After a successful Ilocos trip last August of 2009, our all girls travel group agreed to do it again on the same dates the following year. Hence, the Bicol trip last August 28-31, 2010. Everyone joined the trip except for two due to work constraints. The girls from Philippine Airlines took care of our tickets and made sure that we got promo seats from PAL’s anniversary seat sale. They booked a Manila – Legaspi flight because it was cheaper at that time. As usual, I was in charge of making the itinerary. Some wanted to see Mayon volcano, others wanted to go to CamSur Water Sports Complex and the rest just wanted to visit the Caramoan Peninsula. Some of the girls will be leaving a day early and they requested that we visit Caramoan Islands on the first day.
So after a photo finish check-in for our 6:30am flight, we arrived in Legaspi city after an hour. The van driver hasn’t arrived yet, so we had breakfast at the airport restaurant while waiting for him. We rented a van for 2500php to take us straight to Sabang port in Camarines Sur. There were ten of us so it wasn’t too heavy on the pocket. We took the Legaspi-Tiwi-Sabang route for the 2 hour trip and arrived 30 minutes before the last boat trip. We had time to contemplate if we wanted to wade into the waters or sit on the porter’s shoulder for 20php to get to the boat. The name Sabang port is a misnomer because it’s not really one. There is no structure where the boats can dock so porters had to carry passengers to the boat. At first everyone wanted to wade into the waters but we all changed our minds at the last minute. And boy, did we have a grand time of it. The “porter ride” experience made the 2 hour boat trip amidst choppy waters bearable.
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| Boat at Sabang port |
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Weeks before our trip, I contacted a boat owner in Caramoan for our island hopping tour. Mr. Ramil Cruel met us at Guijalo port in when we arrived in Caramoan. He brought us to Juliana Inn to find out in our dismay that the owner, Mang Roger was not expecting us. Good thing Mishay who took care of the reservation brought the payment slip with her. Even so he was reluctant to accommodate us and kept on insisting that he doesn’t know the one who took our reservation. Never mind that we got the contact number in their website. Luckily, one of his workers told him that might have corresponded with their Manila office. Turns out that the one that we corresponded with is the owner’s daughter- in- law, why he was not informed is a perplexing story. I think the reason why he was not willing to honor the reservation is the fact that they no longer have the rooms available. In the end, we had no choice but to take the 2 rooms left. It was past 2pm before we were able to leave for the island hopping tour. It was not really an island hopping tour per se since we only visited Lahos Island because we started late. But Lahos Island is worth the 1500php we paid for the trip.
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| Lahos Island |
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| Lahos Island |
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| Friendship trip year 2 |
All too soon, we had to leave the clear waters of Lahos Islands since it was getting dark. And we had to tread the pot-holed roads from Bikal port back to the town proper. After a 30 minute bumpy ride we were looking forward to getting back to the inn since we were promised a seafood feast by the owner. We ordered crabs, shrimps and fish before leaving for the tour. Imagine our surprise when we were served adobong pusit. Again, we had no choice and we were all starving so we swallowed our disappointment and dine in candlelight since the electricity went out. Good thing we were a merry group so it was a dinner full of peals of laughter.
We retired after dinner because we need to be up by 5am so we can start the tour early the next day. We were going to take another island hopping tour for 2000php before we take the boat back to Sabang port. This time we visited Cagbanilad Island, Matukad Island and Tinago Island.
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| Cagbanilad Island |
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| Agua Bendita @ Cagbanilad Island |
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| Matukad Island |
During our visit, the island was being used by Survivor Serbia as one of their location. The island is usually off limits during that time but since we were there early and they were still setting up, they allowed us to stay and even gave us bottled water. How can they not let 10 girls in 2 -piece swim suits swim?
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Tinago Island
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| Sunset in Caramoan Island |
I always look back at the time spent swimming in the calm waters of Tinago Island with a fond smile. Tinago which means hidden is a cove which is an ideal place for a morning swim while communing with nature. It was a perfect time to say a prayer of thanks to God for giving me a chance to experience His amazing creations with good friends.
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