Posts Tagged With: island hopping

Day 3 in Bohol: Dolphin Watching and Island Hopping

I was really looking forward to this part of our itinerary. We woke up at around 5:30AM since we had to ride the boat for dolphin watching at around 6 to 6:30AM. This was coordinated by Kuya Johnny with Dumaluan Resort. In short, Dumaluan took charge of our day. It was only then that we were informed that an additional fee of Php200/person had to be paid for the smaller boat that will be used on our Island hopping. Also, there will be additional fees for snorkeling paraphernalia but since we weren’t really into snorkeling, we didn’t pay for the paraphernalia just the boat.

We set out into the waters early in the morning. I was worried that we won’t be able to see dolphins coz that’s what I read in other blogs – that it took them hours before they got to see dolphins. Good thing, there were already dolphins in the area when we arrived. It was fun to see them in real-life and just a few arms away from you.

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After we have been satisfied of seeing these dolphins, we started our Island hopping. Actually there are just 2 islands – Balicasag and Virgin Islands. Balicasag is where you’ll have the snorkeling activity. You may also opt to have your lunch there but since we’re under budget, we decided to take our lunch at Dumaluan when we get back. Virgin Island, on the other hand,  just like the White Beach of Camiguin, is a long stretch of sandbar with fine white sand.

Balicasag Island

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Virgin Island

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We went back to Dumaluan around lunch time both hungry and happy from the day’s activities.

 

Other Bohol Posts:

Day 1: Arrival; Stayed at Dumaluan2 Beach Resort

Day 2: Countryside and Panglao Tour

Day 4: Back to Manila

Categories: Bohol | Tags: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Island Hopping in Zambales

Before my Subic Adventure, my colleagues and I, 12 of us, had our backpacking/camping trip to Nagsasa Cove last February 2011. It is one of the many islands in Zambales. There was much planning to this trip mostly because we were all so excited and also because of the conditions that we were going to face there: NO cellphone signal, NO modern-day comfort rooms, NO potable water, NO cooking utensils, NO electricity, and NO rooms or hotels to stay in there. So we really had to prepare for the stuff that we had to carry for ourselves and for the whole group. We also had an itinerary for the whole trip so we’d know what to expect and to make sure that we won’t waste time.

Going there as a group made the trip very cheap for us. We spent only around Php2000 for the whole trip (excluding your fares in Manila). We got way more than we paid for. Here’s a simple breakdown of our expenses:

EXPENSES:
(2) Pasay to San Antonio, Zambales: PHP 346
(2) Trike to San Miguel: PHP 20/head
BOAT Roundtrip PHP 500 (2,000 per boat, 3 boats, 12 people)
FOOD: PHP 500
NAGSASA Entrace: PHP 100
Anawangin Entrance: PHP 50
Extra money (in case of price adjustments): PHP 150 – tent included!

TOTAL: PHP 2,032

 

It was incredibly fun! Time went by so slow probably because any kind/form of modern-day technology isn’t present there. However, the restroom at Nagsasa was better than I expected. Running water (through a faucet) was abundant and clean and it was actually tiled.

Your trip to Nagsasa would greatly depend on the boatman that you contacted as he will be the one who’ll help you with almost everything from rice to charcoal to creating a bonfire! Good for us we got a very kind boatman, Kuya Johnny. You may contact him at 09093120345 (if that is still his number).

I’ll definitely go back there but I wanna go places where I haven’t been to yet. On second thought, if I’m really really stressed out and wanna unwind, I might actually go back there. Let’s see…

 

Categories: Zambales | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nagsasa Itinerary

Here’s our original itinerary our trip in Nagsasa Cove.

DAY 0 – DAY 1 (Feb. 18, 19, 2011)

10pm to 11pm – Ayala to Victory liner Pasay
11pm to 11:30pm – buy tickets for bus ride
11:30pm to 3:30am – Pasay to San Antonio, Zambales
3:30am to 4:15am – Regroup/Change clothing/Meet boatman
4:15am to 4:30- ride a TRICYCLE to San Miguel
4:30am to 5:30am -San Miguel to Anawangin (sidetrip) BOAT
5:30am to 7:30am – Anawangin to Nagsasa (BOAT)
7:30am to 8:30am – Build camp/Prepare breakfast
8:30am to 9:30am – Breakfast
9:30am to 11am – Free time (sleeping time, games, swimming)
11am to 12pm – Prepare lunch
12pm to 1pm – Lunch
1pm to 6pm – Free time (waterfalls trekking)
6pm to 7pm – Prepare dinner
7pm to 8pm – Dinner
8pm to 12 pm – Bonfire

DAY 2 (Feb. 20, 2011) Island Hoping
6am to 7am – Prepare Breakfast
7am to 8am – Heavy Breakfast
8am to 8:45am – Free time
8:45am to 10:30am – Nagsasa to Capones Island (BOAT)
10:30am to 11:30am – Trek to Capones Lighthouse
11:30am to 12:30pm – Explore lighthouse/Island
12:30pm to 1:15pm – Trek back to boat
1:15pm to 1:30pm – Capones to Camara Island (BOAT)
1:30pm to 2:30pm – Explore Camara Island
2:30pm to 2:40pm – Camara to San Miguel
2:40pm to 3pm – San Miguel to San Antonio trike
3pm to 4pm – Wash up/Fix up/Snacks
4pm to 5pm – San Antonio to Olongapo
5pm to 7pm – Early Dinner/Rest
7pm to 10pm – Olongapo to Manila

This was our planned itinerary but we didn’t strictly follow this.

Categories: Zambales | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment