Calaguas, Camarines Norte
Since I work in an Australian company here in the Philippines, we follow Australian holidays. So in the first week of June, I get to have a long weekend because it’s the Queen, Her Majesty’s birthday (YAY). I, together with my officemates went out of town in the far south of Luzon, to get away from the busy-ness of the city even just for awhile.
We chose NSE for our Calaguas Package (we’re too lazy to do a DIY tour, that’s why we opted for this one instead). Imagine, we only paid P2,700 per person and everything was already included (3 meals, tent, transfers from Manila - Paracale - Manila, boat transfers from Paracale - Calaguas - Paracale, driver, driver’s meals, toll fees, and gas).
Number 1 tip: Travel light. Always follow this rule for your own convenience and comfort, just count the clothes you have to bring, toiletries, and everything that you need. One bag is enough!
Friday, June 5: We met up with our driver at MOA in front of SMX Convention. We left for the South at approximately 11 in the evening. After maybe 1 and a half to two hours of travelling (of course something bad would happen), we got a flat tire and we’re in SLEX!!!! I was half awake when I heard the weird sound the tire was creating, whew but anyway, we survived! Yay. Haha
(our “trying-to-keep-it-cool-faces-while-stuck-in-slex-with-a-flat-tire”)
Saturday, June 6: At 7 in the morning, we were finally in Paracale (2 more hours away from Calaguas, almost there). We had some breakfast, bought some stuff and then finally headed off to Calaguas.
After almost 2 hours of boat ride, we are FINALLY in CALAGUAS!! From afar, we can already see its beauty, its pristine white sand. Thank goodness for the awesome weather!
This place is truly a GIFT! Thank YOU!
(our humble abode, oh hi Christie!)
Our food was great as well. Thank you Kuyas of Calaguas!
In the afternoon, we went hiking to see the view of the island (Biak na bato). It’s roughly a 30 minute hike. It’s easy too, so no worries. Make sure to go there before the sun goes down.
You can see and hear (a bit) everything from here! Our guide going up were little kids. We only paid them for like Php20 per person.
After an entire day of swimming, we finally prepared for dinner. Don’t worry about the bathrooms, they are clean. There is a pumping station right in front of the bathrooms, you just have to bring Php10 with you for one pail/timba of water.
We slept early that night to catch the sunrise!!! It was damn beautiful!
Sunday, June 7: After breakfast, we went for our last morning swim and then back again to the city. We had lunch at this amazing restaurant (the driver recommended this to us: K-Sarap), they served great food!! The sisig was mouthwatering. After this we headed off to Bagasbas (30 minute drive from Paracale), we can stay there for awhile but didn’t choose to because we were dead tired and it was scorching hot, there was nothing to see anyway. It’s just another beach that people can go to for a little bit of surfing. We started our way back to Manila at around 3.30 in the afternoon (long drive again). We arrived at exactly 12mn in MOA.
If you want to shy away from places like Boracay that gets very crowded and very commercialised, and just want to have some pure relaxation and non-stop bonding time with the people you came with (HA! There’s no signal in the island) then this is the place to go to. It’s not everyday you get to commune and bond with nature.
Our travel agency’s Facebook page and Contact details:
https://www.facebook.com/nsetravel?fref=ts
Contact numbers: 0917 893 3568/ (046) 5198189
Address: Unit 206 LSS Bldg Habay II
Everything was almost well organized. Our driver drove a little TOO FAST (we were worried a bit), we arrived exactly on time, but waited a little before we could ride the boat because of the coast guard thing, food was great, the tent was set up for us. I would give the agency an 8 out of 10 rating.Â
So what are you waiting for? Pack your bag (oops remember to travel light) now and head off to Calaguas!
