The Island Explorer

Subic is like home to me. It's my weekend getaway, more than Tagaytay. With the NLEX and SCTEX (expressways) linked together now, it only takes an hour and a half drive to Subic from Balintawak in North EDSA. That's like going to Makati during morning rush hour. And with more options than Tagaytay (though less on food), like shopping, beaches, mountains and adventure parks, Subic will always be my number one choice for that quick travel fix. One of the coolest places in Subic is Vasco's. Dining by the sea with sails as ventilation (fans) makes you feel you're inside a galleon. That ambience is unmatched here, and gives Vasco's the charm it is known for. Their menu is comfort food, offering a wide array of international dishes. You can have Asian favorites from curries to Filipino staples, or savor steaks and continental cuisine. Their food is not the best though in Subic, so I must warn you. I am not promoting it as a food heaven, but more of a place where you can e...

For me, the best of the lesser evil resorts in Bolinao is Punta Riviera Resort, located in Brgy. Ilog Malino, which is before Brgy. Patar. So, it's nearer if you're coming from the Bolinao Town Proper. It's the first of the big resorts in a very expensive beach strip. Expensive strip of resorts. We chose Punta Riviera because it offered the most value. Our Sunset Room cost P5,500 for 6 people, which is not that bad we thought. But when we saw how small the room was and how basic the furnishing were, I didn't think it was enough value. We were previously booked in another room, slightly bigger, but still with the same cheap furnishings. We opted to stay in the Sunset Room because it had a cabana and was even cheaper than the other room. Now that was weird, since the Sunset Room had a view of the sea and was bigger now because of the cabana. Our room was also beside the beach access and the river. Now, this gave the bathroom a very funky smell of sewers. The non-tiled bat...

As of this writing, there's only one resort in Tambobong: Matabang Beach Resort . If you're coming in from Dasol, it's the first establishment to your left as you enter the beach road. If you're taking the Burgos route, then it's at the end. Since Tambobong is not developed, you can either choose to stay in Matabang or stay in one of the houses in the barrio. I've heard there are some residents who open up their homes for guests. Matabang Beach Resort is owned by a very friendly retired couple. The accommodations here are very basic, as you can see on their website. There are open air cottages for picnics or for day trips. I highly recommend you stay overnight though, since Caiman Cove (the entire area) has a lot to offer. There's also a fishing pond at the back of the resort, that makes the ambience of the place more relaxing and soothing. With towering rocks and coconut trees as backdrops, the pond has a fresh water fishes that you can cook. Tr...

Well, now that my search for the best beach (mainland) in Pangasinan is over, I deserve to explore an island right? So, after getting ecstatic at beautiful Tambobong, I just had to hop on a boat to dock on an island that was calling me from a distance. The name of the island is Colibra or Snake Island as it is more popularly known. Snake Island got its name because of its huge resident population of sea snakes. Well, for some reason, those snakes are not there anymore (maybe because of climate change). The locals say they came out at night, but now, there hasn't been one in sight after sundown. Well, who's complaining? The island reminds me of Quinamanukan in Camarines Norte. It is deserted, uninhabited and small enough to be trekked in less than an hour. Quinamanukan is just bigger and had more beaches. Colibra has only one sizable stretch of beach, and a great swimming beach for that matter. On one side, the waves are strong, while on the other, the water is calmer. So, take...

Don't you just love it when you set foot on beaches like these? Oh, it's also located here in mainland Luzon, a total of 5 hours drive from Manila. Welcome to a wonderful discovery, one of the best, if not the best, mainland (non-island) beaches in Luzon. It goes by a lot of names: Osmena, Matabang Beach, and Tambobong. Whatever they call it, it's paradise to me. Okay, let me stop these senseless expressions of love. Let's call it by its original name, Tambobong Beach. Located in Western Pangasinan, in the remote barrio of Osmena in Dasol, Tambobong Beach was actually part of the barrio of Tambobong, which was split up recently. Now, from what I heard, two barrios govern the area. What surprises me more is that this is a fishing village, meaning, a lot of locals live on this beach. There were a lot of houses along the road, but the beach was spotless. This is something you don't see in any other beach in the country. One would think, there must be a governing touris...

We left Bolinao at 11 AM to find our next beach: Tambobong. We just knew it was in the town of Dasol, which was a little more than an hour away. We reached Dasol at 12 NOON, and asked for directions in a gas station. There was a carinderia in the station that seemed to have good food, so we ate there first. The food was home cooked perfect, something that I have been missing. We got our directions to Tambobong, which was still an hour away because of the rough road. We were given other beach options, but all of the locals told us that Tambobong was the best. So, we took the risk and went into the plain fields of Dasol. We didn't know we were in for a pleasant surprise. The plain fields turned out to be gorgeous meadows, sprawling green fields extending to the horizon. Cows grazed the fields, while rocks stood out of this Batanes-like landscape. We sensed we were going up a hill, and as we reached the peak, we were treated to great views of the sea. The road was mostly unpaved all t...

We passed through Treasures of Bolinao to get to Patar Beach, but since I don't recommend that anymore, turn left at the junction at the end of the road from Cape Bolinao. Patar Beach is accessible from there. What I like about Patar Beach is its landscape. Gorgeous rock formations jut out of the sea. Rock beds form holes that seem to drain the sea. And the sun bids farewell in style, revealing a solemn hue. Patar Beach has soft coral sand, meaning the grains are not that fine. It's hard walking on dry sand, as your feet get submerged. There are a lot of cottages along Patar Beach, some of them who could rent overnight I think. It is also a pretty long beach, perfect for a sunset stroll. The water was full of sea grass, but was refreshing and clearer than in Tondol. Since it was getting dark, there was less people (the way I like it). I couldn't swim since I wasn't in swimming attire, but my shorts got wet from the splashing of waves. We spent almost an hour just taking...

I read about Tondol Beach in Anda from Ivan . Since we're searching for the best beach in Pangasinan, we had to pass by here, seeing Ivan's great pictures. Who would not gravitate towards this beach? Anda is on the way to Bolinao, you just have to take a right turn from the main road to Bolinao, just watch out for the signs. From that turn, Brgy. Tondol is about 25 minutes away. Well, we were still sleepless, and upon arrival in Tondol, we were greeted by this sight. An entire community had their family day of sorts at that time. The lady in the gate told us to move to the other side of the beach, nearer the island that was fronting Tondol Beach. It was high tide, so we didn't see the spectacle that Ivan witnessed. It was already 9AM, and we were told that the low tide will come late in the afternoon. Too bad. It was Beach no.1 in our search, and we were disappointed. Tondol Beach was a bit dirty. Trash was visible at the shoreline and at the back areas. There were fishing ...