Monday, January 17, 2011

Siquijor: Kagusuan Beach

Our driver arrived on the dot. He waved when he saw me through Hotel Agripino's restaurant window. 7:30 AM was what we agreed on. Shervin and I had just finished our brekkie then.

A long stretch of powdery white sand.

We walked out of the hotel and towards the tricycle. The driver approached us, took our bags, and tossed them on our ride's roof. How chauffer-ish. He's the same guy who drove us from Siquijor town's port to this hotel two days ago, upon his brilliant recommendation.

He asked where we'd like to go first. I replied, Kagusuan Beach. He gazed up in the sky and looked as if he was about to make a weather forecast. It was, after all, an overcast morning. After about half a minute of silence he finally said, "Sige po mam hanapin natin..." (Okay ma'm, let's look for it).

Kuya (yes, I failed to get his name) is my kind of driver. He doesn't talk too much. And when he doesn't have an idea about something, he admits it. With him not knowing exactly how to get there, we suddenly became a party of three explorers.

After an almost 20-minute turtle-pace drive through sleepy towns, we reached Minalolan. We drove to baranggay Nabutay and followed a road that eventually led us to Kagusuan Beach. We found it without asking for directions. And boy how proud our driver was. I threw him a thumbs up sign.

Paradise about to unfold.

A concrete staircase was built so visitors could descend to the shore easily. Our driver peered curiously through the trees partially covering the beach view. I asked him to come with us but he refused. He said he'll be watching over our belongings.

As we took each step down, a pocket of paradise slowly unfolded before us. When we got to the foot of the stairs I took off my slippers. My toes wriggled in delight as they felt the powdery sand.

The beach was deserted. And it's even more stunning than Salagdoong Beach! Well, except for the scattered seaweed (heaps of them). What a shame, the area seemed to have been neglected. The shore was turned into a parking area of small boats. Even the changing rooms near the clearing where our tricycle dropped us off were vandalized.

Would love to camp here!

Nonetheless we totally prefer it to be like this, than it being overdeveloped just to please tourists.

I glanced at my watch and sadly, it was time to leave. We had four more sites to visit before taking the ferry back to Dumaguete. Gray clouds hovered above us and we began climbing back up the stairs to our tricycle.


Trip's Nitty Gritty:

1. Kagusuan Beach is on the southeastern side of the island. Refer to a map if you're driving your own hired habal habal. There aren't much signs along the way.

2. If you've hired a habal habal (or tricycle) with a driver, price depends on how many destinations are included on your trip. We paid P800 for ours: Salagdoong Beach, Kagusuan Beach, San Antonio De Padua Church, Lazi Convent, The Old Enchanted Balete Tree, and Cambugahay Falls.

3. If you're checked in Hotel Agripino, you can ask about their island tour package. P2,500 for a van. Good for big groups.

[This is part of the Voyaging Visayas Series which took place February 2010. Price of goods, transportation and so forth may already be different.]

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15 comments:

lakwatsera de primera said...
January 18, 2011 at 8:35 AM

hmm,,800 pesos for 6 sights around Siquijor, not a a bad deal :)

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
January 18, 2011 at 9:34 AM

He picked us up from Salagdoong Beach though. And he charged us P700 for the drive from Siquijor town to Salagdoong days back. Naka 1,500 rin si kuya sa 'min :)

Sidney said...
January 18, 2011 at 10:42 AM

I think you can hire them for the day... but you need to pay for their gasoline. Don't remember the exact prizes anymore since we opted to rent our own motorcycle for the day at 500 pesos.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
January 18, 2011 at 11:44 AM

We'd love to rent our own motorcycle too to save a few more bucks, but we can't take a risk since I was pregnant then :(

RIZALENIO said...
January 18, 2011 at 3:26 PM

Siquijor - my mind used to wander nervously everytime I hear this name. But now, looking at your photos and reading your stories (and other bloggers too) made me want to go to Siquijor, and discover this place myself.

Have a safe trip in all your travels.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
January 18, 2011 at 3:36 PM

Hope you get to discover this place soon... More adventures for 2011.

Earl (Suroy Pilipinas) said...
January 18, 2011 at 8:43 PM

Siquijor...one day I'll set foot on this island. Thanks for the tips Gay!

Pinoy Boy Journals said...
January 19, 2011 at 1:39 AM

di ako nakapunta dito, sumakit na p*wet ko sa motor. uwi na ako ng resort ha ha. pero sabi nga mas maganda pa sa salagdoong at totoo nga. best part is, walang tao! nice!!!

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
January 19, 2011 at 8:40 AM

Hi Earl! Hope that one day's someday soon :) You'll love the island.

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
January 19, 2011 at 8:43 AM

Jerik, haha! Haggard? Yeah, the habal habal can be butt numbing. At least you were able to see Salagdoong.

Shervin Emami said...
January 25, 2011 at 8:47 AM

Siquijor was very pretty :-)

Mustachio said...
October 30, 2011 at 1:51 PM

Awesome find! Thanks for sharing. Love your blog. Now let me get back to reading about your travels :-)

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
October 30, 2011 at 2:35 PM

Aww... Tenchu :)

Ethel said...
November 3, 2011 at 12:18 AM

Hi. =) I'm off to Siquijor next month. Ask ko lang how many hours yung whole tour? Thanks. =))

Pinay Travel Junkie said...
November 3, 2011 at 3:42 AM

Hi Ethel, our tour lasted for about half a day. But we skipped a lot of other sights.

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