Photo Credits (Axel, Petot and Nil/Angel)
LOBO Mountaineers January Celebrants birthday bash
LOBO Mountaineers January Celebrants birthday bash
After 5 hrs of travel from Caloocan City and 20min boat ride from Masinloc Port, I've finally saw Magalawa Island just before the break of dawn.
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| The shores of Magalawa |
Why Magalawa:
I found out about Magalawa from my sister's friend who went there before we did. The only beach in Subic I know are: The crowded Anawangin, the less crowded Nagsasa and the futher Silangin Cove (thought I know there's one more cove much further than Silangin). We chose this island as an alternative destination for Calaguas in Bicol because it is closer to Manila, we only had 2 days for vacation and our initial computation is much cheaper compared to Calaguas.
How we prepared:
This trip was organized to serve as birthday celebration for our dear mountaineering friends Marina, Third and Hazel (we just found out that she's also a January celebrant on the day of our departure). After much internet research, we decided to go to Ruiz resort because of the unfriendly feedback we've heard from the Armada resort. We decided to go there with our tents, have our own food and drinks (we decided we can buy the rest on the island), stay there overnight and relax like a bum!
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| underwater |
What to do in Magalawa:
Magalawa in its raw form is like Nagsasa only a bit better. Its sand feels nicer, has few rocks near the shore, has lots of starfish and crabs and the sea is abundant of its resources providing food and income source for the Island dwellers.
Snorkling is one of the nice things they offer. You can also visit the "Mayor's House" which was build in the shallow part of the sea which made it seem like the house is floating in the middle of the ocean (although if you ask me, they should restrict the people who goes there because human waste, biological and non bio greatly affects the beauty of this place). Another thing is you can ask the locals for boating experience, they lend my friends a boat which they paddled as far as they can and back (just didn't know if that was for a cost). You can also wait for the fishermen with their catch early in the morning. I felt so happy to see how abundant their sea is with all the different fishes they've caught. Also, you can go pass the Armada side of the beach to see the mangroves. For the sunrise, it'll be quite a disappointment as Mt. Tapulao covers the sun's view from the island. You'll have to walk a bit further from Ruiz Resort going to the community area to get a glimpse of the sunset. Don't forget to bring your hammock if you prefer to sleep off the sand. Also, smile and be friendly as the locals are doing their best to be as hospitable as possible so you'll enjoy your stay with them. By the way, the resort also has their own generator to light up the place after dark. Another plus is a common restroom for the guest.
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| Fresh fishes for breakfast |
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| Mayor's House |
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| boat riding |
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| Restroom for Him, Her and the generator |
Reminders:
There's quite a colony of ants there because of the left over food, so do your part by properly keeping your food and your left overs. For additional protection, bring insect repellant to counter the gigantic mosquitoes (most of them are located in the CR area). The locals usually burn dried leaves to produce smokes which the mosquitoes find unappealing leaving the vicinity for quite sometime. Also, I think it will be best to contact Mang Mulo as he and his wife are the actual care taker of the resort. Make sure that you get clear price from them so you won't be surprise of sudden change of prices base on the web sites and the actual price.
The resort offers meal sets. Kindly ask Mang Mulo or his wife for the group meals :)
How we got there:
We rode a bus bound to Sta. Cruz at Victory Caloocan. The bus left at 11:45pm, we got off in front of Masinloc Mall past 4am where we waited Man Mulo who then guide us to his boat near the coast of Masinloc Market. We rode the boat to Magalawa for another 20-30 minutes. Going back to Manila, we rode the boat back to Masinloc port, rode a jeep for an hour to Iba terminal where we rode the 7pm bus bound to Victory Caloocan. As of writing this, Victory Iba only have buses bound to Caloocan from 6-10.30pm. They have an 11:30pm Pasay bound bus though.
Expenses:
Food was c/o Marina, Third and Hazel (LOTS of THANKS Guys!)
Bus to Masinloc: 408
Round trip Boat ride from Masinloc Port: 200/head
Overnight fee per head: 100
Tent fee: 100 per tent
Nipa Hut: 500
Snorkling: 100 w/o mask; 200 w/mask rental (but they gave us a discount of 150/head depending on the number of group)
Jeep to Iba: 35/head
Bus from Iba to Manila: 300++
Mang Mulo's #: 09294670505 -> it would be better if you call him instead of waiting for his reply.
By the way: don't forget to visit Masinloc Church while you're there :)
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| Masinloc Church |
Traveller's Request:
I know we can't help but be curious as human but I appeal to you as a fellow traveller, as another human, for the sake of future travelers and our future generations to please:
1. Refrain from playing with the starfish, picking them up and letting them die from exhausting heat of the sun away from the sea just so you can take a picture of them. Also, do not pick up corals ans sea shells along the shore. Time will come that there will be no more corals and sea shells to see. Please let them be! Just take a picture if you want.
2. Please be kind to the animals, there are a lot of dogs there who may want to have a share of your food. If you don't want them to bother you just ignore them or gently shoo them away.
3. Plan the food that you'll bring and segregate trash properly. You can leave the empty bottles for the locals but if you can be kind enough to bring back your trash to Masinloc or Luan Port. I trust that they have better trash collection there.
4. Bring dish washing sponge instead of disposable utensils.
Let's all practice the leave no trace principle and help us preserve the beauty of this place. :) Enjoy Magalawa!
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| L.O.B.O. girls |
