Overnight Camping & Beach Hopping at Padre Burgos, Quezon Day 1

I was thinking of a weekend getaway when the name Borawan caught my attention after reading some blogs. The name Borawan is derived from Boracay, because as they say, the sand is comparable to Boracay's white sand and Palawan's s rock formation. I just recently been to Boracay and fell in love with the beach, and this year, I am aiming to complete my Palawan Series, so just the thought of Borawan thrilled me!!

here is our itinerary:

Unfortunately, we weren't able to follow this itinerary. I'll post our actual itinerary later.

Wen hopped on a JAC Liner bus, located near Buendia/Gil Puyat LRT Station in Pasay. It was a 4 hour ride bound for Lucena City. We dropped by SM City Lucena Supermarket to buy food we'll cook that night. Beside SM Lucena are vans waiting going to the port. We hopped in the van, waited for the other passengers, paid 85 pesos each and at 5 PM, off we went. You can also take a van, jeep or bus in Lucena's Central station.

We later on found out from locals in Padre Burgos that fare should just be P70. We hated that barker much!! Also, trip should only last for 45 minutes for van, but since our driver was patiently slow, the whole trip lasted for an hour. Jeeps and mini buses are available for 35 pesos but travel takes for a minimum of an hour.

Mang Vic, our contact person and the dispatcher of all the bangkeros for the island tour, arranged the bangka for us. You may contact him at 0912-9178637.

Mang Vic introduced us to Mang Buboy who was our bangkero for the entire tour. Mang Buboy explained that they organized a group (Samahan ng Bangkero) so that all tours will be equally and fairly distributed among them. You see, income from these tours help them a lot. I remember Mang Buboy saying he's lucky on that day dahil may turista.

In total, there are 15 boats to be dispatched.

Port Laguimanok (Pantalan) to Borawan Island - Round Trip
Good for 8 Person Only - P700.00
Good for 10-12 Person - P800.00

Port Laguimanok to Dampalitan Island - Round Trip - P1,200.00

life vests are for rent for P10 each used for the entire trip

Borawan is just 15-20 minutes away from the Port while Dampalitan is around 20-30 minutes via a bangka.

Island Hopping - P 1,200.00/boat (good for 10 persons)

Sights/Places to visit:
Talabaan
Tulay Buhangin - Bakawan
Mariculture
Borawan
Bagosina
Dampalitan

We arrived in Laguimanok port at 6PM. Since it was getting dark, we were advised to camp overnight in Borawan, which is nearer to the port instead of Dampalitan. I guess they're saying that because it would be easier for them. But we insisted to follow our plan.

It was a bit scary as we sail towards Dampalitan island. First, the boat didn't have lights and that scared us as we might bump into another boat. Second, other boats don't have lights as well.

It was total darkness when we reached the island, except for a light from another group of campers. This island doesn't have electricity, no running water, but good thing there are cellular signals. After talking to the island's care taker, we settled in and unpacked our stuff.

First thing we did was prepare our food while the rest pitched tents. It was a double effort. If only we were able to follow our itinerary, we'd reach Dampalitan at 5PM, it could have been more convenient to cook food and set up our stuff and then have the luxury in witnessing the sunset. Moral lesson: itinerary should be strictly followed.

So, after 2 hours, we're finally able to eat. It was a glorious meal!! We lit our bonfire, played games for awhile before we called it a day.