Our barkada's second beach adventure was to Caramoan last May. This trip felt like we were really in Survivor and Amazing Race combined. Going there was a stressful 14 hours, and going home was a dreadful 17. Same with our Cebu trip, we only had the weekend so we had to squeeze in our activities especially our travel time.
Just to let it out - they do not have a good system YET when it comes to tourism. We booked a tour and they said everything's included. Our van from Naga to Sabang, our boat from Sabang to Caramoan, accommodations, meals, and tours. Well, it's not entirely true.
The thing is, because they have a standard rate for most of the bookings that need to be done, they just compute it for you but they do not do such coordination as what we expected. Having said that, these are the two things that mainly pissed me off:
1. We thought that we just have to pay our hotel (or at least one person) for everything - meaning the whole package. But no. We paid the van to Sabang and the boat to Caramoan, and they told us that our hotel will just deduct them from our final payment.
2. Although the van was there when we got to Naga (not sure if my friends were the ones who contacted him also), it was such a struggle to get a boat. We arrived at Sabang port with hundreds of people (I think) in line before us. We overheard people saying that they've been there for hours and still weren't able to get a ride. I think they only have 1 or 2 motor boats - although these carry many (I think about 100) passengers at a time, it takes 4 hours for it to go to Caramoan and back! We ended up renting a boat at a higher price - not to mention a very uncomfortable one - just to avoid the line because if we arrive late, we'll miss our lunch and we won't have enough time for that day's tour.
I
don't like the fact that they made it seem easy when in fact, it's such a
hassle. I'd appreciate it more if they just taught us how to DIY -
steps to get there and the approximate amount, and tell us the ACTUAL
inclusions in their package.
Caramoan has very weak signal. Almost none for Globe and none at all for Sun Cellular. Highs for our resort were the good food, wifi, friendly staff. Our tour guide was also from the hotel and we very much appreciated kuya's service. A definite low for the resort (or the whole island, I guess) is that they lose electricity every five minutes. We cannot even finish one karaoke song because power keeps on shutting down.
But the fun part - Caramoan is heaven!! We seriously have the best
beaches! No wonder Survivor chose this for their series! Also, coming
from my Krabi trip (posted here), I say our beaches still top theirs!!
We visited 3 islands on the first day. All with stunning views!
First stop for Day 2 was the grotto. We had to climb 500 steps to get there. My daily exercise helped me bear it with ease. Proud moment haha. And the view from the top was amazing!
Next stop is where we also had lunch. We swam first and took pictures while kuya prepared our lunch. I don't know how many times I'll say this but again, amazing view! :))) Plus our lunch was good also - laing, fried fish, chicken adobo, aaaaand rice! Haha perfect lunch by the beach! 
After that we went to the first sand bar. Water hasn't subsided yet but we still enjoyed swimming in the middle of the sea. It's like a veeeeery big pool, with the great view, and salty water. Haha.
And then the ultimate sand bar of all sand bars. Here we waited for about 30 minutes for low tide. And it was very much worth the wait! Standing in the middle of the sea, with God's creation 360 degrees around you. I can't put it into words :))))) Just amazing.
Although the beaches were 10 to 30 mins apart from each other, each one is so worth every trip! All had clear waters. Some had white sand and pebbles, one had gray but suuuuper pure sand - still, all were absolutely breath taking! I especially loved the sand bars!!!
And then the dreadful trip going home. Arriving at Caramoan port, our choices were to ride the motor boat to Sabang at a later time or to ride a roro to another port which leaves earlier.
We asked our kuya van (our first driver from Naga to Sabang) to get us airconed bus tickets to Manila on Sunday and the trip that was best for our schedule was with Raymond Transit which leaves Naga at 3pm. So, we had to go roro.
Again, they didn't have any (good & effective) system at all. They ask everyone to line up at the Roro, kill each other to get tickets, then double kill each other to get seats. We stayed at the airconditioned area. Airconditioned, they say. And same goes with Raymond bus, but will get to that. The roro was filled to the brim. People were seated on the floor, on the isle, on seat handles, everywhere.
We arrived at the
bus terminal at 2:30pm. Rushed (ala Amazing Race, really) to our bus
and asked if we can still run just to grab lunch. They agreed and the
only thing we could find is 711. We had to buy food to go and eat our
hotdogs or siopaos in the bus. In the bus where it was not sanitary at
all. There were cockroaches, ripped curtains, broken chairs, and no
aircooooon. Or at least that's what it felt like. I had rashes on my
face the morning after. We couldn't eat dinner at Raymond's stop over
because they had no electricity. So we had dinner at Caltex. I remember
having 2 sachets of Busog Lusog, water, and Piattos.
Okay, I'm not
sure if the beauty of Caramoan erased my stress but I'm kind of sure I
won't go back until they improve their system. I will only take a bus
again if it's DLTB but better if I can ride a plane next time :)) I'm
just thankful I got to experience its beauty.
Photo below from our resident photographer, Therese, at the sand baaar :D
Long overdue posts for my high school barkada's beach escapades (overdue as in we already had 2 for this year hahaha). I'm usually a freeloader when we have vacations. Meaning I don't contribute in the planning and I just come in when it's already set. Hihi
First is the January Pre-Sinulog Trip. Funny story: We wanted to be there in time for Sinulog Festival but we (unknowingly) booked it a week early. So we became Sinunog instead. Mwahaha.
I wasn't supposed to join this trip (because I wasn't following the thread in our FB group). It just so happened that another Cebu Pacific seat sale came up and I couldn't let this opportunity slip away. With that said, it turned out that my ticket cost (I think) 50% less than everyone else. I only had to fly to Cebu alone and 3 hours earlier (hahaha). But fortunately, I was still able to join their flight back to Manila.
I've been to Cebu before but only for 6 hours (long story haha). So glad that I'll be able to explore this time around and with my best friends. And although we only had the weekend (2 full days) to tour, it was so packed but so worth it!
We stayed at a hostel (SUGBUTEL), perfect for us for so many reasons:
- it's cheap
- it's dorm type: perfect when you're traveling with a big group (Cebu batch is only half of us)
- we really just used it to spend the night (like 5 or 6 hours?)
- we're cowboys and super game like that
Spent the first day exploring the city:
1. CNT Lechon. I had a good time here the first time I was in the city. It's sad that the Lechon was waaaay too salty during our time there. Gah.
2. Another place with a Lapu-Lapu statue. There were also some street food! Time for some afternoon merienda and food trip!
3. A Taoist Temple. It was a good place to try my camera's Toy Camera feature (which my lomographer boyfriend will not like at all hahaha)
4. A monument with a museum across it. Also appreciated my camera's aperture hihi.
5. Magellan's Cross + Buffet Dinner suggested by our driver. Food was steady. Good enough for Php200+ :))
Alright, I know
I'm not so helpful because I couldn't remember the names of the places
we went to (hahaha) but it was such a plus that we found a van rental
company (totally DIY and booked just when we got there, thank you
sulit.com) with a great driver who brought us to these tourist spots.
We contracted our driver again for day 2. We checked out out really early to drive to Oslob, south of Cebu, to watch whalesharks (yaaaaaaay!)
Highs:
- this tourist attraction is really regulated by authorities. We had an orientation where they informed us about the rules and regulations, dos and donts
- uh-maaaazing experience. Can't stress how amazing whalesharks and the chance to be so close to them are. You have to try it for yourself!
- good price. It costs Php300 for just viewing and Php500 per person to get in the water
- kuya bangkero is the one taking our underwater pictures!
Lows:
- you can't wear sunscreen!
- not that I don't want to be with my friends but this activity is better done with a small group. We ended up killing each other to get a good picture from just 1 underwater camera
After that, we spotted a small island in a distance and asked the bangkeros if we can go there. Such a good call because the island was soooooooo beautiful! No one else was there, the sand was so pure, and the view was just breath taking!!
After that we went back to the city. We had a good dinner at Casa Verde - a must try when you're in Cebu. They have big servings at very reasonable prices. We also had to kill time at a coffee shop while waiting for our midnight flight. We almost had no time to rest were it not for our 3 hour road trip but everything's worth it.
In my next trips to Cebu, I'd love to go North to Bantayan Island plus try the zip line and other activities at Crown Regency Hotel.
