If you are chasing one beach to another, Caramoan Islands should be in every Filipino traveler's bucket lists to cross out. The island has been home to several Survivor shows, a reality show in the US. Also, other versions from Israel, France, and Bulgaria, just to name a few have chosen this island as their location for a show.
Why Caramoan islands should be included in your bucket list as a traveler? Because it's not an easy destination to reach and only a few have been there yet. If you're coming from Manila like us, you have an option to fly choosing either Legazpi or Naga Airport as your destination. From there, maybe it will take you 4-6 hours to reach the main island.
Since we went there on a summer, flights were a little pricey at that time. Don't lose hope though, you can choose to travel by land which will take you 14 hours only to reach this destination. Yes, we endured the agony of being seated for 10 hours in a bus from manila to Naga, 2 hours of van transfer from Naga Bus Terminal to Sabang Port, and another 2 hours of riding the outrigger boat.
There is an option for you to ride a bus from Naga Bus Terminal with direct route to Caramoan which will take you almost the same travel time doing the van and boat combined. I couldn't complain more having to ride the boat on a scorching mid-afternoon when I get to pass by Mayon Volcano in it's perfect cone silhouette from the background. Though, we choose to ride the air-conditioned bus from Caramoan going back to Naga.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed at first with Caramoan, because I thought Calaguas is a better option for this trip. Not until we did the island hopping activities for 2 days. Some islands though were closed in preparation for an upcoming season of Survivor.
We arrived around 1PM and we right away devoured our first decent meal for that day. As we want to make use of our remaining time for that day, we proceeded with our first island hopping; visiting the islands of Lahos and Matukad.
Lahos Island - "Laho" which means 'to vanish', is an island with powdery-white sand guarded in-between by two identical rocks. This island can easily get crowded because the sand tends to get narrower if not vanished during high tide. Be careful in climbing the rocks because they're sharp and a little stiff.
Matukad Island - it has a similar sand quality with Lahos Island and it's walled by the same type of rock. This is where the lonely Bangus (Milkfish) can be found but you need to climb the narrow trek and descent in the lagoon behind the rocks. We did our swimming here before calling it a day. Sadly, nobody's interested from our group to check out the lonely milkfish.
Who did it better... Jump Shot (L-R): Larry, Me, hazel, Miles, Elaine, and Orange
On our second day, we started early to make sure we'll reach as many islands as possible. It took us almost 2 hours to reach our first island destionation for that day; the Manlawi sandbar.
Manlawi Sandbar - one of the best beaches of the Caramoan group of islands.The water is so crystal clear, shallow, long-stretched of white sand, starfishes everywhere, and a few floating nipa huts to rest and have your lunch.
After 30 minutes of picture taking, we are moving to the next island where we'll also have our lunch. The island is almost similar to Manlawi but I can say it's better especially for swimming.
Cotivas Island - very scenic and instagram-worthy. I love this particular island because the waters are not to shallow and not too deep. Seems line you're in a super-Olympic size swimming pool. Don't you agree?
Sometimes, as a traveler, your actions are a little bit irresponsible. Just 'a little bit' because the waters are just below 5 feet in case I fell from sitting at the tip of this boat. lol
Cotivas Island - very scenic and instagram-worthy. I love this particular island because the waters are not to shallow and not too deep. Seems line you're in a super-Olympic size swimming pool. Don't you agree?
Sometimes, as a traveler, your actions are a little bit irresponsible. Just 'a little bit' because the waters are just below 5 feet in case I fell from sitting at the tip of this boat. lol
Total Expenses:
Via Raymond Bus - (Cubao to Naga) - 627.00 x 2 - 1, 254.00
Naga to Sabang port- 100 x 2 - 200.00
Sabang port to Guijalo - 120.00 x 2 - 240.00
Environmental fee - 30.00
Travelers Camp 3D/2N Package - 2,400.00
(Room Accommodation - 4 persons per room,
Pick up from Guijalo Port , 7 Meals, Island Hopping)
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PHP 4, 124.00
Contact person: Jun C Padua
Contact number: 0917-8746437
Email address: juncpadua@yahoo.com
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