One of the exciting things to do when in Puerto Princesa is island hopping. If you’re an adventurer, this is the one for you. This begins in Honda Bay, a 20 – 30 minute drive from the city proper. We booked a package at gopalawan.travel and paid $68 (for 2 people) via Paypal. Method of payment is very convenient, we didn’t have to go to the bank or pay cash. A van picked us up at Pads (our hotel) and also brought us back after the tour.

We arrived at the Honda Bay dock station at around 8:30 am. This is the time that it’s packed with tourists, ready to go island hopping. The pump boat can accommodate around 10 people. Our first stop was Pambato Island where we snorkeled and saw beautiful corals and fishes. This was actually my first time to snorkel and I really enjoyed it. Seeing the fishes and other sea creatures in their natural habitat was heavenly. As my body was floating while snorkeling, my mind was floating as well, just like in a state of grandeur which I can’t really explain. I am seeing another world within our world which I haven’t explored in my entire life.

Snake Island, Puerto Princesa

The next island that we visited was Snake Island. The reason it was called as such because of the shape of the island and not because it’s infested with snakes. This island has a sandbar which is very evident when it’s low tide. It also has mangroves in some parts areas. We spent around 2 hours in the island and we also had our lunch here (already included in our package). We also fed the fishes here with the bread that we bought before we began the island hopping.

Our next stop was Pandan Island. For me, this is my most favorite island. It’s very peaceful and it’s like you’re lost in the middle of nowhere. I enjoyed the moment by swimming in the clear, pristine waters and fishfeeding! I said to myself, “ahh, this is the life”.

This was where some of our tour companions had fun with jump shots. Here’s one Canadian lady we met who enjoyed the jump shots:

We left early because some of our companions have a flight back to Manila so we headed back to the base at around 4 pm. This was one of my most memorable experiences in the Philippines and I am looking forward to seeing more of like this in other provinces.

Actually, you can go there without a package. You can rent a boat for around Php 3000 – 4000 for a whole day. If you’re worried about food, you can either bring your own or buy fresh seafood in the island and pay the locals there to cook them for you (or called “paluto”). There are also other islands there that you can visit but according to our tour guide Gloria, the must visits are really Pandan, Snake and Pambato Islands. But if you are lazy to think of where to go for island hopping, I would suggest that you get a package. There are a lot of travel packages that you find when you step into the Puerto Princesa arrival area.

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We are glad that we had the opportunity to join the Club EOS Raw Adventure which includes a Landscape Photography workshop in Pico de Loro Cove. Pico de Loro Cove is a Hamilo Coast development and it’s located in Nasugbu, Batangas. To go there, you need to take the Tagaytay-Nasugbu route.

We departed from McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio at around 6am and got there at around 9am. Length of travel time includes two stopovers at around 15 minutes each.

In Pico de Loro Cove, you may kayak, swim, snorkeling, fish feeding, boat tour of other coves of Hamilo Coast, bike trails, trekking and more.

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The black sand beaches located in Tiwi, Sto. Domingo and Bacacay are actually made up of volcanic sand. Since such black sand beaches (that are made up of volcanic sand) are rare, we decided to drop by in Panarayon Beach in Bacacay.

There’s no entrance fee in Panarayon Beach Resort but if you would like to use the cottages in the beach front, you have to pay. We were not able to get the exact amount but it’s above 50 pesos.

The beach was not crowded when we went there. But I guess there will be more people there when summertime comes. If you’re the type who would like to see white sand beaches, then you should go to Misibis Bay Rain Tree located in Cagraray Island, Albay.

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Aglicay Beach is situated in the municipality of Alcantara, Tablas Island, Romblon. It is just a few minutes away from Looc, the town proper of Tablas Island. We rode a tricycle  from Looc which costed us Php 150.00.

I have heard a lot of good things about this place. Since my relatives are from Tablas Island, they recommended me to visit the place because it’s really beautiful and cheap as well. I went there with my cousin Genevieve, her boyfriend and Karla. Karla and I stayed there only for half a day because we need to go back to Manila at once.

The place isn’t really big but it’s peaceful there. Good thing is that we were the only ones who were there. We paid the entrance fee of just Php 40 per person. They serve food there however I would suggest to bring your own food because anyway, they didn’t have corkage fees.

Reception and Dining Area

The picture above is the reception and the dining area. This is just near the beach so if you need something just go there.

Mini Tree Cottages

We stayed under these mini tree cottages. Actually it’s very unique and definitely won’t easily be destroyed by strong winds. There are only a few of these, probably around 5-6 near the shore. This is a very strategic spot when you want to just bum around in the beach. The rental fee for these cottages were I think Php 150.00 only.

A local Romblon delicacy: Ginidgid (made of corn)

What I appreciated in this place is that fact that it’s clean. It isn’t infested with a lot of commercial activities yet. A day trip is already satisfying but if you decide to stay there overnight, there are rooms there or you can pitch a tent by the sand at a very minimal price. The owners of the resort, Dr. and Mrs. Martinez, were former US migrants but decided to come back to the Philippines. They are usually there but unfortunately, they weren’t available when we got there.

How to go to Aglicay Beach from Manila

There are different ways to get to Alcantara. If you’re coming from Manila and decides to ride the airplane (By the way, SEAIR is the only airline that is available there) you’re coming from the Tugdan airport. The flight is only for 45 minutes.  From Tugdan airport, it takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to Alcantara. You can ride a tricycle from Alcantara and tell the tricycle driver to take you to Aglicay Beach.

Another route from Manila is by taking the ferry in Pier 8. There aren’t daily schedules from Manila North Harbor and MBRS (Tel. No 632- 2435886) is the only shipping line coming from Manila. The whole trip will take you around 8 hours to get to Odiongan Port (or Poctoy Port). The fare is from Php 400-2500 (of course this is depending whether you’re in ordinary, special or in a cabin). The ferry leaves Manila at 5:00 pm and arrives Odiongan at 2:00 am. Once you arrive in Odiongan, you can ride a jeep going to Looc. You can either tell the driver to drop you in Alcantara and ride the tricycle going to Aglicay Beach.  But since it’s very early in the morning, you can stay in Looc first for a few hours, then ride a tricycle from Looc gong to Aglicay.

There is also another route: ride a bus to Batangas Pier then ride the Roro/Ferry (Montenegro Lines or Viva). The bus ride from Manila-Batangas usually takes 3-4 hours. The roro/ferry leaves Batangas Pier at 5:00 pm so better be in Batangas Pier earlier than 4:00 pm if you don’t have your tickets yet. The roro/ferry ride will take around 9 hours. Same prices from above apply also. The travel time here is much longer but the roro/ferry operations are everyday.

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Romblon is known as the ‘Marble Capital of the Philippines’ but there are things that are yet to be discovered in this beautiful island. My mother’s family is based in Romblon but it was just lately when I realized that Romblon has a beautiful island called ‘Carabao Island’.

Carabao Island is situated in San Jose, Romblon. The nearest island from Carabao Island is Boracay, going to Carabao Island will only take you 15 minutes via pump boat. Since my family lives in Tablas Island, Romblon, we took a boat ride from Sta. Fe to Carabao Island and took us around an hour to get there. There isn’t much tourists from the Sta. Fe side so the boat has schedules that you have to catch if you’re on a tight budget. At that time, we didn’t really go there to beach bum as my cousin and her boyfriend are planning to buy land there. It was official business. Since Karla and I didn’t really have official business to do there, we had the chance to enjoy the scenery and take photographs of it of course. The 4 of us rented a pump boat that costed around Php 4000 which we rented for half a day. We left Sta. Fe around 10 am and arrived at Carabao Island around 11 am. The boat ride was very bumpy, it felt like we were riding the ‘jungle log jam’ in Enchanted Kingdom but much longer (because it was almost an hour ride). According to the boat men, that was the normal motion of the sea but when it’s late afternoon it gets much crazier.

The moment I stepped onto the sand, I was so amazed because it’s white and very fine. The sea water was green and very clear. This isn’t the commercial area where tourists usually frequent to. The area where the resorts are located near Boracay for obvious reasons. Truly this is the virgin part of Carabao Island. It was a very serene moment for me.

It’s very near the road so the locals can just go there and swim anytime they want.  I didn’t see any massive transportation there like jeepneys, most residents there have their own scooters and motorcycles. According to some locals, the government is planning to open an international airport in Carabao Island. I just hope that it won’t spoil the beauty of this island.

We just had our lunch at a relative’s house. After lunch, we headed back to the boat and went back to Sta. Fe.

Definitely, I will return to Carabao Island and experience some resorts there probably. I haven’t been to Boracay yet, but a lot people have told me that this is more beautiful and breath-taking than Boracay.

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The first time that visited Boracay with sandcastles built by the locals as photo ops for tourists was in May 2005. The sand castles come in different sizes, some are big while some are small. It has generated income for tourists there and a lot have been impressed with their skills in sandcastle building.

Man building a sandcastle

In the morning, they build the sand castles while the sun is not yet that hot. They put a jar there so that people can give them a tip for his job well done (the sandcastle builder) and of course, the photo op. When it’s night time already, they put candles around the sandcastle so that tourists can still have their photo ops at night .

Sandcastle circa 2005

The last time that I went to Boracay (around January 2008), you now have the option to put your name or whatever you want to put on the sandcastle. This is really great for the “just for fun” photo ops. So, if you haven’t done this yet in Boracay, please do so. At least we’re also helping the locals there earn something.

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