It was the very description of my paradise. The clear seafoam green water, the cool breeze of the wind that kiss your skin - seemingly trying to nurse your hot skin that the hot rays of the beautiful splendid sun has left sore, the quaint huts made of nipa leaves, mountains by the sea and pure perfection surrounding you.
Calaguas is 12 hours away from Manila - 10 hours by bus and 2 hours on a dizzying boat ride. We left Manila about half past 8 on Friday evening, arrived in Camarines Norte around 6am the following day, took a 20-minute tricycle ride to the Paracale port and then was advised of the Gale Warning.
It was raining and came with it were strong winds and sea current. Visitors were not allowed to traverse the seas and boats were ordered to stay at dock. A couple of hours of waiting, the rain stopped, sun was out and we went to the coast guard to see if he can allow our boat to leave - to no avail. But we didn't travel 12 hours just to go back home. The boatman said that the waves were manageable and they can take us to the island if we leave from another port. So we took the tricycle again (it was an awful off road and we had to walk at some part because the vehicle couldn't carry our weight) haha. And took the boat from there.
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| The price we had to pay to get to the illegal port :) haha |
The boat ride was not pleasant. It took us three hours due to the strong current and we were soaked halfway through the ride - and the cold breeze did not help. However, what greeted us was well worth the risk, the cold, the long trip, the torturous rides and everything not so nice haha! Mahabang Buhangin, as the locals call it, is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. It was 3pm and we haven't eaten lunch yet, my friends started cooking but given that I and 2 other friends do not know how to start a fire, cook rice or cook adobo we went to the beach and started taking photos. haha It was bit gloomy though so the photos didn't register very well and does not reflect how the place really looked like.
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| There were literally 20 people on the island and we were 8 of them. lucky :) |
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| Gilyanne doing her yoga pose ;) |
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| Sharie being landi under the tree. haha |
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| We three are pretty useless in the outdoor cooking department :) which is why we had time to take these photos :D haha |
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| Busy taking selfies haha |
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Searching, searching for the perfect seashell :)
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| It was a bit gloomy but beautiful nonetheless |
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| Taking the gorgeous sights in. love! |
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| I collected pretty shells! |
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| Can you believe this? how could it be so prettyyyyy |
One thing though that I was looking forward to was seeing marine life in their habitat (which I always appreciate when going to the beach) but there was no marine life in the shallow part of the water (shallow meaning Andrea and a half tall) The boatman said I could if I went to the rock that's about 300 meters away from the shore and I was like'what the fuck, kuya, I'm just gonna go sunbathe. And of course, I burnt my skin again (but that didn't stop me the next day)
That night, it was still really cold. We asked the island caretakers if we could light a bonfire, and ta-da! the made one for us! Time for some smores!! We just talked over the fire, took some (not so nice photos) and I went to
bed floor sleep early. We rented a small nipa hut good for four people but you'd still have to sleep on a mat on the floor, beats sleeping in a tent though so I was very appreciative of it :) haha
The next day, I woke up at 4 in the morning, went out with my blanket around me and lied on the beach hoping to watch the sunrise. It started drizzling tho so I had to head back to the hut, it was still cold when I woke up again but we decided to enjoy the beach and make the most out of our last day. The sky lightened up a bit and our cameras were able to finally capture the real beauty of the island!
Eliesa, Michael, Gilyanne and I went up the hill to take some photos of the whole place.
We were having lunch in one of the cottages when we saw one of the care takers poke the coconuts on the tree with a bamboo stick and they started falling. We asked if we could buy and we got one each for 30 pesos. There was no straw tho and that darn thing was so difficult to drink. haha To eat the meat of the nut, we had to crack it open with this huge knife and I am sooo proud that I did mine myself! ha! The others got kuya to do it haha.
Afterwards, we just went back to the beach, waited for the waves and jumped back as the water carries us nearer to the shore. Many times, the waves were too strong and washed us off our feet, and we end up rolling on the sea bed. not so graceful. haha but what a fun time we had!
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| Madame Khriztinuh cooking in style haha |
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| The whole gang! |
Overall we had such a great great time and it was such a pleasure having the chance to see such beauty when it hasn't been exploited to irresponsible tourists. Doing something (sort of) illegal was kinda exciting too. We all are planning to go back soon and maybe visit the other islands nearby ! (when we have clearance from coastguards haha)
