The Island Explorer

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

We went back to Bolinao and passed our resort, went further South to reach Cape Bolinao, where the famous lighthouse is erected. We wanted to catch the sunset, so I sped up a bit. But the roads were unpaved, so we had to slow down. It took another 20 minutes from the resort, which made me a bit tired from driving already. All the places were far away from each other! We were also disappointed with the lighthouse, since it wasn't as grand as we thought it would be. It was solar powered, and you could see the charging stations beside the viewing dock. I loved the quarters beside it though. It had that 50s appeal. he view of Bolinao as well wasn't that spectacular. I went down from the viewing dock hoping to see better. I saw the winding coastline, but that was it. We went down to Treasures of Bolinao, a supposedly upscale resort, which we turned down after seeing the prices. We planned to go to Patar Beach from there and have dinner afterwards. The sun was beginning to set, so we

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

We began our search for the best beach in Pangasinan at 2:30AM, without any sleep. Our office was still working at that time, so after work, we decided to skip the rest and head straight to Pangasinan. We were used to this anyway, and it was better for me to drive at night. We were supposed to leave at 4AM, but two hours didn't matter. To reach Bolinao the fastest, one must take the NLEX and SCTEX and exit at Luisita in Tarlac. Once you arrive in Tarlac City, follow the signs leading to Hundred Islands. Do not head straight to Dagupan. Take the road to Pangasinan via Camiling. That saves you 2 hours. This route however requires following the signs, and involves some one-way roads. Punta Riviera Resort has a good map on their website . The sun was peeking already at 5:00AM when we arrived in Pangasinan. That was 2.5 hours of travel so far. Not bad, though I was driving at an average speed of 100 kph. We finally reached Alaminos, home base for the Hundred Islands. Bolinao was suppose

3 days in Pangasinan led me to exploring 4 beach destinations in the huge province four hours away from Manila. Patar. Tondol. Osmena. The island of Colibra. Believe me, this is one adventure you wouldn't want to miss!

Probably one of the best beach destinations in the country, Isla Reta is a modest beach resort facing Kaputian Beach in Samal. It is actually located beside the pier where the ferries from Davao dock, but a wall divides it and transforms it to a beach paradise. When we first went to Isla Reta two years ago, we were overjoyed with the talisay trees that line the powder white sand beach. Yes, that's powder, meaning, similar to Boracay. It was unfortunate that we couldn't stay overnight there, since their accommodations were very spartan and we weren't prepared to rough it out. No restaurants, no bed sheets, no towels, shared baths. So we had to move on to find another resort. Since then, we yearned to come back to Isla Reta for a day trip. The last time I was there was last December. I found myself back again at the end of April. Isla Reta is privately owned, and in the two years, nothing has changed. The beach was clean, and the back area was landscaped with green flat gras

I've realized that I still haven't posted some destinations in this blog. One is Boracay. I was surprised I haven't written about Boracay! Well, I hope I can visit one of my favorite islands soon. But for now, let me take you to another favorite of mine: the island of Talicud beside Samal. Talicud Island is near the Southern tip of Samal, hence the name, Talicud. The island can be reached via ferries that dock at Sta. Ana pier in Davao City. The ride takes an hour, and the boat leaves every hour and a half. Make sure you check the schedules though. The first time we went to Talicud, we took the 12:30PM ferry. So I have been to Talicud Island three times now, and one of its famous destinations is Babusanta Beach, which you can see int he pictures below. Babusanta Beach is usually a stopover for lunch for tour groups, especially divers. The white sand coral beach has crystal clear waters, especially at high noon. I call this beach one of the most photogenic beaches, since it