Beach Adventure: Caramoan Islands

A secret paradise where various islets and islands, rocky formations, caves, coves and fine white sand beaches can be found, that is Caramoan. Untouched. Unexploited. Perfect would be an understatement to describe the experience there. We haven’t done every activity that the island has to offer but the island hopping in itself would be enough to enjoy the beauty of this paradise located at the tip of Caramoan. Experience a diverse marine life culture through snorkeling or scuba dive if you must. Go on a trek or go spelunking and explore the caves.

 

 

Total rest and relaxation. Feel nature’s serenity as you experience the natural wonders that this place has to offer,

Sampaguita Tourist Inn
Bigg’s Diner
Chef Doy’s
Rex Tourist Inn- Caramoan Gardens
Lahos Island
Matukad Island
Gota Village 1 & 2 (seen the island from afar cause it’s off limits due to Survivor shooting)
Cotivas Island and Sandbar

*Forgot the name of the 2 other Islands we visited or should I say almost visited…cause METERS away from the island we already jumped into the water. Got this whole write up from my friend Nelle’s Facebook album regarding our trip. Thanks Nelle for doing the write up.

This venture was actually (Would you believe?) our first adventure as a group. We haven’t seen each other that much lately after graduating from college since all of us went into our own separate worlds and pursued our own interests. Now, we are all pursuing what we love in our own chosen fields. Gian after practicing as a clinic nurse went on to pursue further studies to become a teacher and complete some units in education, Nelle is working at St. Lukes QC as a staff nurse and Marge is working here at St. Lukes Global City as an Ancillary Nurse in the Ultrasound Department.  I guess we all found our own personal niches right? 🙂

Moving forward with the trip, we wanted an adventure together as an all girl group so we decided to take the long, exhausting and tiring bus ride heading to Naga City (Our first stop). We stayed there in an Inn beside the river and afterwards went off to Biggs Diner to have some snacks before heading out again to grab some dinner. (What a day filled with eating and sleeping).   Since they had no heater I kept requesting for some hot water in our room for me to be able to take a bath. Signal was also scarce so we felt as if we were one of the casts from the Survivor show since we felt alienated from the world.

Good thing the bus had some stop overs so we were able to reload, replenish our stocks and also stretch a bit from the  butt numbing and tiring bus ride. The bus we got also had a wifi! 😀 (Yey!) So we were able to upload and post photos instantly in our social networking sites. We also surprised Gian that night since it was her birthday during that day. Marge and I decided to buy her a cake while Nelle kept her company in the restaurant so she won’t get bored and suspicious that we have been gone a long time. (Sneaky, sneaky).

When we came back she was surprised because we were already carrying a cake and we immediately greeted her a “Happy Birthday”. She wasn’t expecting anything at all! 😀 We took some photos after the dinner and ate the cake as our dessert. The cake was actually too much to consume for one night so we went to take out the cake and it even lasted us 4 good days to consume the whole cake! 😀 (Long lasting dessert!).

We then woke up early the next day to take a boat ride heading out to Caramoan proper. The trip took us about 2 hours and then we boarded a jeep and then a van to our resort. Our meals from breakfast to dinner were all provided for to us. We were filled to the brim during the 4 day trip! 😀 Thanks for the superb accommodation Rex Tourist Inn. Our tour guide was also very patient and amicable towards us. He always offered to take our photos, bring us to the best tourist spots, to the best souvenir shops and even assisted us in between boat rides. We trudged up the hill to see the statue of the Virgin Mary, it was a long trek upward and we were so exhausted after but we were happy just the same to make the most of our trip. We also dove and snorkeled to see the pristine beaches and aquatic corals and wonders. We even had a game spotting the starfishes.  We also took turns posing along the limestone rock formations and lying down in the white sandy beaches. It took us 8 hours to scan all the islets of Caramoan since every island took an hour to visit.

Overall it was a great bonding experience with the girls despite the perils and hassles we encountered along the way (Don’t ask me the details because it won’t fit into one blog post) haha! 😀 This one is definitely one for the books and I am so looking forward to our next ultimate bonding adventure. Thanks Pat for fetching me at 3am in the morning at the bus stop upon our arrival 😀