CARAMOAN (2)

Day 2 - Cotivas Island, Caramoan islands. Nothing remarkable in this sandbar. It is also ideal for swimming, specially for the kids, as the water is shallow. Being a sandbar, you have two beaches which is cute. This was also one of the islands where survivor shot some challenges. Again, unremarkable :) It did not interest me :) Oh wait, they have seaweeds here. Nice, we got to eat some Lato (seaweed in bicol) fresh harvest hahaha.

Next was Bogtong island sandbar....This is the longest sandbar i have ever seen. We did not even go the island itself because we were so content hanging out in the sandbar, take note, High Noon! And you guessed it right, our skin was nearly charcoaled by the sun :) But it was so worth it. Loved this stop! Starfishes abound. There's plenty of sandbar for everyone... You cannot crowd this place. :) We did everything here, swim, wade, snorkel, sat, lie down, sunbathing (or burning). I could have stayed here all afternoon :) I saw some tourists skimboarding.

Next, we went to Sabitang-Laya and had lunch. The rock formations are also impressive. However, the so-called "caves" stinks. Some tourists pee inside yuck. You can get good shots here, but you have to walk because it is so far away....hingal. The beach is the dirtiest one we every encountered. There was a lot of trash.

Later we took a hike to the Our Lady of Salvation shrine. Save some of your energy coz you need lots to reach the top. Better yet, go to the gym or exercise before you go to Caramoan. We were daunted by the height of it and we almost did not climb the stairs. Well, after the persistence of our tour guide, and his threatening remarks, we heeded him. We were glad we did. The view is very very nice. Although we stink from the salt and sweat, it didnt matter. We also did not manage to get a good photo because we looked terrible, sun burn and all :)

Day 3- We went to the church and had a photo-op. It was really beautiful. You would want to get married here except that there are no reception venues in the town.

And then we headed home. We chose the scenic route, passing through Sagnay and Tiwi :)

CARAMOAN (1)

I presume you have read all there is to know on how to get to caramoan islands, camarines sur, philippines. Instead of telling you all about the human carrying porters (haha) and the horrendously long outrigger boat ride, sigh and the cramped seats with no backrest oh well, ill start with day 1 of our trip. After having a hearty lunch courtesy of our tour coordinator Genaro Galang, we proceeded to bikal port. Unfortunately, it was low tide, and there is no other way to get to our bangka but to ride this smaller bangka. I am laughing right now as i remember myself screaming whenever someone would shift their butt from one side to the other, any movement rocks the boat, i was so scared to get all wet and fall on the murky water. I was quite surprised we did not sink, we were so heavy, only 3 quarters of an inch of the boat was floating :)

This was taken from our first island stop. The sand is colored black, but so powdery you can rub it on your face. This looks like a dried up coral and very prominent in the entire island.

And then there was Lahos island, allegedly owned by the Bichara clan of Albay. Of course we had to do the jumpshot. This island is not so ideal from swimming, its so rocky!

And then there was my favorite, Matukad island. The view from this island is amazing. Powdery white sand and uber clear waters. There are some rock formations a camwhore would love. I love swimming in the beach of this island. We arrived there nearing sunset so the lighting wasnt so good for picture taking. I would suggest going to this island earlier or come back later when there are a few tourists around. It was so lovely lounging in this island. BTW, there is a lagoon in here but you have to climb and hike which we didnt want to do since weve already seen beautiful l

agoon and lakes at Coron, Palawan.

So we headed back to our homestay, the Arcilla residence, which is divine. It has a large master bedroom that can sleep at least 6 people comfortably. A king size bed and large plasma tv. It also has its own toilet. After showering, we then had dinner again courtesy of our tour coordinator. BTW we were assigned a tour guide who not only accompanies us to our destination but serves as a butler too. He brings the food, prepares the table and wash the dishes. Oh we were treated like princes and princesses. I so love going on a packaged tour. I would strongly advise you not to DIY in caramoan because there are very few places to eat in Caramoan. Here is one of the mouth watering dishes we were served: