Ever heard of the
reality show, Survivor? Where a sole survivor outwits, outplays, and outlasts
everyone. The show chose Caramoan Philippines as their setting for
this thrilling game on their 25th and 26th season. I was not able to watch the
entire show but like every fan who had watched the show, I too had fallen in
love with Caramoan. Caramoan is well known destination for local and
international tourists but it became more famous after the 25th season. That is
why when Cebu Pacific had a seat sale last November 2012, I texted my high
school best friend so we can start searching for good dates, low price, nice
schedule and great seats at cebupacificair.com. Since Gayle and I have never been to Caramoan
we decided to go Bicol. I found a good price for March 2-4, 2013 from Manila to
Legazpi and after a few minutes of back and forth messages, our flights are
confirmed.
Since we booked our
tickets last November 2012 and with our busy schedule, Gayle and I had almost
forgotten our trip for March so we only did the planning and booking of our
hotel rooms on the last week of February. Cancelling the trip was out of the
question so we were able to manage somehow to plan our itinerary and here I am
to tell you about our trip, how to get there, hotels we had stayed, places to
see and where to eat and things to do if you will visit Bicol, and of course,
how to go to Caramoan.
Day 1: Manila to Legazpi City
There are many ways to
go to Bicol from Manila but the fastest way is by flight. The flight that we
had booked was scheduled to leave at 12:45 PM arriving in Legazpi at 1:50 PM.
If Caramoan is your first destination, the best option is Naga
Pili airport in Naga city since it is closer. You can save 2 hours of travel
time. Since booking the flight was a last minute thing for us, we had chosen
Legazpi since we had no idea yet which airport is nearer. We just want to go to
Bicol. :)
Other options are bus,
renting a private van or driving your own car, or choosing to ride the PNR (train)
We decided to roam the city
and see the magnificent beauty of the Mayon Volcano on our first day since we
still have time before we head to Naga City. Tips from friends who had been
there suggested to me that it is best to stay for the night in Naga City if
your flight will arrive in Legazpi since it will take more than 5 hours from
Legazpi to Naga to Caramoan.
There are 3 places where
you can get a good view of Mayon Volcano, the view from Lignon hill, Daraga
Church and Cagsawa Ruins. We opted to go to Daraga Church and Cagsawa ruins due
to time restrictions. From the airport,
if you want to do it the backpacker way, there’s a Tourism office right outside
the airport where you can ask for directions or you can also get a half day/
whole day city tour pre arranged before you travel or arrange a package with
tricycles or taxis waiting outside the airport. My friend and I picked
convenience over cost; we hire a tricycle for 350.00 php to take us from the
airport to Daraga Church, Cagsawa Ruins and to the Legazpi bus/van terminal. But
if you want to use the public transportation here is some information I have
gathered from the tourism office that will be helpful:
Legazpi airport to Daraga Church:
- Walk for about 5 minutes from the airport to the main highway, near the tricycle terminal.
- Ride a Jeepney going to Daraga Legazpi. Standard fare is 8.00 php. There are tricycles as an alternate transportation but it may be costly if you will have a special trip. ( 150.00 one way )
- Ask the jeepney driver to drop you off at Novo/Jollibee near Daraga church. The church is on top of a hill so you have to walk for 15-20 minutes or so.
Daraga Church is an old
stone church built by Franciscan priests on the year of 1773. It became the
center of religious activities for believers after the Cagsawa Church was
destroyed by Mayon Volcano when it erupted on the year 1814. On 1854 until now,
the church’s patron is Nuestra Senora Dela Porteria. The church was used as
headquarters of the Japanese on the Second World War on 1945.The church was
rebuilt on 1971-73. The church is a good example of Baroque architecture made
by Filpino craftsmen on the Spanish era.
Here is the Daraga Church:
Daraga Church to Cagsawa Ruins:
- Ride a jeepney going to Oas, Ginubatan or Polangui Town. Travel time is 25-30 minutes.
- Ask the driver to drop you off at the junction of the highway and the road going to Cagsawa ruins.
- There are tricycles that you can ride to the Ruins but you can also walk from the highway. It is a 10-15 minute walk.
- You will see a sign that says Cagsawa Ruins so you won’t miss it. The entrance fee is 10.00 php.
Cagsawa Ruins is an old
church destroyed by Mayon Volcano when it erupted on the year 1814. What
remains are the stones and the old bell tower. It is a perfect spot to view the
Mayon without obstruction. When we get
there, there are a lot of tourists taking pictures and a couple doing their pre
nuptial photo shoots. There are also locals who offered their services for
trick shots using your camera. Without further ado, we ready our cameras for
picture taking. We had a blast taking pictures and soaking the sight of the
magnificent Mayon. It is truly majestic as it touches the sky and stands firm
on the ground. Here are some of our photos.
Mayon Volcano
After picture
taking, my friend and I shopped some souvenirs to take home. Most are abaca
products since Bicol is well known on its abaca as its local main product aside
from pili ( nut) and coconuts. The souvenir shops are just right in front of
the entrance to the Cagsawa.
We head from Cagsawa Ruins to East Bound Terminal also known as “van
terminal” to ride a van going to Naga City. The public van costs 140.00 php
each person and travel time takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes. We arrive in Naga Terminal (just beside SM
Naga) around 5:30pm or so and we checked in at Sampaguita Inn. We chose this since it is near the terminal
going to Sabang port and value for money. There are other hotels and budget inn
you can choose from once you arrive in Naga since it is already developed as a
city. Rate at Sampaguita Inn ranges from
400 -1000 per room so if you are not particular about amenities and stuffs, it
a nice choice. We just had some trouble with water since our room is on the
fourth floor. If you will stay here, it is best to request a room a lower floor
so that you will not have issues with water. For reservations at the hotel, you may contact
their number at 054 473 8896/4732158. The Sampaguita Inn on Panganiban drive is
the one nearer to Naga terminal.
We rest for a bit at the hotel and asked the Front desk where we can
eat Bicolano dishes. The FD suggested trying GeeWan. It is walking distance
from the hotel but since we took a wrong street, we rode a tricycle going to
the restaurant since we walked quite a bit from the hotel. The FD was not really clear on her directions
how to go to Geewan and was not really accommodating when we asked questions. I
guess she was pretty busy and was not happy when people asked for
directions. (haha! )
The food in GeeWan are delicious and we ordered Lechon paksiw (pork
sautéed in vinegar), pinakbet ( sauted mixed veggies), pinangat ( dish from
taro leaves) and kandinga ( mixed
meats). We savored each bite and forgot
our diet since we are on a vacation. It is not something that you can eat in
carinderia or in a food court since the quality of food is at par with the
dishes I tasted on nicer restaurants. The ambiance on GeeWan is pretty nice and
the rates are the usual rates from the restaurants in Manila. Here’s the
breakdown of cost of our dinner in GeeWan:
2 plain rice – 34.00
1 coke zero – 32.00
1 pineapple juice – 45.00
1 lechon paksiw - 130.00
1 pinangat – 45.00
1 pinakbet – 75.00
1 kandinga – 75.00
TOTAL – 440.00
Our dinner
in GeeWan
Restaurant ambiance
Day 2: NAGA city - Sabang Port - Caramoan
We started early on our second day of our vacation. From Sampaguita
Inn, we rode a tricycle going to Naga City van terminal. It is just walking
distance but we have our bags with us and we don’t want to miss the first trip
going to Sabang Port. We were in the terminal around 4:30 AM or so and after
the van is full, we leave the terminal around 5:00 AM and we arrive in Sabang
port around 6:30AM. The cost of van fare from Naga to Sabang is 100.00 each
person. Make sure you have your MP3
player or ipod with you since it is a long travel.
If you want a cheaper route, you
can ride a bus or a jeepney from Naga city bound to Lagonoy. Usual costs ranges
from 50 php for jeepney, AC ( JC Liner) bus for 75.00 php, and 50 php for non air-conditioned bus. Schedule of
air-conditioned bus is 4AM and 7am only. Tell the conductor top drop you off in
the town of GOA or on the GOA jeepney terminal so you can ride a jeepney going
to Sabang port.
You will pay an environmental fee of 30.00 php per person when you get
to Sabang Port. The ferry ride from Sabang port to Guijalo port will cost
120.00 per person. The ferry we rode was
quite big since it can hold up to 60-70 people (according to my estimate).
Travel time is 2 hours going to Caramoan. There are scheduled trips as well for
the ferry. The earliest is 7am, next is 9am, 11 and last is 2PM. Make sure not
to miss it since you may need to charter your own boat and it may cost from
2500-3000 depending on your haggling skills.
We booked a room at West Peninsula Villa in Caramoan. It is one of the
recommended hotels from the travel blogs I have read and the pictures on their
website are very convincing that you will have a great stay. We booked a room for 1500.00 for the night.
It is a good rate considering that room rate includes port pick up and drop off
and breakfast for 2 and a free wifi. The
hotel has a pool, open- air dining area, and a small yard/garden. And their rooms
have a cable tv, hot and cold shower, and air conditioning plus complimentary
toiletries. I’ve heard that most of the crew of the series survivor had checked
in there and there are real artworks/handicrafts from the series that were
displayed at the hotel.
Here’s some information about the hotel if you want to make a
reservation:
Telephone number: 0921 2642538/0915 3295669
Email: westpenvilla@yahoo.com
Website: www.westpeninsullavillas.com
Location: Caramoan Camarines Sur
Here are some hotel photos:
We checked in around 9am at the hotel. After we dropped our bags and
changed to swimming outfits, we ordered packed lunch for our island hopping and
arrange our island hopping with the hotel FD. This time the FD was helpful and
very friendly. Rates for island hopping vary on the number of islands you will
visit. You may choose 1 day or 2 days island hopping. Since we will go back to
Manila on our third day, we have no choice but to choose the 1 day island
hopping. The hotel rate is 1500 php for the boat rental and that is 3-4
islands. The one way tricycle ride from
the hotel to the place where the island hopping boats were docked is 150.00
php. It is a hotel rate so I am not sure how much the rate for the tricycle if
you will commute on your own. The mode of transportation in Caramoan is the
tricycle. It can hold 10-11 people including the driver, so I understand why
the rate is 150 one way.
Our island hopping started around 11am. Gayle and I were so excited
since it had been a long time since she and I had a vacation. And of course we
want to see the famous islands of Caramoan. The time we spent on travel is so
worth it. The first island we went to is the Lahos Island. Lahos Island has an
almost white beach, the sands are not very fine compared to Boracay but what
will take your breath away are the rock formation and the beach on the front
and back of the island. Lahos Island is more like of a 2 rocky islands with
white sand bar in between. The sun is
hot but the breeze is very cool, it will be nice to spend a longer time in
Lahos Island but our boatmen told us that we have to leave and head next to
Matukad Island before the high tide.
Here are some of our photos in
Lahos Island:
After Lahos Island is the Matukad Island, this island is bigger from
Lahos island and has a bigger swimming area as well. The waves are also much
calmer compared to Lahos Island. When we get there, a lot of tourists are
having their lunch and some are already swimming. Matukad Island is famous for
a rock cliff that you can climb and according to our guide, there’s a fresh
lagoon on top of the cliff. We ate our packed lunch (646 pesos including
steamed crabs, chop suey and 2 set meals for our boatmen) in Matukad Island and
spent more than an hour of swimming and picture taking.
Matukad Island
our packed
lunch, steamed crabs and chop suey
After Matukad Island, we head off to another island, I forgot the name
of the third island but this one has a smaller beach area from Matukad Island.
There is a big rock in the middle of the beach and Gayle and I had fun times
taking pictures. Next island is the grey sand beach island, this is where we
spend most of our time swimming since according to our boatman, the sand there
is finer though the sand is grayish ( it is actually a mixture of white and
black sand. I’m not really a good swimmer so I just sat on the shoreline and
laughs when the waves hit me. I may sound crazy
( haha! ) but it was fun when the wave hit you, more like riding a mini
rollercoaster.
We head back to hotel around 3:30 pm and after cleaning up and resting
for a bit. We ate our dinner on the nearest eatery from the hotel and call it a
night.
Our photos on Gray sand island:
Our last day of vacation was spent more on travelling all the modes of transportation
(sea, land, and air travel) for us from 7am – 6PM til we arrive in our own
homes. We want to start early since our flight from Legazpi airport is at
2:20pm. We missed the 7am ferry ride from Guijalo port to Sabang port so we
rode the next ferry at 8:00 am. It was a 2 hour ferry ride again and on our
third day, it rained. The waves are a
bit bigger and there are gusts of rains and wind from time to time. I was a
little afraid but I am more afraid on the clock ticking since we may not make
it on time for check in at the airport. We arrived safely in Sabang port, and
from there, we rode a van going to Naga city. The van had made some detours and
there are ongoing road constructions so our travel time took almost 2 hours.
Then the 2 hour van trip again from Naga City to Legazpi airport. We arrive in
Legazpi airport at 2 PM and our flight was at 2:20 pm. The airline counter was
already closed and people are already boarding. Good thing, there’s wifi at
West peninsula Villa and my friend Gayle had her laptop with her so we were
able to do a web check in before we leave Caramoan . We were able to make it
and had our late lunch in the plane.
I had great experience going to Legazpi, Naga and Caramoan and
memorable experiences with my high school friend Gayle. I got to see a lot of
places and eat Bicolano dishes and on top of that, feel what it felt like to be
on the Survivor Islands. Bicol has many places and there are still a lot of
areas to discover. I will definitely go back. Until the next trip Bicol!
Nice impressions! Sakit.info
ReplyDelete