When in Sorsogon

And finally came the time of the year when we spend the entire Holy Week in my dad's hometown. Our trip to Bicol marks the start of my summer, so I have rightfully labeled it my yearly breather. It's the only place away from the city that I can call home since it houses so many memories (both happy and sad) trailing from childhood. The grim ones like getting over a first heartbreak- exploring the depths of the forests, sitting on the shore downing bottles of beer, or silently moping if not weeping in the hammock. The adventurous ones borne out of needing a temporary escape from the city hustle- hopping from one island to another, eating fresh catch, getting three shades darker feet buried in the sand under the scorching heat of the sun. I have always dreaded the 12-hour roadtrip but I will never miss a trip back home.

We've been going to the same places every year in the past decade so I was just elated to squeeze in new places this year. Once hidden beaches in Bicol like Calaguas, Caramoan and Subic Beach are gaining fame (thanks to Instagram) and it's so sad to say I've never been to any. Well, not until this year. Proud to say, I've finally been to Subic Beach! (Saving Calaguas and Caramoan for later since those two are several hours away from Sorsogon)

To get to Subic Beach, you need to rent a boat coming from the Port of Matnog. Matnog lies at the southernmost tip of Luzon where people traverse the ocean to get to Visayas. It is 14 hours away from Manila by land (with minimal stopovers). Subic Beach is only 35-40 minutes from the port via motorboat. By default, your boat driver will take you island hopping unless you personally request to be taken to Subic Beach directly. But why miss the opportunity if it's your first time in the area?

Tikling Island

So our first station was Tikling Island. This is a virgin island with clear turquoise waters and fine white sand (that turns pinkish!!) There isn't much to do here except enjoy the peace and quiet. No activities. No cottages in sight.

It's really raw and beautiful. I wish we spent more time here.

Juag Lagoon Marine Sancturary

Next, they took us to Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary. The photo above shows the viewing deck where you can feed the fishes. They'll take you to the deck via bamboo raft. You'll see schools of fish of different kinds and it took a lot of will power to help my inner mermaid from plunging in. But mostly because according to our boat driver, the owners don't allow swimming there anymore for some reason. Sad, people could take really awesome GoPro shots underwater with all those pretty fishies. :(

Subic Beach, Calintaan Island

Our last stop was of course, Subic Beach. It's an underdeveloped beach in Calintaan Island (which is great because unadulterated nature wins everytime). There are no hotels or watersports activities here but you can still stay overnight if you want to catch the perfect sunrise and sunset. You can rent a nipa hut, treehouse or tent (you can also set up your own). Surprisingly, there's power supply and good signal too! The beach is similar to Tikling Island. It has fine white sand and clear waters. I'm usually scared of going barefoot for fear of sea urchins but that didn't seem to be a problem for me here. We spent the entire afternoon basking in reflected glory of God's creations. The beach never fails to remind me that there's always something beautiful in this world.

I spent a lot of minutes diving under to get good shots. Didn't take much effort seeing how clear the water is.

Orok Cold Spring Resort

On our third day, we went to Casiguran to visit Orok Cold Springs. It was a Maundy Thursday and I was surprised to see the "pool" severely congested. I almost scratched the thought of dipping in if not for the fact that it's all natural running water anyway. Plus, dad kept bragging about how hypothermia-inducing cold it was. So we went for it anyway and damn, it was cold.

Paguriran Island at around 10am

Paguriran Island at around 4pm

The last island we went to was Paguriran Island. I remember being here about a decade ago and it's still the same old dry beach I remember, except they now have many cottages and loud karaoke simultaneously blasting out of tune voices from every corner. Paguriran Island is known for its low tide beach. The two photos above were taken on the same day. The tide level here is very volatile.

Paguriran Island Lagoon

The main attraction in Paguriran Island is not the beach but the lagoon that it nestles some distance away from the shore. Early during the day, the water recedes that you can reach the lagoon without getting your feet wet. You can walk instead of riding a boat. But in the afternoon the water rises up from your waist up to your chest (or probably even higher on some days). You can swim in the lagoon, depth depending on the tide level.

On our last day we retreated to the hotel (we usually stay in a hotel 10km away from my dad's ancestral home because we need better signal and wifi connection). This list doesn't even cover half the things you can do in Sorsogon. There's whale shark watching in Donsol, hot springs in Irosin, surfing in Gubat and many more. A week, especially Holy Week which was meant for religious activities for us Catholics just doesn't cut it. But after the tiring consecutive days of being out and about, we needed a full day to recharge for the long trip home. Thanking God for bringing us home safely because it took us 22 hours to get back to Manila. Given our overheating vehicle and our car tyre bursting twice in the middle of nowhere at an ungodly hour, I'm just happy to be home in one piece.