It was a cold and drizzling morning when I decided to join some of my friends heading to Cagbalete Island in Mauban, Quezon. Frolicking at the beach with some rain wasn't really part of the agenda, so I (or should I say, We) secretly refuse to accept the fact that some quick storm will pay us a visit on the way and once we get there.
So before I go on story-telling mode, I would just like to give you guys a brief description of the island. Again, it is part of Mauban, Quezon with a lush coconut plantation and surrounded by the waters of Lamon Bay and the Pacific. It is somehow an unspoilt and uncommercialized version of Boracay, because of it's fine white to golden sand and with its surrounding marine life is a great attraction to diving enthusiasts and to those who enjoy snorkeling. Starfish, Urchins and Hermit Crabs are the common shore finds (and lots of kelp during the rainy season.. hehe.)
Here we go... well... it still rained. After our rendezvouz in Makati,
we went to the Cubao terminal and took the 5:00am trip with JAC Liner bound for Mauban, Quezon (Yes, they now have trips going to Mauban!). And since this trip was fashioned on a low peak season, our group almost owned the bus. There was like a dozen passengers and we're the only ones going to #Cagbalete. Most of the passengers either disembark at the Lucena grand station or towns near Mauban. We sat at the middle towards the back of the bus, switching places, giving our precious bags VIP seats.
The butt-numbing ride was about 4 hours due to slight traffic (caused by our new bestfriend... Rain). Of course we didn't just sit there, since the company I'm with are all hypes! We sang along the bus's playlist and played this really really cool game. HA HA. You know those noisy annoying people/passengers? Well, we turned out to be like that. ha ha. Remember to still be courteous to the other passangers. Tone down a bit... In our case though, we couldn't help it.
Oh, so you're curious what our uber cool game was? (I insist you read! ha ha). You guys roundup, then choose one person to start the game. Your group should decide on a category, ex. Provinces/Towns/Cities or basically places in the Philippines.
The chosen person to start will name a place for the said category, then whoever comes next needs to name another place that starts with the LAST letter of the province named by the other person, then so on and so forth.
We gave each person 5 seconds to answer. And you can't repeat an answer. It's like "Last Man Standing". ha ha. And for the winner or the last man standing, prize is he/she won't be doing the dishes or he/she gets to choose first the room or bed. You guys just talk about the prize. ha ha. So wanna play? I'll start! Round 1! Same Category!
Me: Cagbalet-E Imaginary friend: El Nid-O You: O_____ (Again, it should start with the last letter)
Okay, seems like my inner hype just got summoned. Anyway, after 3 rounds, composed ourselves and went back to reality that... there's rain even in Mauban! Sure as hell, we'll be expecting a bumpy and rough boat ride!
Got that right! A big passenger boat/outrigger ride to get to Cagbalete on a really rainy and windy morning. We arrived around 9:30am in Mauban. Don't forget to ask the bus driver to drop you off the nearest tricycle terminal that takes passengers to the Pantalan. The boat ride, if I may recall was P40.00/person. Make sure you get to the port on time since the next trip is around 4:00pm.
Be advised that passengers and their bags aren't the only ones being loaded on the boat. You will see sacks of rice, fruits and vegetables, meat and small animals and other basic commodities. We even saw an ice cream cart on board. It may sound scary, knowing incidents of sinking boats caused by overloading in the past, but the boat seem to accomodate such weight with it's size.
The local passengers on board are also friendly and may try to strike a conversation with you especially if they know that you're visiting their hidden gem.
So we left the port after 30 minutes watching people board and load their stuff and our butts feeling the strong waves that we are about to face.
This is something my friends swore not to ever do again... traveling without checking/researching on the weather condition and riding a boat on a very very bad weather.
The boat has life vests but not enough for all the passengers on the boat, I think. I can swim so I could basically spare the life vest and hand it to someone else in case the unexpected happens. The boat ride lasted for a total of 2.5 hours coz we had to make several stops in the middle of the sea due to the uber hammering waves. We've been advised that the waves are normally rough, but this time, there's a mild storm ahead... so I guess it's... rougher?
Screams. Not just from the visitors but even from the locals who's been used to taking this route. Alarmed, yes, we were very alarmed that this wasn't all normal for everyone onboard. The brusque waves hitting us lifted the boat with all of us facing the dark skies, it's as if someone or something under made a mighty thrust and then suddenly makes a quick drop with the boat spearing towards the sea. Uninvited sea water from the waves started to make a fill of the boat. I pretty much remember that the water reached up ankle deep. And all I did was pray.
There was this one happy gay local who got up and held on to one of the boats' poles, clowned and made jokes at what's happening to basically distract us from the distress. It did work, until one big blow from the sea almost knocked him up. The "Trapal" or what I would like to call as the boat's roof (made of wood a few ropes, plastic and tarpaulin) detached! We were exposed! The boat almost became roofless, but with quick and strong local men on board, they dashed and grab onto the loose ropes to get the "trapal" hooked back to the boat. I think 6 men held on to it til it was stable enough to pin back. One hella' ride if I must say!
In short, it was like riding Star City's Wild River or doing White water rafting... in open sea!
As we near the island, WHEW! Such a relief! Small boats, rather, much smaller boats will offer to take you to your chosen resort. You only pay P10.00 for it, if you'll be staying at the Pansacola Resort. Not sure with other resorts though.
Took the offer and there we saw the beach after a few minutes of this bumpy small-boat ride (Just let me know if you'd like to hear the small-bumpy-boat-ride experience? ha ha). We were all cheering as if we've been stranded and out in the ocean for days and that we finally found land! Soft, fine sand that we can rest our cold and trembling feet and huts to assuage our shaken and exhausted bodies from the chaos.
Our friend already made reservations and preset requests for our group (preparation and cleaning of the hut, cooked food and other special requests). We went dashing to the assigned hut. And the game winner choosing her bed (obviously it wasn't me). Food has been prepared and ready to be served. After settling and calming ourselves, off we went to the dining area and was very grateful for the meal and all the things we've seen and came upon stepping on the island. Appreciating life and everything else!
The island is magnificent! It feels so untouched. All our worries.. vanquished. It may have been a rough ride getting there but the island allured us in midst of a storm. All worth it.
My friends call this trip the "Buwis-Buhay" travel. We plan on visiting the island again, but with a complete weather research and all that jazz. We want to experience the uber sunny side of the Island. Stormy travel's a no-no... but it is electric! ha ha.
I've been doing this post for like 5 hours now. So I guess going further in to detail with everything may start to bore you.. well, I am getting bored and famished myself. he he.
How to get there: Moderate?
Take the JAC Liner bus going to Mauban, Quezon, located at Cubao, EDSA.
Manila to Mauban 5:00am – 1:00pm
Mauban to Manila 4:00am, 4:30am and 2:00pm
Then ride a tricycle and ask the driver to take you to the Pantalan. You'll see passenger boats once you get there and make sure that you're there on time.
Pantalan to Cagbalete Island 10:00am and 4:00pm
Cagbalete Island to Pantalan 07:30am and 1:00pm
Once you reach Cagbalete's Port, also known as Sabang Port, you may ride one of the small boats (standing ovation boat... ha ha) or just hike to your chosen hotel.
Approx Travel Time from Manila to the Island: 4.5 - 5 hours... but if you get the same travel experience we did, that would be a total of 6 dark rainy hours. LOL
Resorts in Cagbalate:
Pansacola Beach Resort - Rommel Pansacola 0928-505-8633
Villa Cleofas - Ed Jacob 0919-220-5000
MVT Sto. Niño - Ryan 0910-882-3346
Oh yeah, how much did I spend? Since this was more of a group package, each of us (group of 7) shelled out P1,500 and this does NOT INCLUDE the bus fare which was P420 roundtrip. So it would be best to bring at least P2,000-P3000 to make the most out of this trip and not to run short during emergency cases (like getting stranded on the island... ANTAMIS!)
It kept raining so we didn't have much photos of the beach. Next time! Promise! :)
 |
| Dark rainy morning skies... this is interesting... |
 |
| Sure is inviting... Love it! |
we went to the Cubao terminal and took the 5:00am trip with JAC Liner bound for Mauban, Quezon (Yes, they now have trips going to Mauban!). And since this trip was fashioned on a low peak season, our group almost owned the bus. There was like a dozen passengers and we're the only ones going to #Cagbalete. Most of the passengers either disembark at the Lucena grand station or towns near Mauban. We sat at the middle towards the back of the bus, switching places, giving our precious bags VIP seats.
The butt-numbing ride was about 4 hours due to slight traffic (caused by our new bestfriend... Rain). Of course we didn't just sit there, since the company I'm with are all hypes! We sang along the bus's playlist and played this really really cool game. HA HA. You know those noisy annoying people/passengers? Well, we turned out to be like that. ha ha. Remember to still be courteous to the other passangers. Tone down a bit... In our case though, we couldn't help it.
Oh, so you're curious what our uber cool game was? (I insist you read! ha ha). You guys roundup, then choose one person to start the game. Your group should decide on a category, ex. Provinces/Towns/Cities or basically places in the Philippines.
The chosen person to start will name a place for the said category, then whoever comes next needs to name another place that starts with the LAST letter of the province named by the other person, then so on and so forth.
We gave each person 5 seconds to answer. And you can't repeat an answer. It's like "Last Man Standing". ha ha. And for the winner or the last man standing, prize is he/she won't be doing the dishes or he/she gets to choose first the room or bed. You guys just talk about the prize. ha ha. So wanna play? I'll start! Round 1! Same Category!
Me: Cagbalet-E Imaginary friend: El Nid-O You: O_____ (Again, it should start with the last letter)
Okay, seems like my inner hype just got summoned. Anyway, after 3 rounds, composed ourselves and went back to reality that... there's rain even in Mauban! Sure as hell, we'll be expecting a bumpy and rough boat ride!
Got that right! A big passenger boat/outrigger ride to get to Cagbalete on a really rainy and windy morning. We arrived around 9:30am in Mauban. Don't forget to ask the bus driver to drop you off the nearest tricycle terminal that takes passengers to the Pantalan. The boat ride, if I may recall was P40.00/person. Make sure you get to the port on time since the next trip is around 4:00pm.
Be advised that passengers and their bags aren't the only ones being loaded on the boat. You will see sacks of rice, fruits and vegetables, meat and small animals and other basic commodities. We even saw an ice cream cart on board. It may sound scary, knowing incidents of sinking boats caused by overloading in the past, but the boat seem to accomodate such weight with it's size.
The local passengers on board are also friendly and may try to strike a conversation with you especially if they know that you're visiting their hidden gem.
So we left the port after 30 minutes watching people board and load their stuff and our butts feeling the strong waves that we are about to face.
 |
| The water seems calm... until... |
This is something my friends swore not to ever do again... traveling without checking/researching on the weather condition and riding a boat on a very very bad weather.
The boat has life vests but not enough for all the passengers on the boat, I think. I can swim so I could basically spare the life vest and hand it to someone else in case the unexpected happens. The boat ride lasted for a total of 2.5 hours coz we had to make several stops in the middle of the sea due to the uber hammering waves. We've been advised that the waves are normally rough, but this time, there's a mild storm ahead... so I guess it's... rougher?
Screams. Not just from the visitors but even from the locals who's been used to taking this route. Alarmed, yes, we were very alarmed that this wasn't all normal for everyone onboard. The brusque waves hitting us lifted the boat with all of us facing the dark skies, it's as if someone or something under made a mighty thrust and then suddenly makes a quick drop with the boat spearing towards the sea. Uninvited sea water from the waves started to make a fill of the boat. I pretty much remember that the water reached up ankle deep. And all I did was pray.
There was this one happy gay local who got up and held on to one of the boats' poles, clowned and made jokes at what's happening to basically distract us from the distress. It did work, until one big blow from the sea almost knocked him up. The "Trapal" or what I would like to call as the boat's roof (made of wood a few ropes, plastic and tarpaulin) detached! We were exposed! The boat almost became roofless, but with quick and strong local men on board, they dashed and grab onto the loose ropes to get the "trapal" hooked back to the boat. I think 6 men held on to it til it was stable enough to pin back. One hella' ride if I must say!
In short, it was like riding Star City's Wild River or doing White water rafting... in open sea!
As we near the island, WHEW! Such a relief! Small boats, rather, much smaller boats will offer to take you to your chosen resort. You only pay P10.00 for it, if you'll be staying at the Pansacola Resort. Not sure with other resorts though.
Took the offer and there we saw the beach after a few minutes of this bumpy small-boat ride (Just let me know if you'd like to hear the small-bumpy-boat-ride experience? ha ha). We were all cheering as if we've been stranded and out in the ocean for days and that we finally found land! Soft, fine sand that we can rest our cold and trembling feet and huts to assuage our shaken and exhausted bodies from the chaos.
Our friend already made reservations and preset requests for our group (preparation and cleaning of the hut, cooked food and other special requests). We went dashing to the assigned hut. And the game winner choosing her bed (obviously it wasn't me). Food has been prepared and ready to be served. After settling and calming ourselves, off we went to the dining area and was very grateful for the meal and all the things we've seen and came upon stepping on the island. Appreciating life and everything else!
The island is magnificent! It feels so untouched. All our worries.. vanquished. It may have been a rough ride getting there but the island allured us in midst of a storm. All worth it.
 |
| During lowtide |
 |
How to get there: Moderate?
Take the JAC Liner bus going to Mauban, Quezon, located at Cubao, EDSA.
Manila to Mauban 5:00am – 1:00pm
Mauban to Manila 4:00am, 4:30am and 2:00pm
Then ride a tricycle and ask the driver to take you to the Pantalan. You'll see passenger boats once you get there and make sure that you're there on time.
Pantalan to Cagbalete Island 10:00am and 4:00pm
Cagbalete Island to Pantalan 07:30am and 1:00pm
Once you reach Cagbalete's Port, also known as Sabang Port, you may ride one of the small boats (standing ovation boat... ha ha) or just hike to your chosen hotel.
 |
| One of those uber small boats. P10/person. So cute! haha |
Resorts in Cagbalate:
Pansacola Beach Resort - Rommel Pansacola 0928-505-8633
Villa Cleofas - Ed Jacob 0919-220-5000
MVT Sto. Niño - Ryan 0910-882-3346
Oh yeah, how much did I spend? Since this was more of a group package, each of us (group of 7) shelled out P1,500 and this does NOT INCLUDE the bus fare which was P420 roundtrip. So it would be best to bring at least P2,000-P3000 to make the most out of this trip and not to run short during emergency cases (like getting stranded on the island... ANTAMIS!)
More of our Cagbalete Island snaps!
It kept raining so we didn't have much photos of the beach. Next time! Promise! :)
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