Snapshot Saturday: Island Romance

"As the ocean is never full of water, so is the heart never full of love." -Anonymous

With this gorgeous sunset, who wouldn't fall in love?
Nope, that ain't me and hubby. This is a snapshot of Amir and his girlfriend who started steadily dating after their Magalawa Island weekend getaway. Neither is a friend of mine, in fact they're a couple of strangers to me.

Magalawa Island: The Babymooners

The term "babymoon" these days pertains to the final vacation of a couple who are expecting a baby. Babymoons almost always are spent in luxurious resorts which provide pampering services, especially for the soon to be mom. In our case, it's far from such. Even at six months pregnant, our weekend babymoon was the usual P1,500 camping affair.

A happy, shiny 6-month preggy camper.

Anawangin Cove and Capones Island

A secret no more. This summer, my Facebook account is flooded with notifications of friends posting 'Anawangin Getaway' albums containing 100+ photos each. Even back in 2008 when we first visited the cove, it was already getting crowded during weekends. Now that two years have passed, you may ask, "Is it still worth going to?". Well, I'd say yes.

Spidermash at Anawangin Cove.

I prefer Anawangin Cove to stay secluded, but I don't want to be selfish. A lot of mountaineers may hate the fact that 'tourists' (even Koreans donning plastic sun visors) have infiltrated the beach, but for me everyone's got the right to witness its allure up close. After all, the influx of sun worshippers has helped the community stay financially afloat especially these hard times.

If you're one of those who have not been there yet, do not be put off by what others say about its crowdedness. You will still definitely find your own tranquil space within the cove. And try to visit on weekdays when there are less throngs of people.

Here's how to get there:

From Manila/Quezon City, board a bus going to Iba or Sta. Cruz, Zambales. Ask the conductor to drop you off San Antonio. From Victory Liner Pasay, the fare is about P220-250. This station though doesn't have trips to Iba and Sta. Cruz as frequent as Caloocan's. So you may also take an Olongapo bound bus, and from there transfer to a bus which goes all the way to Iba and Sta. Cruz. Travel time, 3-4 hours.

Then from San Antonio, a tricycle will take you to Pundaquit for P30.00 each passenger. Along Pundaquit Beach, boats are on queue waiting for their next passengers. A 20-minute ride to Anawangin Cove is about P1,500 (4-5 persons) with the option of visiting one more island, either Camara or Capones. Make sure you arrange your pick up time for the next day (if staying overnight) with the boatman before he leaves the cove for there's no signal there.

There's a P100 camping fee per head. Money goes to the Aeta caretakers (and of course the owners) who maintain the place.

Capones Island Lighthouse

Bring your own tents if you intend to stay overnight. And since you're camping, remember to bring torches and batteries. I don't think I have to remind you guys about bringing enough food. Filipinos always do. I stress though that your group should bring an ample amount of water for drinking and cooking. There's a manual pump on the cove, but I recommend to use it only for washing utensils and bathing.

The water's ideal for swimming, but be careful not to let yourself drift too far from the shore. Sadly, some people already fell victim to Anawangin's strong undercurrent. You wouldn't want to be part of the uhm, statistics, right?

When you leave the cove, bring your trash with you. Sure you paid P100, but that doesn't give you the right to turn the place into a big rubbish dump. Be a responsible traveller. You've had your fun, now do your part in keeping the place clean.

About that side trip I mentioned earlier, I have never been to Camara Island but I'm confident to say that Capones is more interesting to visit because of its lighthouse. Faro de Punta Capones (Capones Island Lighthouse) started its operation in 1890, and has been used to guide ships for more than a century. Though its frame (and the building beside it) is already old and dilapidating, its light is solar-powered. Pretty cool that it uses new technology but I wonder, does it efficiently work?

The coast's gorgeous sunset.

The lighthouse is perched on the highest point of the island, a bit of a hike (about 20 minutes) from the shore. Make sure you climb to the top, as it promises a rewarding view. If you're lucky, you'll spot some interesting looking birds swooshing by.

The whole experience will definitely make you fall in love with Zambales. Will probably make you feel selfish about the place too!

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Nagsasa Cove, Zambales: Camping Newlyweds

Fresh (and frozen) from our Hong Kong-China honeymoon-slash-backpacking trip, we headed straight to Zambales. And when I say straight, I mean landing at NAIA Terminal 3 around 12:30 AM then go home to unload my backpack of winter clothes and replace them with skimpy beach attire then hop on an Olongapo-bound bus at 5:00 AM. Whew!


Let me slow down a bit and tell you the rest of the story. After going through immigration and fishing our bags from the luggage belt, we exited Terminal 3 at 1:00 AM. My hubby Shervin and I weren't willing to pay P500 for an airport taxi to Malate so we walked out of the airport grounds and hailed an ordinary one.

For the first time in almost two weeks, I started sweating again. When we left Guangzhou, the temperature was about 10-12°C. Manila's could be around 28-30°C that time. We enjoyed every second of being defrosted!


In just 20 minutes we were home sweet home. We plopped on our bed and took a nap for an hour. When we awoke, we hurriedly took out our dirty clothes from our backpacks and dumped in camping equipment and beach essentials. We were ready by 2:30 AM.

Hungry and craving for Filipino food, we bought a takeaway tocilog meal from 7-11 before riding a jeep to Pasay Rotonda. From there, we walked to the Victory Liner Terminal to meet the rest of the group (Warning: Don't do this when you're alone!).


No one was there yet - well actually Jules was already at the waiting area but was sleeping so we didn't notice her. The rest of my old college outdoor orgmates came one by one as we chowed our food. When asked about how China was, my answer was a resounding "It's so cold!".

Oliver arrived late as always. We left almost 5:00 AM already. An hour behind schedule. We missed the bus going to Iba, so we took the Olongapo-bound one (Victory Liner Caloocan has more frequent trips to Iba). If you're able to catch the Iba bus (P220-250), ask the conductor to drop you off San Antonio's public market. You may also just say you're going to Pundaquit. Travel time, 3-4 hours depending on traffic.


As for us, when we arrived at Victory Liner Olongapo, we needed to transfer to a bus bound for either Iba or Sta. Cruz. But before we did, we bought a few groceries and had breakfast at Andok's near the bus station.

Now from San Antonio, a trike takes you to Pundaquit. Should be P25-30 each person. We were charged the latter perhaps because my hubby's a foreign tourist, or it was just peak season.

It's best if you contact a boatman in advance, especially if you're going on a weekend. Though not a lot of people go to Nagsasa Cove yet, most of the boats are hired for Anawangin. My friend Chrissy reserved a boat with Kuya Florante (try to contact him at 0910-8053388). Only 6 of us shared a big outrigger boat, so we paid P400 each. Nagsasa is twice the distance of its BFF Anawangin, so expect the price to be double too.


We happily set foot on the cove after a 40-minute ride. The waves were choppy (waterproof your gadgets). No other group was around. We told our boatmen to pick us up at noon the next day. There's no signal in the area so you better make necessary arrangements.

Shervin and I were excited to pitch our new tent (we named it Hurley), and we did so as soon as the group settled. The others started pitching theirs too.


Most of the afternoon was spent on catching up, and eating - believe me, we ate almost the whole time! At night, dinner was canned goods (Oliver's pumpkin soup was the star) and rice cooked by Tristan. GranMa drinking session came after while star gazing. Shervin saw a shooting star for the first time ever! Ever!

Lights out was early, just after midnight. Oh yeah, we're getting old. Well, we've been doing this kind of thing for a decade now so there goes an excuse. The live-your-day-like-it's-your-last outlook we had about camping trips/backpacking when we were younger was replaced with a been-there-done-that-let's-chill attitude.

Everyone got up early in the morning. While Chrissy and Jules enjoyed their malunggay pandesal, the rest of us (oh, except hubby) devoured Tristan's bonfire-fried tuyo (we ran out of butane). After breakfast, we did a bit of swimming even though the water was cold. Some walked along the shore from end to end.


The roofless bathroom (with sliding nipa door!) was near our campsite and we had it to ourselves. So even if 6 of us took turns using it, we were all done with our baths in less than an hour. There's no poso (water pump) in the bathroom, just water fetched by the Aetas in big drums.

And speaking off Aetas, they're the caretakers of the cove. Campers are expected to pay them, P100 each. If you could, give a little extra pesos.


Our boatmen picked us up a little past the agreed schedule but we didn't mind. We were in no rush. As we drifted farther from the shore, I looked back at the cove and couldn't help but admire its welcoming remoteness. Such romantic place to end a honeymoon.

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