Estong Estranghero: Island Hopping in Caramoan, Camarines Sur

"And me? I still believe in PARADISE. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for. Because it's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something. And if you find that moment... It lasts forever. . ."
- Richard, The Beach (2001)

- well, , it may not be for this one, it may not be the "state of mind" kind of PARADISE, but as for me, i've found a piece of PARADISE here on earth, , , and trust me, when you get here, it'll make you ask for more, makes you want to freeze time and stay there right at that very place, and with all the moments spent out there, i know i'll be back, i know it'll last forever. . .

So this Caramoan experience started after a 45min travel by air, an hour or so travel by land from Pili, Naga to Sabang Port via a van, and the following photos shows our travel by sea, another 2hrs ferry ride to Guijalo port. Well, on the first day in Naga, we stayed at the CWC in Pili but that's a different story, making this post the 2nd day of our Camsur Escapade.

Our Ride

During the low tide, these ferries are unable to dock by the port so they use this beach on the other side to haul passengers via strangers (big guys) who will offer to carry you by their shoulders just to get you to the ferry. Of course its gonna cost you, I just gave my 'big guy' P10 for the ride. It takes a little less than 2hrs before you reach the Guijalo port, and you will be greeted with almost similar scene, only this time, small boats will be offering you a ride from the ferry to the port and will cost you another 20bucks per head. First trip, as what i heard, is 6am and the last ferry leaves the port at 2pm on account of there will be big waves during late afternoon.

From Guijalo port, you can charter trikes to take you to Centro, which is i think their town proper, a 15min ride that costs P20 or P25/head . There we had our lunch at the famed "Lutong Bahay", where we met an old lady (i forgot the name) who assisted us during our meal time, she's i think the owner's aunt. We ate there 3 or 4 times during our 3day stay. It actually met my expectations, good food, good service, the helpers are friendly and sincere, they even greet us every time we pass by their place. I will definitely recommend them to my friends planning to visit the place.

The road less traveled.

This is the only way to get to Paniman Bay, the jump off point for all island hopping trips. After checking in at Villa Juliana Inn, we immediately hopped on to our rented trike and went to Paniman. It was more or less 20mins of bumpy rough road before we reached the bay where we were greeted by Mam Myrna, the owner of the motorised boat we chartered for island hopping, which was already pre-arranged prior to us getting there.

It was an overcast day, the sun hardly showed up through out the day. We arrived at the Paniman beach at around 2pm thinking that it was already too late for the island hopping. But then our boatman assured us that there's still just enough time to go through all the islands nearby.

Gota Beach as seen from afar, currently closed to the public, so we're not able to dock.

Matukad Island

View from atop, one has to climb a steep rock wall to get this vantage point.

Among the islands I've visited in Caramoan, this island has the finest sand beach line, and by far the cleanest.

This is the hidden lake behind rock formations on the MATUKAD island, well this image made it kinda 'unhidden', hehehe, one has to climb a steep wall of rock, with really, really, sharp edges, and when i say really sharp, it really is sharp that you won't notice cuts and bruises until you reach the top, seats on a ledge and notice the blood.

Legends has it that there are two giant MILKFISH(bangus) that inhabits this lagoon,

locals regard them as the guardian of this side of the island. Some web blogs say they have never been captured on photos, well then, i guess im the lucky one. On the next image is the zoomed in version of the photo above and you will see the lone MILKFISH gliding thru the clear water.

On the centre of the image is the lone MILKFISH that inhabits this lagoon, it may not look like a fish from this distance, but trust me, i've seen it moving and its alive, i cant believe my eyes at the moment. It may not be giant, as i have described it on the previous image, but still big enough to be seen swimming from about 40 to 50m distance. At first i haven't noticed it but thanks to our boatman/guide Kuya Mardy who's kind enough to accompany me on this stiff rock climb, he showed me the fish gliding thru the clear water. He challenged me to go down for a closer look, but then warned that it will be a stiff descent and stiff ascent altogether, so its like double the effort. So i passed the challenge, i don't want my camera (hung on my neck) banging around as I kiss and sit on the rocks trying to go down and back up. (well i just used my camera as an excuse, truth is I haven't got balls to face the challenge, haha) On the previous image i said there were two, but then as per Kuya Mardy, someone has attempted to capture them and was able to get only one. It has been told that after sometime, the man died along with the rest of his family, some kind of a curse maybe. Quite a story, but still legend is a legend. I just felt really blessed to have seen this creation and been able to capture it on photo.

These are views from the top.

The sand looks grainy but this is actually due to the rain. Right after we got off the boat, the rain kept pouring, and thank God it didn't come with strong winds so we still enjoyed swimming by the beach while raining.

Lahos Island

Next stop is the Lahos island just about 10-15mins boat ride from Matukad. Apparently, the island vanishes during high tide thus given the name "Lahos" from the word "laho", which means to disappear or vanish.

Lahos Beach from afar

Next destination is the Tinago Cove. The name was derived from being hidden, compared to other beaches in the place, this one is surrounded by limestone cliffs and hills. This cove is accessible only by passing through a small opening, which makes it impossible to be accessed if the waves are big enough to push your boat and pound you to the rock wall on the side.

Lastly, for the day, we were supposed to stop by Cagbalinad Islets. But the island was already crowded, with 3 boats already docked by its beach, there's no room for us anymore so we went ahead and proceed to the next neighboring islet. I forgot to ask the island's name but I think it's still a part of the Cagbalinad group of islets.