The Province of Quezon is one of my favorite provinces
in the Philippines because of its gorgeous beaches, which can be considered as one of the top tourist attractions and destinations in the region. Aside from that, they also have the colorful Pahiyas Festival and sumptuous
pancit hab-hab. A few of the gems can also be found on higher altitudes of Mt. Banahaw
– the Holy Mountain, and Mt. Cristobal – the Devil's Mountain. Now, for the third
time, I am visiting three of the fine-looking islets of Padre Burgos, Quezon.
This post is entitled: "Sana Alas Singko Nalang"
Alam
kong nag-tatanong kayo kung bakit “Sana
Alas Singko Nalang” ang titulo ng kwento ko ngayon, tama? Nanggaling po yan
sa apat kong kasamahan dahil na-late ako sa aming tagpuan. Ang usapan, alas
singko daw kami ng umaga magkikita-kita, pero dahil nag-upload pa ako ng blog
spot ko na: Mt. Haponang Banoy at nag-laba pa ako, kaya ayun, yung alas-singko
na kitaan, naging alis ko ng bahay. In short, hinusgahan nila ako dahil sa
isang beses na pangyayaring iyon. An sakit-sakit kaya, kasi akala ko
maiintindihan nila ang sitwasyon ko, pero nag-assume lang pala ako, na akala ko
okay, pero hindi pala.
HOW TO GET TO DAMPALITAN ISLAND: At the Jac Liner
Bus terminal, we rode a bus to Lucena Grand Terminal. Bus fare: 218 Pesos
(might change without prior notice). Travel time was within 3-4 hours. At Lucena Grand
Terminal, we rode an ordinary bus and alighted in Lumang Karutom, Maraw,
Padre Burgos, Quezon. Travel Time: almost 1 hour. Fare: 35 Pesos. Then, a 15-20
minute boat ride to Dampalitan and Borawan Island.
Where To Stay | Camping by the Beach: After getting off the boat, we
proceeded to the spot for pitching our tent. Then, after settling our things
inside the tent, we walked on the fine white sand beach while the sun was shining.
The weather was unpredictable; the blue skies were easily covered with gray
clouds, and the waves became stronger. Before the rain started, we proceeded to
our first destination.
Activities and Best Places to Visit: Our first stop was Puting
Buhangin, an hour boat ride from Dampalitan. Waves were huge and strong making
our experience remarkable. Palagi naman talagang ganun diba? Napakarami tayong
mga balakid na hinaharap araw-araw; sa una mahirap talaga pero darating din ang
panahon na makakaya natin ang mga problemang yan. Pero minsan naiisip ko:
“napagtatagumpayan ko ba talaga ang mga balakid na ito? O sadyang nasanay na
ang puso at isipan ko, kaya nagmumukhang madali harapin ang mga ito.” Anyways,
Puting Buhangin are Filipino words which literally translate to “white sand”.
The shore is maybe 200 meters long, with fine white sand and is comparable to
Boracay Island.
At the end of the stretch of fine
white sand is a cave, by the water. Locals call it Kwebang Lampas which is an
additional attraction (photo above) in the area. Entrance Fee: 80 pesos per
head, day tour. Its dome measures 10 meters, maybe, from the ground. The walls
are covered with brilliant green-ish and gray-ish color. There are also shades
of brown-ish on boulder’s surface. You know what’s brown-ish is? Yun yung
parang cake na nabibili ng tiglilimang piso sa bakery na kulay brown.
Next, we proceeded to Borawan
Island. It’s 30 to 40 minutes travel from Puting Buhangin. Entrance Fee: 150
pesos per head, day tour. Borawan have changed. In 2013, it was still almost
untouched and simple, check my older photos here: Borawan Island. Today, owner turned it to commercial island resort.
But its natural beauty remains.
There are cottages and tents for
rent and sari-sari store. The rock formations are comparable to the rocks of
Coron, Palawan. The air was cool and relaxing; the water is crystal clear and
has fine white sand beaches. We stayed in Borawan for an hour and went back to
Dampalitan.
Around 6PM when we arrived in
Dampalitan. We were astounded by the brilliant color of the sunset, so while there’s
sun light, we started preparing our dinner. At syempre, hindi mawawala ang mga
hugot lines namin habang nag-luluto dahil naniniwala kami na pag-katapos ng
gabi, hindi mawawala ang umaga, diba? May masabi lang. Photo captured using my
Olympus Tough.
Ito
ang star ng aming gabi – the best grilled tuna. Dahil nga nagtitipid at hindi naman
kami masyadong prepared sa lamyerda na ito, naisipan nalang naming mag-ihaw ng
tuna. Gusto kasi naming malasahan ang pinagkaiba ng tuna dito sa Maynila at
tuna na luto sa Quezon. Together
with the grilled tuna was salted egg, mixed with tomatoes and rice. After dinner,
our original plan was to get drunk around a bonfire by the beach, but it did not
happen. Instead, after eating, we kept our utensils and lay down on the ground
sheet and started counting the stars while telling stories. Since we didn’t have
a clock with us and we were all tired, we accidentally fell asleep while stargazing. The two girls were in the tent, and we were outside.
The next day, we woke up at
around 5 am and prepared our breakfast while the surroundings were covered with a golden sunrise. There was rice, pancit canton, coffee, and again, tuna. After
breakfast, we dipped in the water, walked on the shore, and took gorgeous
photos:
Dampalitan Island offers tents and cottages for rent.
If
you preferred camping by the beach, you can bring or rent a tent
Chasing the jelly in the water.
The photo above is proof of the clarity of the sea water in Quezon province. Another
thing that I can be proud of, Quezon, aside from the fine white sand beaches
and crystal clear waters, are the gorgeous living organisms underwater. If you
combine the clarity of the water and the gorgeous flora and fauna down under,
it’s a paradise!
The waters surrounding Dampalitan
Island is pristine and crystal clear. The wave sounds very relaxing and the sky
was clear. We dipped into the water and stayed by the shore for 4 hours,
waiting to get tanned. For four hours, we’ve been talking about different
things like political, socio-economic, biology, geography, showbiz chismis,
love life and many things. We also talked about our next destination.
From left: Mira, Marcus, I, Shea, and Jamm
We left Dampalitan at around
11AM. Had a boat ride to the mainland. In Maraw, we rode in a bus to Lucena
Grand Terminal. Had our lunch and headed back to Manila. Our Quezon
island hopping experience was remarkable. We were just few, but we have a lot
of time to know ourselves better. On our next destination, I am positive that our
friends will be with us.
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