in Caramoan. The fare is 120 pesos each. It was a one and a half hour travel by sea. But remember that the boat’s last trip is 2:00 in the afternoon. You must be there before that time or you will be left by the boat like what happened to us. Due to unforeseeable circumstances, we reached Sabang around 1:45pm and the boat already left. So the choice that was left for us was to rent a special boat which cost 2,500 pesos. Thankfully, we were not the only one left by the boat so we split the amount to 400 pesos each. 

 

 

 

The trip was longer when you rent a smaller boat. It took us around two hours before we reached Guijalo Port. Since we availed a package tour through Caramoan Bed And Dine (caramoan bed and dine facebook page), our land transportation from Guijalo Port, accommodation, food, boat, tour guide and environmental fees was not a problem to us by the time we reached the port.

We depart from Manila by 9:00 am and we reached Caramoan Bed And Dine around 5:00 pm. Since it was already late, the only thing we did was to stroll around the community, checked for souvenirs and visited the huge and nostalgic Caramoan Historical Church. 

 

 

This is the itinerary and expenses we had on that day (March, 6, 2013)

ITINERARY

9:00 am - Departure from NAIA

10:50 am - Arrival to Pili (Naga) Airport

12:05 pm - Departure from Naga to Sabang

1:45 pm - Arrival to Sabang

5:00 pm - Arrival to Guijalo Port/ Caramoan Bed and Dine

 5:30 pm – merienda

6:00 pm – stroll around the community; checked for souvenir shops, visited the Caramoan Historical Church

EXPENSES

Bed And Dine Tour Package – we were able to negotiate to 3648 pesos each (2 pax) For their other tour packages check their facebook page (enter link)

Taxi from Naga Airport to Van Terminal – 125 pesos

Van to Sabang – 100 pesos

Special Boat from Sabang to Guijalo Port – 2500 pesos (400 pesos each)

TOTAL EXPENSE FOR DAY 1 – 750 pesos

DAY 2

The second day was our Island Hopping Day. And the weather was not in our favor. It was a rainy and cloudy day. But since our tour guide/ bangkero (the one who drives the boat) said it was okay to travel by sea so we went for it.

Our first island destination was Matukad Island. It was a small, rocky but beautiful island minutes away from Caramoan mainland proper. The thing you must see in this island was a lagoon that you can reach by climbing the huge rocks in one side of the island. In that lagoon lived a very huge bangus (milkfish). It was said that it used to have a partner but was caught by someone who for some reason, died after capturing the fish. The locals said that there’s a supernatural being taking care of the fish there so from then on, no one tried to harm the said fish.

 

 

 

The second island that we went to was the Katanhawan Island. Again, it was a small island but the rock formations were majestic. And I love the white beach there. In fact, this was the first island were we decided to take a dip. We also meet other tourists here and had fun talking to them. 

 

After Katanhawan we went to Manlawe Island. This was one of my most favorite islands that we went to. It has a very beautiful wide Sand Bar where you can walk on to as if you were floating in the middle of the sea. Aside from that there were also floating cottages were you can eat your lunch. However you have to pay 200 pesos for the cottage. If you also want to have a souvenir, there were some fishermen there that sell lovely sea shells. 

 

After staying for hours in Manlawe (that’s how much we love it there), we stopped by Cotivas Island to have our lunch. Unlike the other islands that we’ve gone to, Cotivas was privately owned so you have to pay 100 pesos for each boat. There were cottages there that you have to rent for 50 pesos. We stayed there for hours too, swimming and taking pictures. 

The last island we went to was Sabitang Laya. We weren’t able to see some of the islands because of the huge waves since the weather was still cloudy and rainy that time. Sabitang Laya is another of my most favorite islands in Caramoan. It was a very long two-way beach with scenic rock formations. This is where we really stayed to play and swim.

 

 

 

Our last stop was at the main land of _ to visit the Our Lady of Peace grotto located at the top of the mountain. The statue was _ feet tall and you have to hike the 561 steps before you reach it. But the tiring hike was all worth it when we were already at the peak. There you can see the whole of Caramoan Islands. If the weather is good you can also watch the sunrise there.

It was 5:00 pm when we finally went back to the Caramoan main land proper. We went straight to Bed And Dine, took a bath, changed, ate dinner then stroll the community again to buy souvenirs. It was still rainy, but the experience was so unforgettable the weather doesn’t really matter anymore.

This is the itinerary and expenses we had on that day (March 7, 2013)

ITINERARY

6:00 am – Breakfast at Bed And Dine

7:00 am – Island Hopping

                -Matukad

                -Katanhawan

                -Manlawe

                -Cotivas

                -Our Lady of Peace Grotto

5:00 pm – back to Bed And Dine

5:30 pm – dinner

6:00 pm – bought souvenirs.

7:00 pm – done for the day.         

EXPENSES

Cottage and entrance at Cotivas Island – 50 pesos each

Buko juice (coconut) – 20 pesos for one buko (we shared for one so 10 pesos each)

Tour guide at Grotto – 50 pesos

Entrance to Grotto – 15 pesos

TOTAL EXPENSE FOR DAY 2 – 125 pesos