Quezon: Cagbalete Island
Finally!!!!!!!!! A trip somewhere far from the crazy busy city impeded me from insanity. Seriously... After months of stress from work, I badly needed a breather.
Bee and I had two options -- Boracay or Cagbalete. I really really realllllyyyyyy wanted to experience riding in a 2Go ship from Batangas to Boracay. Added to the thrill was that our favorite radio station was set for a summer party in Boracay on the date of our target trip!!! It could have been a perfect plan for me and Bee. We'll arrive in Boracay in the morning, then party all night and then go back to Manila via the same ship the next day taking the early and only trip. Sounds like a plan right?
However, I wanted to bring our kid, Alviss. He has been persistently asking me to go to the beach and play with the sand. Now, Bee and I won't be able to, you-know, "partee!! partee!!" if we bring alviss to Boracay and so we thought, okay, let's go somewhere else... A road trip to Cagbalate!!
Cagbalete is another jewel of the Quezon Province. Located in the Lamon Bay fronting the Pacific Ocean, it is another paradise in the province of Quezon surrounded by white sand that exposes during low tide. (from Wikitravel.org)
Coming from Bulacan, we left at 3AM Saturday morning. We arrived in SLEX at 4am then headed towards Sto. Tomas Batangas exit. We followed the instructions we saw online -- Sto Tomas - San Pablo City - Tiaong - Saraiya - Tayabas - Mauban. I admit, we got lost and asked for directions few times being first timers to the place,but that's okay, it's part of the adventure. :)
It was 5:00 am when we stopped at McDonalds Villa Escudero in Tiaong, Quezon. Then drove again at 6am passing Saraiya and Tayabas.
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| Bee & I enjoyed this view |
Then at 8am, we reached Mauban. It is a small town but clean. The people we asked were all willing to help. I noticed they don't use plastics. I saw a pansit vendor who uses a cut banana leaf instead of a paper plate.
Mauban South Elementary School is open for overnight parking. Just go straight to the tourism office first located in the Pier to secure a permit for overnight Parking. Fee is only P50. Just give this permit to any of the school guard and that's it. The guard will log your plate number.
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| vehicles are parked in the school's open field. |
We had a quick stop at the market to purchase food for our overnight stay before we finally settled seats on the boat.
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| infront of this street is a small shell gas station |
Don't be confused as there are 2 ports in the island so when asking for direction, be specific in asking about the port going to Cagbalete Island. The landmark is a small station where in front of it is a street leading to the port. Just follow the street and at the right side is the tourism office. We registered our names and paid P70 each for terminal fee and environmental fee.
The boat was scheduled to leave at 10am but we were advised by the locals to better get on the boat as it might leave early since it's a weekend. They are expecting a large amount of tourists on that day.
There are only 2 scheduled trips from Bayan to Sabang (Cagbalete), 10am and 3pm. If you miss these trips, then you'd be forced to take private boats. The price depends on the number of passengers.
The boat was packed with tourists and goods like rice, softdrinks and even big blocks of ice!!
Fare = P50.
Travel time = 45 minutes - 1 hour
Since Cagbalete does not have a port yet, the boat can only dock near the shore. Passengers are brought to the shore through what they call a "flat boat". This is better than a wood raft I experienced in Isla Gigantes in Iloilo.
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| there's a flat boat awaiting for passengers |
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| passengers are carried by a flat boat (white) to the shore. |
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| the locals call this place "sabang" |
Locals were already on board offering boat rides to different resorts. This is the best time to use your haggling skills. If you are a large group, then you'd rent the entire boat. But since we're just three, we were joined with other group.
Initially, we were told fare would be P50. But since MVT Sto. Nino Beach Resort is at the farthest, the guy asked for P100. It was fine since it was really that far.
As we sail, I was already awed by the clarity of the water. I remember the water in Boracay when we did paraw sailing. The color is just the same.
Once we reached the resort, we settled our stuff and eat our lunch.
Cagbalete Island is known for the vast sand during low tide. That afternoon, Bee and I went to as far as where the seagrass are, I think around a kilometer (or almost), and surprised that water was only waist-deep. And funny thing was the water was hot that I felt like in a sauna.
Although Bee was disappointed for not being able to show his swimming prowess, my kid had a blast! I can say that Cagbalete Island is a perfect beach for kids.
As soon as the generator supplied electricity at 6PM, we had dinner, we rested a bit before finally going to sleep.
We slept for 13 hours. Yes, we were that tired!!! That was the first time I slept for that long during my out of town trips.
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| low tide in the morning |
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| better wake up early to catch this view |
Unlike others guests who had arrangements with boat owners to pick them up at a specific time going back, for us we didn't have one. We wanted to experience trekking so we asked the owner of the resort if someone could help guide us with the way. Luckily, the caretaker of the resort was on their way to Sabang as well and offered to go with them as they would also trek.
We only had little time left (after sleeping for 13 hours!!) and a very short time to let my kid swim again. He was pretty happy of course and I hated breaking his enjoyment when it was time to go.
At 10:30am, we were all set for the trek but a boatman suddenly arrived and offered the caretaker his boat. So to cut the story short, the caretaker and her company decided to take a boat and offered us in. Being left with no one to guide us for trekking and no other boat to pick us up, we decided to come along with them for only P35 each. Pretty cheap!!
Trekking could have been nice. It's either to follow the shore going to Sabang, which of course is easier but trekking under a glaring sun is not a good idea. Choosing this path is better done in early morning catching the first trip to Mauban.
The Ferry bound for Mauban port has 2 schedules - 7am and 1pm. Since it was a Sunday, we were advised to be in the Ferry as early as possible , around 11am, this is because the ferry will take the same flock of tourists back. Good thing we followed their advised because at around 11:30am, the ferry was almost full. We even left Sabang 30 minutes earlier.
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| nagmo-moment lang.. probably he doesn't want to leave yet... :( |
While waiting for other passengers, local kids were playing on the boat. They were even asking passengers/tourists for some coin to be thrown at the water and they were willing to dive and search for it.
When we arrived in Mauban port, we decided to walk to have a feel of the town.
We went to school where we left our car and drove back home. Travelling back at this hour costs longer time because of the traffic. We followed the same route again and that's it for our trip!!!
Did I regret that I chose this trip over Boracay? Definitely NOT! I wanted to experience 2Go, I wanted to party in boracay with Bee. But all that became nothing compared to the happiness on my kid's face while playing and swimming. And for me that's all that matters.
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