Padre Burgos, Quezon

It was another planned trip with my photography friends which we do annually. I was looking for places to go and I found these cluster of islands in Padre Burgos through several blogs I read online. The pictures were really inviting and the place was commutable so the date was set and three of us were going.

Padre Burgos is just a 5-hour bus ride from Metro Manila. We took a JAC Liner bus from Cubao at 3AM in the morning and arrived at the Lucena Grand Terminal by 5AM. We transferred to an ordinary open air bus reminiscent of that bus ride a year ago going to Mauban. The sunrise slowly bringing color to the streets of still sleeping towns and revealing coconut trees covering rolling hills in the distance.

The town itself is small. You could literally walk from anywhere and it was sort of a mistake on our part to immediately hire a tricycle upon arrival when we could've explored the town by ourselves. We bought everything we needed for the overnight stay including water, uncooked meat, squid for grilling and several canned goods. All of it cost us P200.00 each which we thought to be really cheap.

After going to the market, we went straight to where the boats were waiting for us. Boat rental costs P1,800.00 for an island hopping tour to Borawan Island, Dampalitan Island, and Puting Buhangin Cove which is the standard rate as published by the local tourism office. The boat ride was smooth as the water is calm and glassy in the morning. It was a nice treat to see groups of small fishes jumping out of the water in various directions as our boat traces its path along the water.

First stop was Borawan Island. Famous for its limestone karsts akin to those seen in Palawan and having white sand like Boracay. Personally, i felt like the place has its own charm and need not be compared to other famous places previously mentioned. I just dismissed it as a marketing gimmick to attract hordes of tourists simply by giving that name recall. We did not stay long in the island because a lot of people were already there. Word has spread out definitely and while I feel happy for the people benefiting from the influx of visitors I wish the place keeps its charm. As for me I am thinking of going back but maybe during the lean season.

 Next stop was Dampalitan Island. It has the longest beach among the three and the most relaxing during that time. A few meters from the beach, agoho trees form a thick cover perfect for pitching tents to avoid the direct heat of the sun. We stayed here until lunch time. Interesting to note that as the day approaches noon the water recedes and exposes the shallower parts of the sea. A small island consisting of a group of rocks is exposed at high noon.

Our last stop was at Puting Buhangin Cove where the famous Kwebang Lampas is located. We were really excited for this part of the trip as the cove receives the most praises based on the blogs I've read. It was indeed beautiful in its own right. However it was crowded the time we went and was poorly managed by the caretakers. Campers where allowed to pitch tents wherever they want to and garbage was everywhere. It was really crowded that time. It got so noisy at night that we had a very hard time sleeping. It would be better to stay at Dampalitan Island during peak season.

 

We explored the cove in the morning when everyone was still sleeping and I imagined how it would have been a better experience with just a few people there keeping everything quiet and peaceful. We found our way through the cave and out through the other opening facing the sea. The best part of the trip was when we swam our way staying close to the side of the cliffs  until we reached a secluded small spot away from the crowds. We spent the rest of the morning there just looking out to the open sea.