Calaguas Island Package Tour

Calaguas Island is located at Camarines Norte, Philippines. The island is around 10hours away from Manila and many travelers attest to it's beauty. Some even say it's more beautiful than Boracay.

If I had the luxury of time, I would have gone DIY. I find it's best to travel long hours via comfortable lazy boy bus seats. But since I don't, we opted to avail a package from Travel Ventours. PHP3400 for 11 persons including Manila-Daet-Manila van transfers, boat transfers, tent accommodation and 3 meals.

We left Quezon City at around 10:30PM and arrived at Daet at exactly 7:00AM. We had breakfast at Daet and bought some supplies. Drinking water, chips and booze to name some.

Then we rode a small boat from Daet (9:00AM) to Calaguas (11:00AM) for 2 hours.

small boats

As we near Calaguas, the first thing I noticed is the long stretch of pristine white sand. It may not have the purest white sand but it has the clearest waters I've ever seen.

After we set foot on the island, to be honest I was quite disappointed of the number of cottages already built along the beach.

 <photo credits to Kirk>

I was expecting a secluded island with only tents.

There were tents setup under the small trees' shade

But there are already a lot of cottages making it look crowded.

Each tour agencies offering Calaguas packages have already claimed a piece of the island which is sad really.

It was too hot to setup a tent so we rested a bit on the cottages provided then we went for a swim.

I know I've already said this, but I'd like to emphasize that this beach has the clearest water I've ever seen.

The water is already chest deep and you can still see through my feet.

The sand was also fine and there are no rocks or pesky seaweeds.

We really enjoyed swimming and the sun took its sweet time turning us to toasts.

Then we availed an island hoping tour for PHP100 each excluding the PHP20 each entrance to the island.

 First stop was a rocky island which was nice for taking pictures, not so much for swimming.

And second stop was on another part of the same island which is a nice snorkeling spot. There are a lot of corals but the water level was too low and you need to bring or rent snorkeling gears.

 

You can also climb a small hill which gives you a nice view of the island. There's signal on the top.

 

After island hoping, we enjoyed the picturesque view of the sunset and went to swim some more.

 

In the evening we ate dinner and bonded with a few booze. There's no signal on the island so cellphones are pretty much useless. It's a good thing though since you'll really have time to talk and enjoy the things around you.

 There are generators, so there are lights and even music. There are a lot of small stores offering necessities and food.

To give you an idea how much things cost in the island: Halo-Halo PHP30, Pancit Canton PHP25, Red Horse Stallion PHP60, Red Horse Mucho PHP120

There are a lot comfort rooms around. You'll have to pay PHP10 for a pale of water though.

The night was hot and breezeless. The next day I woke up at 5:00AM and wondered if I overslept. It was just 5 in the freakin' morning but it was already bright outside. There are already activities going on outside. Music playing and people chatting and walking here and there I even wondered if the time on my phone was wrong or something. But oh well I woke up everyone else (>,>) to ask if they're interested to see the sunrise.

We climbed up at one end of the hill to watch the sunrise. It was covered with clouds but still a beautiful sight.

There are at least 2 entrance fees (PHP20) when you climb on the east side. Then we walked to the west side to get a view of the island's shore line.

We ate breakfast and then left the island at around 8:00AM. We then went to Bagasbas for lunch and surfing lessons.

Surfing board rental costs PHP200 and another PHP200 for the service of a surf instructor for an hour.

The beach has what they call a break sand. There are no rocks and the sand was also soft just not white but gray. It would have been fun to swim with the waves and all but there are a lot of seaweeds and probably jellyfish as the instructor warned.

 Surfing Orientation

Surfing

 <photo credits to Kirk>

After that, we took a shower and ate our lunch at Catherine's. I love their halo-halo! The ice used was a frozen creamy and sweet delight.

  <photo credits to Kirk> 

I really enjoyed every part of the trip and I hope to be back here and stay longer at Calaguas probably at those posh huts even.

<video credits to Glai>

And that was how we spent our weekends at Calaguas Island. :)