I never believed at loved at first sight. Well, I still don't if we are referring to a person but if its about things and places, I admit to be a believer. It happens to me in seeing some places most of the time and it happened again when I saw Cagbalete for the first time.
L o c a t i o n
Cagbalete Island is part of the Quezon province, an island off the east coast of Luzon. We went here thru a private car since we came in a group. If you will use a public transport, you can opt to ride in Buendia or Cubao to any buses going to Lucena. Once alighted at Lucena, ride another bus or van bound to Mauban, Quezon. Once in Mauban, ride a boat to Sabang Port or Cagbalete Island.
Mauban Port. You need to register first before you can get a boat to Cagbalete Island.
Photo on the right shows children divers who ask for the coins in every boat passengers. The coin will mostly be thrown in the water and they will dived into it to get it.
C a g b a l e t e I s l a n d
The boat ride was around an hour to the island. We were at the boat around 10AM and the ride was a little bumpy. Good thing we were fully covered or else we will all be soaked in sea water before arriving in the island.
We occupied one boat. Boats were mostly shared with other passenger if you didn't reach the maximum number.
And we arrived. That turquoise water!
This will welcome your sight. The cleanest port I had seen so far. Can you blame me if I told you it was a loved at first sight?
A c c o m m o d a t i o n
We booked our stay at Doña Choleng Island Resort. We were picked up by a truck from the port and arrived at the resort after 10 minutes of rough road ride. The resort was a large compound composed of units and rooms. We took 3 rooms for our group and the best one was a few steps from the beach. Rooms were air conditioned with few electric fans. Take note that Cagbalete has no electricity and most of the resorts uses generator which they operate at around 6PM to 6AM only to make the guests comfortable at night.
Left photo was one of our room. It has a nice glass wall and can accommodate around 8 persons. The only unit facing the beach.
The resort was surrounded by palm trees. You will obviously knew how much I loved it it if you will see the number of photos it occupied in my camera album.
We were offered these freshly caught sea food. Locals usually go from each resorts and sell it directly at your door. We took it and indulged it in the meal later.
B e a c h
As I mentioned, the resort is just a walk away from the beach and has a direct access on it. We enjoyed the large shore which were mostly empty of tourists. Though it was not private and was shared but multiple resorts in the area, we found it mostly unoccupied and only some few locals and boats were around.
The shore was large and gets larger every morning until late noon when its low tide. The sand was creamy and fine. It was pretty nice and clean most of the time, only some sea weeds if you came early in the morning.
Right side of the beach where boats usually docked.
Left side of the beach. I loved the line of pine trees in this area.
Found this cute dog enjoying the beach alone.
ISLAND HOPPING
Though we only visited 3 spots in the Island, it was more than enough to see Cagbalete in different perspective. And honestly, this was one of the most enjoyable company trip I had so far.
Y a n g - I n S a n d b a r
This was the best spot that we have visited. The crystal clear water and white fine sand was more that I expected to see in this trip. Made me fall in love more with Cagbalete.
That floating nipa hut was a store. Not sure though if what it sells since we have our own packed snacks.
The sandbar exists early in the morning and the water gets high around after noon. We came while the water was around our knee deep and stayed until it reached our hip. We enjoyed it so much, we didn't want to leave.
M a n g r o v e R i v e r
After the sandbar, we made a cruise to a mangrove site. Literally cruising because we never left the boat and we just passed it by. It's nice to know that Cagbalete maintains a lot of mangrove areas that provide a home to a lot of our sea creature friends.
S n o r k e l i n g S i t e
Can't remember the specific name of this snorkeling site but it was not far from the mangrove area. We just spent around 15 minutes in here since it was just the boys who did the snorkeling. Most of us was just in the boat, eating. :)
Kuya Rod, my officemate found this huge and pretty starfish while snorkeling. Don't worry, we put it back in the sea after taking this photo. No sea creatures were harmed. :D
And that's it. We only got a day to explore Cagbalete and I know there are still a lot of things that we missed to do but it was more than enough to make me know the Island and loved it. There were some issues but I actually never minded it all considering that I am quite a picky traveler. Example was the absence of nice accommodation and electricity. Cagbalete didn't have a lot of choices when it comes to accommodation. Don't expect of something grand or 5 star service. And knowing it in advance, I think we came prepared. It's important to know where you are going to be able to have a fair expectations on the place.
Time to leave.
Still in awe of how pretty this place were.
I read a lot of bad impressions regarding Cagbalete on how the local took advantage of the tourists by making the boat rentals higher than the usual, or selling items in high prices and how the resorts were bad in customer service and a lot more. Well I must admit, since I was not the one who handled the booking and didn't spent much of my own money on this trip since it was a company outing, I didn't experienced it on hand. Cagbalete definitely needs a lot of improvement if they want to boost their tourism but it didn't took away my feeling of amusement and wonder on seeing this beautiful Island. They have lapses and all but I will always remember Cagbalete on its clear turquoise water and palm trees. Our stay was calm and since we spent most of our time outdoor, the absence of electricity never bothered as much.
Tip:
- Come prepared by having a full charge gadgets and extra batteries;
- Most of the resorts will allow you to cook your own meal so better bring food and water to have a cheaper experience;
- This is an Island, there are no 7/11 or big grocery stores;
- Activities are outdoor so bring your sun protection;
- Enjoy the Island white it still uncrowded and not yet too developed.
I hope it is also enough for you to visit Cagbalete and fall in love with it. :D
Ofcourse we won't leave Mauban without trying their famous pansit hab-hab and a different kind of halo-halo.
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