Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Hundred Islands Day Tour

Lola Nining's house in Pulong is just beside the main road. After our scrumptious breakfast, we sat on a bench outside and waited for a bus going to Alaminos. It was a one and a half hour ride, more or less. 

We then took a tricycle ride to Barangay Lucap. The fare was.. I think 30-40 pesos if I remember correctly. The moment we arrived, we were swarmed by Manongs/Boatmen asking if we wanted to rent a boat. We opted to look around first and check out the souvenirs. After that, we headed to the PTA office (Philippine Tourism Authority) where we booked for a boat ride to explore the islands. The fee was a bit expensive (P1200) coz there were just the two of us. If you travel in a group of 5 or more, it's way cheaper. 

It was a cloudy morning. Good thing the waves were tamed that day.


Out of the 124 islands, only three islands were developed for vacationing tourists. These are the Governor's Island, Children's Island and Quezon Island.

Our first stop was Governor's Island. One famous attraction in this island is the PBB (Pinoy Big Brother) house from the hit TV reality show. It costs P10,000 for a night's stay which is too pricey if you ask me. 

You'll be able to see an overview of the islets near Governor's Island by hiking up towards the viewpoint area. It took us 15-20 minutes to get to the top. It was scorching hot that time and my bottle of water had already gone empty just midway the hike. Thankfully, there was a local selling ice cream drops at the viewpoint. It would have been nicer if they had water too. :)

welcome! :)
mini cave
at the viewpoint -- did you know that these islands are believed to be 2 million years old? 
come fishy fishy!
In Cuenco Island you'll find a small cave that cuts through the middle of the island. 


other end of the island

We passed by Children's Island but it didn't appear too appealing so we moved on to the next island. 

Marcos Island, named after former President Ferdinand Marcos was for me, the most picturesque. :) There are several view deck areas atop the island. Each vantage point gives you a breathtaking view of the nearby islands.


very fine sand at Marcos Island


A rocky trail leads to a cave that's named after his wife, Imelda. The foreigner seemed to enjoy the plunge. :)
You can also access the chamber through a small opening below by kayak.




This is the Cathedral Cave. It looks similar to the cathedral cave I saw in El Nido.


Our last stop was Quezon Island. Mok and I had late lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around. There are many picnic tables available here so you could bring packed lunch and snacks. There are also small open restaurants where you can order your food and drinks to cool off. 

The beach was too crowded with vacationing families and little kids playing in the sand so we did not bother to go for a swim. Our boatman picked us up at 4pm and we headed back to Lucap Pier.
funny kid. he was doing that for an hour
boatman and kids
On our way back, our boatman pointed to an island where Marina, a Filipino Teleserye was filmed.


boatman's son
Overall it was a nice experience. Yes, it cannot rival the beaches of Palawan or Boracay but you should at least see it once in your lifetime. It's definitely worth exploring. :)

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