Monday, May 10, 2010

Caramoan


Caramoan.

Isolated from the rest of Camarines Sur, it is no surprise why Philippine's Secret Paradise remains unexploited from commercial tourism. Caramoan gives 'island hopping' a new meaning. Enjoy its beauty in many ways. Great ocean adventures for kayakers, snorkle and scuba dive to experience the diverse marine life, trek and search for the enigmatic lagoon, rock climb the limestone cliffs, explore the caves or just star gaze at night.

- Caramoan Islands


After the amazing Butanding experience, we headed off to one of the most awesome beach paradise you would find in the Philippines--Caramoan.


It was one misadventure after another. We were attempting to take public transport from SM Naga, but we had difficulty in looking for the vans, plus we were under time pressure to get to the ferries on time, so Carol's driver Marco, decided to drive us over straight to the port instead. (Thank you!!) When we got there, the ferry had just filled up, so we were the first people to enter the next ferry, thus giving us 2 hours of waiting time for that one to get filled. The commute was horrid. At least 2 hours sitting on wood plank seats, not counting the amount of time you had to wait for the seats to get full.


As we arrived to Caramoan, the roads were a mess. Jen got carsick from all the bumps and turns and it felt good to relax in the room at West Pen Villas. But time was ticking, so we headed off to our very late lunch, and were off to our first island by 3:00pm with Kuya Gil.


Now, I can't really remember what the names of the islands were, but rest assured, every island was AMAZING. All the intensity we went through to get there paid off.


Here are a couple of photos from the first island we went on, which actually had a set of Survivor Israel :):


Since we started late, the tides were very low.
On the way to the 2nd side of the island. The sun light is bouncing beautifully off Jen's skin :)
Feet markings on the sand. Sand was very soft and calming to walk on. <3
Bad time = light was ugly. But on the way back to the city, we got a glimpse of the sunset @ Caramoan.

Right after having our dinner at West Penn, power went off. It was horribly dark. But this was the first time we all said, "Thank God there's no electricity!"

The night sky.

Now, if you contact most hotels at Caramoan, the most advisable schedule you should have is at least, 3 days 2 nights. This is due to the fact that the first ferry reaches Caramoan at 930am, and the last ferry leaves at 11am. Since we had limited time, we asked for the hotel to plan a trip for us for 2 days 1 night.

For most guests, the last day is spent sleeping in until you're ready to board the ferry. But, since we arrived later than expected, they gave us another ride of the boat to explore the islands of Caramoan. See, West Penn is awesome. :)

In total, we got to visit 4 islands. 1 from the first day, and 3 on the 2nd day. We hopped from one island to another until 10am, and caught the last ferry back to the port. Since I can't really tell which island is which anymore, I'm just going post my best photos of the remaining islands.

At Caramoan, you could have the whole island/waters all to yourself!
The crashing waves.
Us 3 :) Thanks to our guide for taking our photo!
peace.
Starfish!
Waterzone
We Love Tina!

Lastly, one of the very few photos we had at Legazpi. Taken at our hotel, St Ellis.
Here ends one of the best trips ever.



2 comments:

  1. Very nice pictures, interesting post!

    Greetings from the Netherlands,
    http://fokkio.blog.nl

    ReplyDelete