The Island Explorer

Camarines Norte is considered to be under the radar for tourists, but pre-pandemic, it has already captured the hearts of a lot of travel bloggers, particularly because of the famed Calaguas Group of Islands . My Mom is from this province, so when I was invited to go with her to spend a week in my Tita's beach house, I took the offer gladly. I was dying to explore my province once again. We arrived late night in Camarines Norte after an 8-hour drive. It was my first time in my Tita's place. I was always told of this beach house and I imagined it to be old, traditional, antique. To my surprise, it turned out to be something more like a villa in Santorini. I knew that this trip was going to be different, and the excitement level just hit an all-time high.  This is Casa Napundan, which my Tita built to house intrepid tourists and surfers. I will be sharing more about this place in my next entry, so stay tuned for that.  It was a rainy April weekend and the rainy season was giving...

I have travelled to so many beaches in the Philippines, and I still keep looking for the perfect one. Every time I experience what I thought was perfect, I stumble upon a better one. I love our country. It is indeed beautiful. I have seen a lot of beaches as well in South East Asia, and I must say that we are tops in this category. We are a land of heavenly beaches. Last Holy Week, we decided to go to Camarines Norte after seeing a feature of an isolated group of islands off the CN coast into the Pacific Ocean. I was so intrigued, since I never knew there was something worth visiting in my mom's hometown. So, my siblings and I packed our bags and went straight to CN, to see the Calagua Islands with our very own eyes. Our trip to the Calaguas began in a river port in Vinzons, where we snaked our way out to the open sea. You can again take a trike to Vinzons from Daet. From Vinzons, take another trike to the river (just tell them that). The river ride was also a delight, seeing sunke...

After having a splash in Bagasbas, we decided to move on to San Jose in Talisay, a town adjacent to Daet (take a trike to San Jose from Daet). San Jose was more laid back than Bagasbas, and more surfers were riding here when we arrived. We met some cousins who were surfing. We were hoping to hire a boat to an island called Quinamanukan, which supposedly was owned by another relative. It was already 3PM, and thus we knew we had little time to negotiate. From San Jose, we traversed through rough waters on a medium sized fishing boat to Quinamanukan, which was seen from the San Jose shore. Quinamanukan Island was a delight. It was literally deserted. Some watchdogs made up its population. The sand was also nice, with a bit of an orange color. It was a small island, and I managed to go around walking for about an hour. The island was all beach around, with a part where some jagged crags resisted strong waves. I went to the side facing the Pacific Ocean where the waves were high and in full...

I always stay in Manila during Holy Week, but this year, my siblings and I decided to go to our home province, Camarines Norte. The last time I went here was way back in 1997 when my grandma died. After 10 years, I finally made my way back. The trip to Camarines Norte took about 8 to 9 hours and this was a Holy Week. It was so traffic in SLEX and in some parts of Laguna and Quezon. As soon as we passed Lucena, it was a smooth ride. The roads to CN are surprisingly well kept and even better than those in more progressive Quezon. My deceased grandpa was the one who designed the long and seemingly never ending zigzag going into the heart of CN. It took me 2 hours at an average of 60 kmph to travel the tiring distance. And so we arrived in Daet, the capital of CN just in time for dinner. We were supposed to stay in a relative's beach house in Talisay, but since we planned our trip a day before, someone was already occupying it. We looked for a place to stay in Bagasbas, so we would be ...