Who wouldn't travel far for a perfect moment like this?
Last weekend, my friends and I explored
Alibijaban Island, located in San Andres, Quezon.
We have been eyeing this
island near the Bondoc Peninsula for so long. We
estimated at least 8 hours land travel plus 30 minutes boat ride to the island,
which is a protected area for biodiversity conservation and considered a key
biodiversity area.
We came from Sta. Elena, where we conducted a
recon for our outreach group, Trails to Empower Kids. We left Sta. Elena late afternoon and we
decided to take the Buenavista - San Narciso - San Andres Road. It was not one of our best decisions, despite
the shorter distance, because of the rough roads.
By midnight, we decided just to stop and spend
the night in San Narciso.
Getting a hotel was a bit difficult. Locals were wary of guests. Good thing we were accommodated at
Friends. We paid 2,500 for two big rooms,
enough for our group of 9.
The next day, we left San Narciso, and before
lunch, we were already in San Andres. We
went straight to the port, and we met some locals who gave us information and
helped us arrange for a boat ride to Alibijaban.
We also decided that instead of just an
afternoon, we would stay overnight. We
all missed beach camping. We rented the
boat for P 1,050.00, which included a tour of the island. Upon the recommendations of the locals, we
bought all our supplies in San Andres.
They warned us about locals poisoning strangers, but we took it with a
grain of salt.
Back in Paradise
The long travel hours suddenly didn't matter
the moment we had our first glimpse of the island. From afar, we could see white sand, mangroves, and the beautiful blue surrounding it.
We decided to stay in the more secluded part of
the island, away from the community. We
paid P 500.00 for overnight camping for the whole group, with free use of the
comfort room.
We hailed a nearby small fishing boat and
bought some of their fresh catch. For a
few bucks, we had enough for lunch, dinner and breakfast.
We spent the rest of the afternoon frying,
grilling, swimming, sleeping, taking pictures, watching the sunset and exploring
the rest of the island.
There were a lot of beautiful spots on the
island to relax and read a good book. It
helped that we were the only campers there.
It was a totally peaceful afternoon.
Instead of pitching tents, we took advantage of
the good weather and just slept on our ground sheets. It was a cloudless night,
with countless stars making the night more memorable. It was a good sleep, except we got bitten by
dust mites.
We had to leave the following day. It was low tide, so we had to walk to the
boat, but we didn't mind as we were again amazed by the beauty of the island.
The island had cell phone signals, so our
friends were updated on our adventure.
The caretaker, Mang Aguido, took really good care of us. He made sure we were comfortable. He also
toured us and arranged for water to be brought to our camp for washing.
It was a perfect adventure. Thank God for awesome friends, friendly
locals, and great escapes like Alibijaban Island.
On our way back to Manila, we took another
route, which passed by Mulanay, Pitogo, Agdangan and Padre Burgos. The roads
were much better, and we were back in Manila before midnight.
5 comments
wala ako masabi sa alibijaban ang ganda blue na blue ang tubig noong pumunta kami napalinaw din :) sarap tumambay walang TOURISTA :)
ReplyDeleteTrue!
Deletecan you share any contact po? like the boatmen for 1k? mas mura ata sa inyo vs some i read na 1.5k. Also 2 way na po ba yun? how did you arrange the boat back?
ReplyDeletetnx
iv been wanting to see this island. waaaah ang ganda pala Ma Kelly!
ReplyDeleteMarami po ba tao nung pumunta kayo? Ok po ba beach camping experience nyo sa island?
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